idempotency

Definitions

1. The property where performing an operation multiple times produces the same result as performing it once. In APIs, idempotent operations are safe to retry without side effects — crucial for reliability in distributed systems where network failures can leave you unsure if your request succeeded. HTTP PUT and DELETE are idempotent by design; POST typically is not.

   In plain English: A property meaning 'doing the same thing twice has the same effect as doing it once' — critical for systems where requests might accidentally get sent multiple times.

   Example: The payment API uses idempotency keys so that if a request times out and the client retries, the customer is only charged once.

Related Terms

• REST
• Idempotent
• Idempotency Key
• Idempotency Key
• API Versioning
• HATEOAS
• Webhook Retry
• Idempotent Request