How should Accept header be used by the server?

[maricn]

In some examples ([1] and [2]) at current state of main branch, there are different values of the Accept request header - application/json and application/json, application/problem+json. They are interchangeably used without any comment or note. This creates confusion and it could be helpful to have a clarification of how does the Accept header influence the response.

[sazzer]

RFC-6838 defines "Structured Syntax Name Suffixes", and in particular it defines that anything with a +json suffix should be treated as application/json unless there are stricter rules for that exact media type.

As such, it seems reasonable (to me at least, and I'm not an expert!) to reply with application/problem+json to something that only accepts application/json - since, per those rules, application/problem+json can be interpreted as valid application/json as well.

[maricn]

@sazzer thank you for the prompt response - i find that logic very reasonable!

it is also implicit in the examples i linked in the original post, but considering how the RFC at hand defines application/problem+json, i would personally still find it valuable if that piece of "sidenote" information would be explicit in the document..

[sazzer]

Personally, I agree, and I think that having the examples be inconsistent isn't great. I was just explaining how they are both technically valid :)

[mnot]

(1) is saying that the client expects json (in the case of a successful response), and also can process the problem format.

(2) is a request, not a response.