10.4.5 404 Not Found
The server has not found anything matching the Request-URI
For a collection:
The server have found the resource (/customers), so 404 does not apply here.
For a singular resource:
The server have found the resource (/customers/existing-id), so 404 does not apply here.
10.4.6 405 Method Not Allowed
The method specified in the Request-Line is not allowed for the resource identified by the Request-URI. The response MUST include an Allow header containing a list of valid methods for the requested resource.
For a collection:
This applies if you don't want to offer to delete the resource (/customers) to anyone. (at least thorugh this api of course)
For a singular resource:
The server have found the resource (/customers/existing-id), but this singular resource can not be deleted by anyone. (at least thorugh this api of course)
If just the specific caller is not allowed to delete it, that's another issue (401/403).
tfredrich
commented
7 years ago
If a resource (a collection or a singular resource) does not supprt the method at all it should return the 405 (Not Allowed) status code.
A 404 indicates that the resource does not exist. The resource (noun) clearly exist.
https://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec10.html
For a collection: The server have found the resource (/customers), so 404 does not apply here.
For a singular resource: The server have found the resource (/customers/existing-id), so 404 does not apply here.
For a collection: This applies if you don't want to offer to delete the resource (/customers) to anyone. (at least thorugh this api of course)
For a singular resource: The server have found the resource (/customers/existing-id), but this singular resource can not be deleted by anyone. (at least thorugh this api of course)
If just the specific caller is not allowed to delete it, that's another issue (401/403).
That's how I read the spec anyway.