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“REST API channels” is a practical umbrella term, not the name of a single protocol. Most REST APIs use stateless HTTP request-response: a client requests a resource or submits data, and the server returns a response. For updates that arrive over time, teams commonly add polling, long polling, HTTP streaming, webhooks, or WebSockets. The right choice depends on who needs to send messages, how quickly updates must arrive, and what connection and delivery behavior the system can support.
What does “REST API channel” mean?
REST API channel usually means the way an application exchanges data with an API. It is an explanatory phrase rather than a formal protocol category: HTTP semantics and WebSocket are specified separately.
In the usual REST interaction, a client targets a resource using an HTTP method. The server processes the request and returns a response with a status code, headers, and usually a representation of the resource. HTTP is described in RFC 7231 as a stateless application-level protocol. Statelessness means each request is interpreted on its own; it does not mean the server cannot store application data between requests.
- GET asks for a current representation.
- POST asks the server to perform resource-specific processing.
- PUT replaces the current representation with the request payload.
- DELETE removes the current representation.
RFC 9110 is the newer HTTP semantics specification and is the appropriate reference for current method semantics and security considerations.
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How do polling and HTTP-based push work?
Ordinary HTTP is initiated by a client request; it does not let the server send an unsolicited response whenever an event occurs. Applications can still deliver updates through HTTP by having the client ask again or by keeping a request open.
Polling
With polling, the client makes repeated requests on a schedule and checks whether anything has changed. It is straightforward to reason about and fits ordinary request-response infrastructure. The trade-off is that an update may wait until the next request, while requests that find no change still consume client, network, and server resources. A shorter interval can improve freshness but increases request frequency.
Long polling
With long polling, the client sends a request and the server holds it open until an event is available or a timeout occurs. The server responds, and the client commonly opens another request. It can reduce the number of empty responses compared with frequent polling, but it still depends on repeated client requests and requires timeout and reconnect handling. RFC 6202 discusses long polling and HTTP streaming as HTTP-based techniques for delivering updates.
HTTP streaming
With HTTP streaming, the server keeps a request open and sends multiple updates over that response connection. The client can receive updates without issuing a new request for each one. Because the response remains open, buffering by intermediaries, connection timeouts, and resource use need to be considered in deployment. Streaming remains an HTTP request-response interaction; it is not full-duplex communication.
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How do webhooks fit?
A webhook is a callback pattern: when an event occurs, one service sends an HTTP request to an endpoint configured by another service. It is useful when the receiving application can expose an endpoint and the sender can make outbound requests. Unlike client polling, the receiver does not repeatedly ask whether an event has happened.
Webhooks are not a persistent client-server conversation. The receiving service should plan for authentication and authorization of incoming requests, duplicate deliveries, retries, and how to handle events that arrive out of order. Exact retry, signing, and replay behavior depends on the webhook provider; there is no single behavior implied by the term “webhook.”
How is WebSocket different from REST over HTTP?
WebSocket begins with an HTTP Upgrade handshake. After the upgrade, it uses a persistent connection for ongoing two-way message exchange, rather than the ordinary HTTP pattern of one request followed by one response. The WebSocket standard calls it “an independent TCP-based protocol” in RFC 6455.
Use WebSocket when both sides need to send frequent messages, or when the server must be able to send messages without waiting for a new HTTP request. The ws scheme is unencrypted; wss indicates TLS protection. A persistent socket is not automatically reliable at the application level: the application still needs decisions for authentication, authorization, reconnects, message validation, delivery, and recovery.
Which channel should you choose?
Compare the options by communication direction, freshness, and connection behavior rather than treating “real time” as a single technical requirement.
| Approach | Who initiates updates? | Connection pattern | Useful when | Main considerations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polling | Client | Repeated short HTTP requests | Updates can be checked periodically and the simplest request-response model is preferred. | Freshness depends on the polling interval; frequent checks create more requests. |
| Long polling | Client opens request; server responds when an event is available or the request times out | Held HTTP request, then another request is commonly opened | Updates should arrive sooner than a periodic check, while keeping the interaction within HTTP. | Timeouts, reconnects, intermediaries, and held-request resources matter. |
| HTTP streaming | Client opens request; server sends multiple updates | One long-lived HTTP response | The client needs a continuing stream of server updates over HTTP. | Buffering, timeouts, and resource use on long-lived connections matter; communication is not full duplex. |
| Webhook | Event-producing service | HTTP callback request to a receiver endpoint | A service can notify another service that exposes an endpoint when events occur. | Provider-specific retry and signing behavior, duplicate events, ordering, and endpoint security must be addressed. |
| WebSocket | Client and server | Persistent bidirectional connection after an HTTP Upgrade handshake | Both sides need frequent, low-latency messages or server messages should not require a new HTTP request. | Connection lifecycle, authentication, origin controls, proxies, backpressure, reconnects, and observability need design. |
What should you evaluate before choosing?
- Directionality: Decide whether clients only request data, servers need to send updates, or both sides need to send messages at any time.
- Freshness: Set an acceptable update delay. Polling interval affects when a client notices a change; push-style delivery avoids waiting for the next scheduled check but brings other operational requirements.
- Intermediaries: Check how caches, proxies, firewalls, and load balancers handle the request pattern and connection lifetime, especially for held requests and persistent connections.
- Delivery semantics: Define whether messages must be ordered, whether retries can create duplicates, which operations are safe to repeat, and how missed events can be replayed or reconciled.
- Security: Use TLS where data crosses untrusted networks, authenticate clients or callback senders, authorize actions, validate message content, and apply origin controls where relevant. WebSocket security also includes the Upgrade handshake and the persistent connection after it.
- Operations: Plan for connection counts, timeouts, monitoring, scaling, reconnects, and failure recovery. Long-lived connections and repeated requests impose different operational patterns.
A practical decision path
- Start with ordinary HTTP request-response if clients can request data when they need it and updates do not need to arrive independently of a request.
- Use polling if periodic checking meets the freshness requirement and repeated requests are acceptable.
- Consider long polling or HTTP streaming if the client needs server updates over HTTP without adopting a bidirectional socket. Choose long polling for event-triggered responses followed by another request; choose streaming when a continuing response with multiple updates fits the application and its intermediaries.
- Use webhooks when one service needs to notify another service at an endpoint after events occur, and the receiver can accept inbound requests.
- Use WebSocket when both sides need ongoing message exchange, or frequent server messages without a new client request justify the connection-management overhead.
Whatever the channel, design recovery explicitly. A client or receiver should have a way to detect gaps and restore a consistent view, such as requesting the current resource state again or applying an application-defined replay mechanism. The transport alone does not decide ordering, deduplication, retry, or replay policy.
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