postrest

PostREST is a design approach for RESTful services that introduces a post-processing stage after resource-modifying requests. In a PostREST architecture, operations such as POST, PUT, PATCH, or DELETE trigger asynchronous work that runs outside the immediate response, enabling long-running processing, integration with other systems, auditing, and eventual consistency.

Key concepts include post-processing hooks attached to resource types, an event bus or message queue to transport work items, durable queues and idempotency. Systems may record a processing outcome in an event log, store, or audit trail. Clients typically receive a quick acknowledgement while the actual work completes in the background.

Typical architectures place a post-processing layer between the API gateway and the background workers; a post-processor subscribes to resource-change events, performs tasks, and records results. Data flow often uses idempotency keys to avoid duplicates and compensating transactions to maintain consistency.

Benefits include reduced request latency, improved scalability, and easier integration with external services. Drawbacks include added system complexity, potential data inconsistency if not carefully designed, and the need for robust failure handling, retries, and monitoring.

Common use cases: media processing after upload, analytics and reporting warmups, notifications, synchronization with downstream systems. PostREST can complement existing RESTful services or be implemented as an architectural style within microservices.

Notes: PostREST is not an official standard; it is a conceptual pattern described in software development literature and vendor documentation. It should be considered when asynchronous processing and cross-system workflows are required.