Distinguish resource scope from service policy
03The default hint concerns the responding resource. Broader service scope exists only through additional rules that a client understands.
A client that does not know the extra policy cannot infer that the other resources share the announced time.
Source for this drawing: RFC 8594 · Read RFC section 5 ↗
New to this? Start hereA quick picture + helpful background
A message needs an address.
Think of a packet as a small addressed envelope. Devices pass it onward; transport protocols decide what delivery promises an application gets.
Helpful first, if these ideas are unfamiliar
These pictures are analogies to help you learn. The linked RFC explains the actual rules.
Terms in this drawing
- Scope
- The set of resources to which a piece of policy applies.
- API home resource
- A provider-chosen entry resource; its name alone does not create a broader Sunset contract.
Related RFCs and changes
“Updates” changes part of an earlier RFC. “Obsoletes” replaces it. This list shows selected related documents.
A field on an API home resource does not automatically cover every URI.
- By default, Sunset applies only to the resource returning it. It does not automatically extend to a domain, URI prefix, linked resource or entire API.
- A resource can define and document increased scope, such as an API’s home resource announcing a service-wide sunset. Clients aware of that policy may use the additional hints.
- Increased scope is invisible to clients unaware of those rules; they retain the default resource-only interpretation. Applications should function without depending on Sunset information because the hint is optional and uncertain.
Three independent interpretations are illustrated for a fictional service: /api/home by default; an expressly documented /api/* policy covering /api/orders and /api/items; and an unaware client that still only understands the home resource’s hint. /other/photos stays outside that chosen policy. Grouping is a provider-defined policy, not URI ancestry or a new RFC wildcard-matching protocol.
Read the RFC section ↗