should API return 404 status for api/object?filter=param?

Question

Which HTTP status must be returned for api/object?filter=param if record not found? I see following variants:

• return 404
• return 200 and blank response, for example {}

I don not find conventions for ruby community. What is best practice?

Answer 1

You can go in the deep here: Proper REST response for empty table?

I think is correct to replay 200 with an empty object if you are calling an 'index' endpoint with search params

• request: users?age=18
• response: code 200, body{}

But if you are calling a 'show' endpoint you should return 404

• request: users/1
• response: code 404