The components of the API URL path help determine the part of the CouchDB server that is being accessed. The result is the structure of the URL request both identifies and effectively describes the area of the database you are accessing.
As with all URLs, the individual components are separated by a forward slash.
As a general rule, URL components and JSON fields starting with
the _ (underscore) character represent a
special component or entity within the server or returned object.
For example, the URL fragment /_all_dbs gets a
list of all of the databases in a CouchDB instance.
The remainder of the URL API structure can be divided up according to the URL structure. The different sections are divided as follows:
/db
Database methods, related to adding, updating or deleting databases, and setting database parameters and operations. For more detailed information, see Chapter 5, CouchDB API Server Database Methods .
/db/doc
Document methods, those that create, store, update or delete CouchDB documents and their attachments. For more information, see Chapter 6, CouchDB API Server Document Methods.
/db/_local/local-doc
Document methods, those that create, store, update or delete CouchDB documents only within the local database. Local documents are not synchronized with other databases. For more information, see Chapter 7, CouchDB API Server Local (non-replicating) Document Methods.
/db/_design/design-doc
Design documents provide the methods and structure for recovering information from a CouchDB database in the form of views, shows and lists. For more information, see Chapter 8, CouchDB API Server Design Document Methods.
/_special
Special methods that obtain or set information about the CouchDB instance, including methods for configuring replication, accessing the logs, and generate Universally Unique IDs (UUIDs). For more information, see Chapter 9, CouchDB API Server Miscellaneous Methods.
/_config
Methods for getting, and settings, CouchDB configuration parameters. For more information, see Chapter 9, CouchDB API Server Miscellaneous Methods.