Pass filer search for restful api

Question

If I want to pass an array of filters to a restful API like:

  - filter[color]=red&filter[size]=large&filter[brand]=brand_1,brand_2

Is there any best practice to do this? and what if I don't know -as an API framework- the names of filters (color,brand....) because these filters are related to the search?

And the final point if i want to pass this filter with operator for example color not in [red,blue] or price greater than 100$?

Answer 1

To my mind, the best practice here is to use the QueryString to pass your filters. In this case, you don't need this "filter[key]" stuff. You have to pass only the fields you want to use as filters, like color=red&size=large&brand=brand1,brand2 .

Regarding filters using operators... you can pass one more field called "query" or just "q" and pass your "search query" inside it. Lots of APIs use this approach.