title: Does using an HTTP resource path as action violate REST standards?
body: <p>I'm using an HTTP resource path to execute a backend action instead of providing a resource. An example would be adding a holiday feature to a holiday package on a travel website:</p>
  
  <p><code>/holiday/Paris/feature/canal-trip</code></p>
  
  <p>In this example the feature <code>canal-trip</code> would be added to my planned trip to <code>Paris</code>. After this <code>action</code> there might be a redirect to the main resource page.</p>
  
  <p>It's clear that this is not strictly a REST resource GET, however I wonder:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>how much this is a REST violation?</li>
  <li>what disadvantages this could cause? (If the action path is not indexed by search engines.)</li>
  <li>what is a better way to provide a path where visitors can execute an action on behalf of a resource?</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>For this issue let's say <strong>CSRF is not an issue - the action is harmless</strong>. The most similar question I've found is this: <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/25287734/rest-actions-and-url-api-design-considerations">REST actions and URL API design considerations</a> - however in my case <strong>I have no intention to make it a real REST endpoint</strong>. Only would like to avoid violations.</p>