# What is the proper way for manipulating relationships? **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [September 16, 2015, 8:08am UTC](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/t/what-is-the-proper-way-for-manipulating-relationships/123 "2015-09-16T08:08:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmelissari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@cmelissari](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/u/cmelissari)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 8:08am UTC](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/t/what-is-the-proper-way-for-manipulating-relationships/123/1 "2015-09-16T08:08:28Z")
Hi. Let’s say we have a simple relationships GROUPS to-many USERS According to documentation, this relationship should be managed using the following url: /groups/:id\_group/users/ I can guest (but I’m not sure and I couldn’t find documentation about it) that if i wish to delete an user from a group I should use an HTTP DELETE on /groups/:id\_group/users/:id\_user Is this true? But what about adding a new user to the same group? I guest I should use an HTTP PATCH, but what is the right data content? Can some one provide an example? Thanks in advance, Claudio ---
**Author:** ![ethanresnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@ethanresnick](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/u/ethanresnick)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/t/what-is-the-proper-way-for-manipulating-relationships/123/2 "2015-09-16T22:21:34Z")
Check out [this section](http://jsonapi.org/format/#crud-updating-to-many-relationships) of the specification and let me know if it’s still unclear. Basically, adding a user to the group will involve a `POST` to `/groups/:id_group/relationships/users`, and removing a user from it will involve a `DELETE` to the same URI (with the `id` of the user to remove in the body). ---
**Author:** ![juicyraoul](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.jsonapi.org/juicyraoul/32/51_2.png) [@juicyraoul](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/u/juicyraoul)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 1:30pm UTC](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/t/what-is-the-proper-way-for-manipulating-relationships/123/3 "2015-10-06T13:30:19Z")
Is the “relationships” in the URL required? What does it mean to not include it? What would that be telling the server that is different then including it? ---
**Author:** ![steveklabnik](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discuss.jsonapi.org/steveklabnik/32/2_2.png) [@steveklabnik](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/u/steveklabnik)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/t/what-is-the-proper-way-for-manipulating-relationships/123/4 "2015-10-06T14:11:59Z")
> [@juicyraoul](#): > > Is the “relationships” in the URL required? We don’t place any requirements on URLs, those are just examples. ---
**Author:** ![ethanresnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@ethanresnick](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/u/ethanresnick)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 12:07am UTC](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/t/what-is-the-proper-way-for-manipulating-relationships/123/5 "2015-10-12T00:07:08Z")
@juicyraoul As @steveklabnik said, `/relationships/` is just a convention, not a requirement. The point is that you need to POST to the “relationship URI”, which is identified by the `self` link in relationship objects, rather than the “related resource URI”, which is identified by the `related` link. My answer [here](http://discuss.jsonapi.org/t/relation-link-usage/149/2) should help clear things up more if needed. ---
**Author:** ![malras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed8c4c/32.png) [@malras](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/u/malras)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/t/what-is-the-proper-way-for-manipulating-relationships/123/6 "2016-03-04T21:39:57Z")
> [@ethanresnick](#): > > removing a user from it will involve a DELETE to the same URI (with the id of the user to remove in the body). Hello and thanks for the clarification. I understand the need to put the ids in the DELETE body when we want to delete more than one user-relationships. but I am wondering, for the case when we want to delete only one relationship, why not `DELETE /groups/:id_group/relationships/users/:id_user` without a body? is it simply to have unique way of deletion? or there is another reasons? regards ---
**Author:** ![ethanresnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@ethanresnick](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/u/ethanresnick)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://discuss.jsonapi.org/t/what-is-the-proper-way-for-manipulating-relationships/123/7 "2016-03-04T22:35:13Z")
> [@malras](#): > > why not DELETE /groups/:id\_group/relationships/users/:id\_user without a body?is it simply to have unique way of deletion? or there is another reasons? I think it was primarily about having only one way to do deletion, to simplify the number of code paths generic clients have to implement.