Change a subscriber’s quote delivery method

This tutorial demonstrates how to update a subscriber’s quote delivery method using the Quoteable Service API. This process lets subscribers choose whether they want to receive quotes by email or text message.

Important notes

• The delivery method is represented by the deliverTo field in the subscriber object.
• A deliverTo value of 1 represents email delivery, and 2 represents text message delivery.
• In this mock API, JSON Server stores the delivery method value that you send. Add contact validation in your own application if you need it.
• Changing the delivery method doesn’t affect the subscriber’s quote preferences or frequency.

Prerequisites

Before you start this tutorial:

• Make sure you have access to the Quoteable Service API.
• Make sure you have a tool such as Postman or cURL installed to make API requests.
• Know the id of the subscriber whose delivery method you want to change.

Change subscriber’s quote delivery method

To change a subscriber’s quote delivery method, send a PATCH request to the /subscribers/{id} endpoint with the updated deliverTo value.

For endpoint details, see Update a subscriber.

Follow these steps:

1. Open your API testing tool, such as Postman.
2. Create a new request with the following details:
   • METHOD: PATCH
   • URL: http://localhost:3000/subscribers/{id} (replace {id} with the actual subscriber ID)
   • Headers:
     • Content-Type: application/json
   • Request:

curl --request PATCH "http://localhost:3000/subscribers/{id}" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
    "deliverTo": 2
  }'

Send the request.

A successful request returns a 200 OK status code with the updated subscriber object in the response body.

Example

Request:

curl --request PATCH "http://localhost:3000/subscribers/1" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
    "deliverTo": 2
  }'

Response body:

{
  "id": 1,
  "lastName": "Stark",
  "firstName": "Tony",
  "email": "tony.stark@example.com",
  "mobile": "2125551212",
  "healthQuote": true,
  "loveQuote": false,
  "helpPplQuote": true,
  "deliverTo": 2,
  "frequency": 3
}

Error handling

If you encounter errors, here are some common issues and their solutions:

• 404 Not Found: Check that you’re using the correct subscriber ID.
• 400 Bad Request: Make sure your JSON is correctly formatted and the deliverTo value is either 1 or 2.

What’s next?

Now that you’ve learned how to change a subscriber’s quote delivery method, you can:

• Update other subscriber details, such as quote preferences or delivery frequency.
• Retrieve the updated subscriber information to confirm changes.
• Implement a feature in your application allowing users to toggle between email and text message delivery.
• Consider adding validation in your application to make sure the appropriate contact information (email or mobile) is available before changing the delivery method.