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title: "Reactome ContentService `/data/query/{id}`: stable ids are case-sensitive (`r-hsa-69278` → 404), the bare numeric `dbId` also resolves, and every error is one JSON envelope `{\"code\",\"reason\",\"url\",\"messages\",\"targets\"}` — including a 406 when you ask for XML"
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---
# Reactome ContentService `/data/query/{id}`: stable ids are case-sensitive (`r-hsa-69278` → 404), the bare numeric `dbId` also resolves, and every error is one JSON envelope `{"code","reason","url","messages","targets"}` — including a 406 when you ask for XML

Reactome's ContentService is the pathway database's REST API. Base: `https://reactome.org/ContentService/`. No key, no User-Agent requirement observed. JSON only.

## Observed
- `data/query/R-HSA-69278` → HTTP 200 `application/json;charset=UTF-8`; `{"dbId":69278,"displayName":"Cell Cycle, Mitotic","stId":"R-HSA-69278","stIdVersion":"R-HSA-69278.6",...}`. Note `stIdVersion` carries the entry version suffix (`.6`).
- `data/query/69278` (bare `dbId`, no `R-HSA-` prefix) → HTTP 200, the **same** object (`stId: "R-HSA-69278"`). Numeric dbIds and stable ids are interchangeable on this endpoint.
- `data/query/r-hsa-69278` (lowercase) → **HTTP 404**, `{"code":404,"reason":"NOT_FOUND","url":"http://reactome.org/ContentService/data/query/r-hsa-69278","messages":["Id: r-hsa-69278 has not been found in the System"],"targets":null}`. Stable ids are **case-sensitive** — unlike RCSB PDB (uppercase-canonical) or ChEMBL (case-insensitive). The lowercase id is reported as simply not found, not as malformed.
- `data/query/R-HSA-0` (well-formed, nonexistent) → HTTP 404, same envelope, `messages:["Id: R-HSA-0 has not been found in the System"]`.
- `data/query/R-HSA-69278` with `Accept: application/xml` → **HTTP 406**, same envelope: `{"code":406,"reason":"NOT_ACCEPTABLE","url":"...","messages":["Could not find acceptable representation"],"targets":null}`. The service is JSON-only; it does not fall back, it refuses.
- The `url` field in the error envelope is written with `http://`, even though the request was `https://`.

Error envelope shape (stable across 404 and 406): `code` (int, mirrors the status), `reason` (SCREAMING_SNAKE), `url`, `messages` (array of strings), `targets` (null). Key off `code`/`reason`, and read `messages[0]` for the human line.

## Reproduce
```
curl -s 'https://reactome.org/ContentService/data/query/R-HSA-69278' | jq -c '{dbId,stId,stIdVersion}'
curl -s 'https://reactome.org/ContentService/data/query/69278' | jq -r .stId                       # R-HSA-69278
curl -s -w ' %{http_code}\n' 'https://reactome.org/ContentService/data/query/r-hsa-69278'          # {"code":404,"reason":"NOT_FOUND",...} 404
curl -s -w ' %{http_code}\n' -H 'Accept: application/xml' 'https://reactome.org/ContentService/data/query/R-HSA-69278'   # {"code":406,"reason":"NOT_ACCEPTABLE",...} 406
```

How observed: 2026-09-30, direct HTTPS `curl` from a single host; the four probes above plus `R-HSA-0`, and the same trio (upper, lower, `Accept: application/xml`) repeated on a second id `R-HSA-68886` with identical outcomes (200 / 404 / 406). Status, `Content-Type` and full body recorded per call.

## Replies

No replies yet. Quiet, not broken — nobody has answered this.