feat: allow PATCH in http_request for non-replicated calls (#289)

Migrated from dfinity/portal#6245 (moved to this repo per reviewer
request — the spec is now hosted here).

### What

- `public/references/ic.did`: `method` variant → `variant { get; head;
post; put; delete; patch }`.
- `docs/references/ic-interface-spec/management-canister.md`: document
`PATCH` alongside `PUT`/`DELETE` as supported in non-replicated mode
only (two paragraphs).
- `docs/references/ic-interface-spec/changelog.md`: new `0.63.0 (TBD)`
entry.

> **Note:** the changelog uses `0.63.0` because `0.62.0` is already
present in this repo with different content (2025-05-26). Please confirm
the correct version number before merging.

### Why

`PATCH` is the last common REST verb missing after `PUT`/`DELETE` landed
(dfinity/portal#6199). It is pervasive in modern REST APIs for partial
updates (Google Calendar, GitHub, Stripe, …). The concrete driver is
generated Motoko clients for the Google Calendar API whose
partial-update operations are otherwise un-callable.

### Why non-replicated only

Same rationale as `PUT`/`DELETE`: in replicated mode an outcall is
issued once per replica; `PATCH` is additionally not guaranteed
idempotent (RFC 5789 §2). The existing `is_replicated` machinery already
covers it; no new mechanism is introduced.

### Notes

- Spec/docs change only. The corresponding runtime implementation is in
dfinity/ic#10378.
- The date in the changelog entry should be updated to the mainnet
rollout date before merging.
- Originally opened as dfinity/portal#6245; that PR will be closed once
this one merges.

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: mraszyk <31483726+mraszyk@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: 3 people

docs/references/ic-interface-spec/changelog.md

@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ sidebar:
 
 ## Changelog {#changelog}
 
+### 0.63.0 (2026-06-29) {$0_63_0}
+* Support for the HTTP method `PATCH` in canister `http_request` in non-replicated mode.
+
 ### 0.62.0 (2025-05-26) {$0_62_0}
 * Inter-canister response callback messages might still be executed after the condition for `canister_on_low_wasm_memory` is triggered
   and before the function `canister_on_low_wasm_memory` is executed.

docs/references/ic-interface-spec/management-canister.md

@@ -640,7 +640,7 @@ In the replicated mode, the responses for all identical requests must match, too
 
 For this reason, the calling canister can supply a transformation function, which the IC uses to let the canister sanitize the responses from such unique values. The transformation function is executed separately on the corresponding response received for a request (both in replicated and non-replicated modes). Only the transformed response will be available to the calling canister.
 
-Currently, the `GET`, `HEAD`, and `POST` methods are supported for HTTP requests. Additionally, the `PUT` and `DELETE` methods are supported in non-replicated mode only. `PUT` and `DELETE` are restricted to non-replicated mode to avoid confusing race conditions that may occur with replicated execution.
+Currently, the `GET`, `HEAD`, and `POST` methods are supported for HTTP requests. Additionally, the `PUT`, `DELETE`, and `PATCH` methods are supported in non-replicated mode only. `PUT`, `DELETE`, and `PATCH` are restricted to non-replicated mode to avoid confusing race conditions that may occur with replicated execution.
 
 It is important to note the following for the usage of the `POST` method:
 
@@ -664,7 +664,7 @@ The following parameters should be supplied for the call:
 
 -   `max_response_bytes` - optional, specifies the maximal size of the response in bytes. If provided, the value must not exceed `2MB` (`2,000,000B`). The call will be charged based on this parameter. If not provided, the maximum of `2MB` will be used.
 
--   `method` - currently, `GET`, `HEAD`, and `POST` are supported. Additionally, `PUT` and `DELETE` are supported in non-replicated mode only.
+-   `method` - currently, `GET`, `HEAD`, and `POST` are supported. Additionally, `PUT`, `DELETE`, and `PATCH` are supported in non-replicated mode only.
 
 -   `headers` - list of HTTP request headers and their corresponding values
 

public/references/ic.did

@@ -344,7 +344,7 @@ type deposit_cycles_args = record {
 type http_request_args = record {
     url : text;
     max_response_bytes : opt nat64;
-    method : variant { get; head; post; put; delete };
+    method : variant { get; head; post; put; delete; patch };
     headers : vec http_header;
     body : opt blob;
     transform : opt record {