Check whether List/Libray exists using REST API

Question

I have a requirement where I need to verify whether the list/library with given name already exists or not.

I am implementing REST API Calls from C# so this post does not help me as I am not getting error message given in this post in C# catch. I am always getting

The remote server returned an error: (404) Not Found.

error, and I can use this error message to identify whether list/library exists or not

Another approach is also there to get all the list available and then iterate it and find your list name within that but this approach I can't implement as I am having large number of list/library so this approach will bring my code performance down.

So I am in search of an Ultimate REST endpoint URL using which I can directly get whether the list/library exists or not.

I referred Complete basic operations using SharePoint 2013 REST endpoints and Lists and list items REST API reference but I was unable to find such direct endpoint url.

So if you have gone through this requirement then please suggest an proper approach or guideline.

I can't use CSOM or SSOM.

Answer 1

You can filter lists by title using odata and count results. url pattern:

http://{your_site}/_api/Web/Lists?$filter=title eq '{your_list_title}'

Answer 2

You can also use PnP JavaScript library, which is open source and developed using SharePoint REST API.

To check the list, use the below snippet,

$pnp.sp.web.lists.getByTitle('Site Awssets').get().then(function(result) {
console.log('List Exists');
}).catch(function(err) {
console.log('List not found');
});

To know more about PnP, check the below links,

https://github.com/OfficeDev/PnP-JS-Core

http://www.ktskumar.com/2016/06/introduction-pnp-js-core-library/ https://github.com/OfficeDev/PnP-JS-Core/wiki/Install-and-Use