local function get_method(request)
  local method, path, query_fragment = request:match("^(.+) ([^%?]+)(%??.*) .+$")
  if method and path then
    return method .. "_" .. path
  else
    return nil
  end
end
local function get_method_updated(request)
  local method, path, query_fragment = request:match("^(.+) ([^%?]+)(%??.*) .+$")
  if method and path then
  	if path:match('^/[^/]+/[^/]+/[%w_]+') ~= nil then
  		return method .. " " .. path
  	else
    	return method .. "_" .. path
    end	
  else
    return nil
  end
end
-- You have
print(get_method("GET /v1/merchants something"))
print(get_method("GET /v1/content/merchants/foo or"))
print(get_method("GET /v1/content/merchants/bar some"))
-- Do you want?
print(get_method_updated("GET /v1/merchants something"))
print(get_method_updated("GET /v1/content/merchants/foo or"))
print(get_method_updated("GET /v1/content/merchants/bar some"))