The only way I can think of to do it would be to overwrite the create and update methods of the model. In your model definition you'd do something like:

1. can.Model('MyModel', {
2.       create: function( attrs ) {
3.             return can.ajax({
4.                   url: '/path/to/create/model',
5.                   type: 'POST',
6.                   data: {
7.                         model: attrs
   
8.                   }
   
9.             });
10.       },
11.       update: function( id, attrs ) {
12.             return can.ajax({
13.                   url: '/path/to/update/model',
14.                   type: 'POST',
15.                   data: {
16.                         model: attrs
    
17.                   }
    
18.             });
    
19.       }
    
20. }, {
    
21. })
    

I was thinking that I could do this by overriding the serialize method in the model:

If you want to go that route, you might think about only overwriting the serialize method on your model. I needed some base functionality needed in most of my models, as well, so I created my own base model that I then extend all my other models from. You might consider doing something like this:

1. can.Model('MyBaseModel', {
2. }, {
3.       serialize: function() {
4.             var res = can.Model.prototype.serialize.call( this );
5.             return {
6.                   this.contructor._shortName: res
   
7.             };
   
8.       }
   
9. });

1. MyBaseModel.extend('MyNewModel', {}, {});

MyNewModel would now have the overwritten serialize method.