documentation/Using-the-API/API.md

API overview

Contents

• Available libraries
• Notes
• Methods
  • Accounts
  • Apps
  • Blocks
  • Domain blocks
  • Favourites
  • Follow Requests
  • Follows
  • Instances
  • Lists
  • Media
  • Mutes
  • Notifications
  • Reports
  • Search
  • Statuses
  • Timelines
• Entities
  • Account
  • Application
  • Attachment
  • Card
  • Context
  • Emoji
  • Error
  • Instance
  • List
  • Mention
  • Notification
  • Relationship
  • Results
  • Status
  • Tag

---

Available libraries

There are several libraries to interact with the Mastodon API. The list of libraries can be found on the Libraries page.

---

Notes

Parameter types

When an array parameter is mentioned, the Rails convention of specifying array parameters in query strings is meant. For example, a ruby array like foo = [1, 2, 3] should be encoded in the params as foo[]=1&foo[]=2&foo[]=3, with empty square brackets.

When sending binary data, such as files, Mastodon expects clients to use the multipart/form-data MIME type. This applies to media attachments, account avatars and account headers.

Selecting ranges

For most GET operations that return arrays, the query parameters max_id and since_id can be used to specify the range of IDs to return. API methods that return collections of items can return a Link header containing URLs for the next and prev pages. See the Link header RFC for more information.

Errors

If the request you make doesn't go through, Mastodon will usually respond with an Error.

---

Methods

Accounts

Fetching an account:

GET /api/v1/accounts/:id

Returns an Account.

Getting the current user:

GET /api/v1/accounts/verify_credentials

Returns the authenticated user's Account with an extra attribute source which contains these keys:

Attribute	Description
privacy	Selected preference: Default privacy of new toots
sensitive	Selected preference: Mark media as sensitive by default?
note	Plain-text version of the account's note

Updating the current user:

PATCH /api/v1/accounts/update_credentials

Form data:

Field	Description	Optional
display_name	The name to display in the user's profile	yes
note	A new biography for the user	yes
avatar	An avatar for the user (encoded using multipart/form-data)	yes
header	A header image for the user (encoded using multipart/form-data)	yes
locked	Manually approve followers?	yes

Returns the authenticated user's Account.

Getting an account's followers:

GET /api/v1/accounts/:id/followers

Query parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
max_id	Get a list of followers with ID less than this value	yes
since_id	Get a list of followers with ID greater than this value	yes
limit	Maximum number of followers to get (Default 40, Max 80)	yes

Note: max_id and since_id for next and previous pages are provided in the Link header. It is not possible to use the id of the returned objects to construct your own URLs, because the results are sorted by an internal key.

Returns an array of Accounts.

Getting who account is following:

GET /api/v1/accounts/:id/following

Query parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
max_id	Get a list of followings with ID less than this value	yes
since_id	Get a list of followings with ID greater than this value	yes
limit	Maximum number of followings to get (Default 40, Max 80)	yes

Note: max_id and since_id for next and previous pages are provided in the Link header. It is not possible to use the id of the returned objects to construct your own URLs, because the results are sorted by an internal key.

Returns an array of Accounts.

Getting an account's statuses:

GET /api/v1/accounts/:id/statuses

Query parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
only_media	Only return statuses that have media attachments	yes
pinned	Only return statuses that have been pinned	yes
exclude_replies	Skip statuses that reply to other statuses	yes
max_id	Get a list of statuses with ID less than this value	yes
since_id	Get a list of statuses with ID greater than this value	yes
limit	Maximum number of statuses to get (Default 20, Max 40)	yes

Note: max_id and since_id for next and previous pages are provided in the Link header. However, it is possible to use the id of the returned objects to construct your own URLs.

Returns an array of Statuses.

Following/unfollowing an account:

POST /api/v1/accounts/:id/follow
POST /api/v1/accounts/:id/unfollow

Returns the target account's Relationship.

Blocking/unblocking an account:

POST /api/v1/accounts/:id/block
POST /api/v1/accounts/:id/unblock

Returns the target account's Relationship.

Muting/unmuting an account:

POST /api/v1/accounts/:id/mute

Form data:

Field	Description	Optional
notifications	Determines whether the mute will mute notifications or not. Default(true)	yes

Returns the target account's Relationship.

POST /api/v1/accounts/:id/unmute

Returns the target account's Relationship.

Getting an account's relationships:

GET /api/v1/accounts/relationships

Query parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
id	Account IDs (can be an array)	no

Returns an array of Relationships of the current user to a list of given accounts.

Searching for accounts:

GET /api/v1/accounts/search

Query parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
q	What to search for	no
limit	Maximum number of matching accounts to return (default: 40)	yes
following	Limit the search to following (boolean, default false)	yes

Returns an array of matching Accounts.

Will lookup an account remotely if the search term is in the username@domain format and not yet in the database.

Apps

Registering an application:

POST /api/v1/apps

Form data:

Field	Description	Optional
client_name	Name of your application	no
redirect_uris	Where the user should be redirected after authorization (for no redirect, use urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob)	no
scopes	This can be a space-separated list of the following items: "read", "write" and "follow" (see this page for details on what the scopes do)	no
website	URL to the homepage of your app	yes

Creates a new OAuth app.

Returns id, client_id and client_secret which can be used with OAuth authentication in your 3rd party app.

These values should be requested in the app itself from the API for each new app install + mastodon domain combo, and stored in the app for future requests.

Blocks

Fetching a user's blocks:

GET /api/v1/blocks

Query parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
max_id	Get a list of blocks with ID less than this value	yes
since_id	Get a list of blocks with ID greater than this value	yes
limit	Maximum number of blocks to get (Default 40, Max 80)	yes

Note: max_id and since_id for next and previous pages are provided in the Link header. It is not possible to use the id of the returned objects to construct your own URLs, because the results are sorted by an internal key.

Returns an array of Accounts blocked by the authenticated user.

Domain blocks

Fetching a user's blocked domains:

GET /api/v1/domain_blocks

Query parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
max_id	Get a list of blocks with ID less than this value	yes
since_id	Get a list of blocks with ID greater than this value	yes
limit	Maximum number of blocks to get (Default 40, Max 80)	yes

Note: max_id and since_id for next and previous pages are provided in the Link header. It is not possible to use the id of the returned objects to construct your own URLs, because the results are sorted by an internal key.

Returns an array of strings.

Blocking a domain

POST /api/v1/domain_blocks

Parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
domain	Domain to block	no

Returns an empty object.

Unblocking a domain

DELETE /api/v1/domain_blocks

Parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
domain	Domain to unblock	no

Returns an empty object.

Favourites

Fetching a user's favourites:

GET /api/v1/favourites

Query parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
max_id	Get a list of favourites with ID less than this value	yes
since_id	Get a list of favourites with ID greater than this value	yes
limit	Maximum number of favourites to get (Default 20, Max 40)	yes

Note: max_id and since_id for next and previous pages are provided in the Link header. It is not possible to use the id of the returned objects to construct your own URLs, because the results are sorted by an internal key.

Returns an array of Statuses favourited by the authenticated user.

Follow Requests

Fetching a list of follow requests:

GET /api/v1/follow_requests

Query parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
max_id	Get a list of follow requests with ID less than this value	yes
since_id	Get a list of follow requests with ID greater than this value	yes
limit	Maximum number of requests to get (Default 40, Max 80)	yes

Note: max_id and since_id for next and previous pages are provided in the Link header. It is not possible to use the id of the returned objects to construct your own URLs, because the results are sorted by an internal key.

Returns an array of Accounts which have requested to follow the authenticated user.

Authorizing or rejecting follow requests:

POST /api/v1/follow_requests/:id/authorize
POST /api/v1/follow_requests/:id/reject

Returns an empty object.

Follows

Following a remote user:

POST /api/v1/follows

Form data:

Field	Description	Optional
uri	username@domain of the person you want to follow	no

Returns the local representation of the followed account, as an Account.

Instances

Getting current instance information:

GET /api/v1/instance

Returns the current Instance.

Does not require authentication.

Getting current instance's custom emojis:

GET /api/v1/custom_emojis

Returns a list of Emoji

Does not require authentication.

Lists

Retrieving lists

GET /api/v1/lists

Returns at most 50 Lists without pagination.

Retrieving lists by membership

GET /api/v1/accounts/:id/lists

Returns at most 50 Lists without pagination.

Retrieving accounts in a list

GET /api/v1/lists/:id/accounts

Returns Accounts in the list. If you specify limit=0 in the query, all accounts will be returned without pagination. Otherwise, standard account pagination rules apply.

Retrieving a list

GET /api/v1/lists/:id

Returns the specified List.

Creating and updating a list

POST /api/v1/lists
PUT /api/v1/lists/:id

Form data:

Field	Description	Optional
title	The title of the list	no

Returns a new or updated List.

Deleting a list

DELETE /api/v1/lists/:id

Returns an empty object.

Adding/removing accounts to/from a list

POST /api/v1/lists/:id/accounts
DELETE /api/v1/lists/:id/accounts

Form data:

Field	Description	Optional
account_ids	Array of account IDs	no

Note: Only accounts already followed by the authenticated user can be added to a list.

Returns an empty object.

Media

Uploading a media attachment:

POST /api/v1/media

Form data:

Field	Description	Optional
file	Media to be uploaded (encoded using multipart/form-data)	no
description	A plain-text description of the media, for accessibility (max 420 chars)	yes
focus	Focal point: Two floating points, comma-delimited	yes

Returns an Attachment that can be used when creating a status.

Updating a media attachment:

PUT /api/v1/media/:id

Form data:

Field	Description	Optional
description	A plain-text description of the media, for accessibility (max 420 chars)	yes
focus	Focal point: Two floating points, comma-delimited	yes

Can only be done before the media is attached to a status. Returns an Attachment that can be used when creating a status.

Focal points

Server-side preview images are never cropped, to support a variety of apps and user interfaces. Therefore, the cropping must be done by those apps. To crop intelligently, focal points can be used to ensure a certain section of the image is always within the cropped viewport. See this for how to let users select focal point coordinates.

Mutes

Fetching a user's mutes:

GET /api/v1/mutes

Query parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
max_id	Get a list of mutes with ID less than this value	yes
since_id	Get a list of mutes with ID greater than this value	yes
limit	Maximum number of mutes to get (Default 40, Max 80)	yes

Note: max_id and since_id for next and previous pages are provided in the Link header. It is not possible to use the id of the returned objects to construct your own URLs, because the results are sorted by an internal key.

Returns an array of Accounts muted by the authenticated user.

Notifications

Fetching a user's notifications:

GET /api/v1/notifications

Query parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
max_id	Get a list of notifications with ID less than this value	yes
since_id	Get a list of notifications with ID greater than this value	yes
limit	Maximum number of notifications to get (Default 15, Max 30)	yes
exclude_types	Array of notifications to exclude (Allowed values: "follow", "favourite", "reblog", "mention")	yes

Note: max_id and since_id for next and previous pages are provided in the Link header. However, it is possible to use the id of the returned objects to construct your own URLs.

Returns a list of Notifications for the authenticated user.

Getting a single notification:

GET /api/v1/notifications/:id

Returns the Notification.

Clearing notifications:

POST /api/v1/notifications/clear

Deletes all notifications from the Mastodon server for the authenticated user. Returns an empty object.

Dismissing a single notification:

POST /api/v1/notifications/dismiss

Form data:

Field	Description	Optional
id	Notification ID	no

Deletes a single notification from the Mastodon server for the authenticated user. Returns an empty object.

Reports

Fetching a user's reports:

GET /api/v1/reports

Returns a list of Reports made by the authenticated user. (This method is not entirely implemented and contains no useful information at this point)

Reporting a user:

POST /api/v1/reports

Form data:

Field	Description	Optional
account_id	The ID of the account to report	no
status_ids	The IDs of statuses to report (can be an array)	no
comment	A comment to associate with the report (up to 1000 characters)	no

Returns the finished Report.

Search

Searching for content:

GET /api/v1/search

Form data:

Field	Description	Optional
q	The search query	no
resolve	Whether to resolve non-local accounts (default: don't resolve)	yes

Returns Results.

If q is a URL, Mastodon will attempt to fetch the provided account or status. Otherwise, it will do a local account and hashtag search.

Statuses

Fetching a status:

GET /api/v1/statuses/:id

Returns a Status.

Does not require authentication.

Getting status context:

GET /api/v1/statuses/:id/context

Returns a Context.

Does not require authentication.

Getting a card associated with a status:

GET /api/v1/statuses/:id/card

Returns a Card.

Does not require authentication.

Getting who reblogged/favourited a status:

GET /api/v1/statuses/:id/reblogged_by
GET /api/v1/statuses/:id/favourited_by

Query parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
max_id	Get a list of reblogged/favourited with ID less than this value	yes
since_id	Get a list of reblogged/favourited with ID greater than this value	yes
limit	Maximum number of reblogged/favourited to get (Default 40, Max 80)	yes

Note: max_id and since_id for next and previous pages are provided in the Link header. It is not possible to use the id of the returned objects to construct your own URLs, because the results are sorted by an internal key.

Returns an array of Accounts.

Does not require authentication.

Posting a new status:

POST /api/v1/statuses

Form data:

Field	Description	Optional
status	The text of the status	no
in_reply_to_id	local ID of the status you want to reply to	yes
media_ids	Array of media IDs to attach to the status (maximum 4)	yes
sensitive	Set this to mark the media of the status as NSFW	yes
spoiler_text	Text to be shown as a warning before the actual content	yes
visibility	Either "direct", "private", "unlisted" or "public"	yes

Returns the new Status.

Deleting a status:

DELETE /api/v1/statuses/:id

Returns an empty object.

Reblogging/unreblogging a status:

POST /api/v1/statuses/:id/reblog
POST /api/v1/statuses/:id/unreblog

Reblog: Returns the reblog Status.

Unreblog: Returns the target Status.

Favouriting/unfavouriting a status:

POST /api/v1/statuses/:id/favourite
POST /api/v1/statuses/:id/unfavourite

Returns the target Status.

Pinning/unpinning a status:

POST /api/v1/statuses/:id/pin
POST /api/v1/statuses/:id/unpin

Returns the target Status.

Muting/unmuting a conversation of a status

POST /api/v1/statuses/:id/mute
POST /api/v1/statuses/:id/unmute

Only makes sense for statuses featured inside notifications directed at the user. Muting a status will prevent replies to it, favourites and replies of it from appearing in the user's notifications.

Returns the target Status.

Timelines

Retrieving a timeline:

GET /api/v1/timelines/home
GET /api/v1/timelines/public
GET /api/v1/timelines/tag/:hashtag
GET /api/v1/timelines/list/:list_id

Query parameters:

Field	Description	Optional
local	Only return statuses originating from this instance (public and tag timelines only)	yes
only_media	Only return statuses that have media attachments	yes
max_id	Get a list of timelines with ID less than this value	yes
since_id	Get a list of timelines with ID greater than this value	yes
limit	Maximum number of statuses on the requested timeline to get (Default 20, Max 40)	yes

Note: max_id and since_id for next and previous pages are provided in the Link header. However, it is possible to use the id of the returned objects to construct your own URLs.

Returns an array of Statuses, most recent ones first.

Public and tag timelines do not require authentication.

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Entities

Note: Some attributes in the entity payload can have null value and are marked as nullable on the tables below. Attributes that are not nullable are guaranteed to return a valid value.

Account

Attribute	Description	Nullable
id	The ID of the account	no
username	The username of the account	no
acct	Equals username for local users, includes @domain for remote ones	no
display_name	The account's display name	no
locked	Boolean for when the account cannot be followed without waiting for approval first	no
created_at	The time the account was created	no
followers_count	The number of followers for the account	no
following_count	The number of accounts the given account is following	no
statuses_count	The number of statuses the account has made	no
note	Biography of user	no
url	URL of the user's profile page (can be remote)	no
avatar	URL to the avatar image	no
avatar_static	URL to the avatar static image (gif)	no
header	URL to the header image	no
header_static	URL to the header static image (gif)	no
moved	If the owner decided to switch accounts, new account is in this attribute	yes

Application

Attribute	Description	Nullable
name	Name of the app	no
website	Homepage URL of the app	yes

Attachment

Attribute	Description	Nullable
id	ID of the attachment	no
type	One of: "image", "video", "gifv", "unknown"	no
url	URL of the locally hosted version of the image	no
remote_url	For remote images, the remote URL of the original image	yes
preview_url	URL of the preview image	no
text_url	Shorter URL for the image, for insertion into text (only present on local images)	yes
meta	See attachment metadata below	yes
description	A description of the image for the visually impaired (maximum 420 characters), or null if none provided	yes

Attachment metadata:

May contain small and original (referring to the preview and the original file). Images may contain width, height, size, aspect, while videos (including GIFV) may contain width, height, frame_rate, duration and bitrate. There may be another top-level object, focus with the coordinates x and y. These coordinates can be used for smart thumbnail cropping, see this for reference.

Note: When the type is "unknown", it is likely only remote_url is available and local url is missing

Card

Attribute	Description	Nullable
url	The url associated with the card	no
title	The title of the card	no
description	The card description	no
image	The image associated with the card, if any	yes
type	"link", "photo", "video", or "rich"	no
author_name	OEmbed data	yes
author_url	OEmbed data	yes
provider_name	OEmbed data	yes
provider_url	OEmbed data	yes
html	OEmbed data	yes
width	OEmbed data	yes
height	OEmbed data	yes

Context

Attribute	Description	Nullable
ancestors	The ancestors of the status in the conversation, as a list of Statuses	no
descendants	The descendants of the status in the conversation, as a list of Statuses	no

Emoji

Attribute	Description	Nullable
shortcode	The shortcode of the emoji	no
static_url	URL to the emoji static image	no
url	URL to the emoji image	no

Error

The most important part of an error response is the HTTP status code. Standard semantics are followed. The body of an error is a JSON object with this structure:

Attribute	Description	Nullable
error	A textual description of the error	no

Instance

Attribute	Description	Nullable
uri	URI of the current instance	no
title	The instance's title	no
description	A description for the instance	no
email	An email address which can be used to contact the instance administrator	no
version	The Mastodon version used by instance.	no
urls	streaming_api	no
languages	Array of ISO 6391 language codes the instance has chosen to advertise	no
contact_account	Account of the admin or another contact person	no

List

Attribute	Description	Nullable
id	ID of the list	no
title	Title of the list	no

Mention

Attribute	Description	Nullable
url	URL of user's profile (can be remote)	no
username	The username of the account	no
acct	Equals username for local users, includes @domain for remote ones	no
id	Account ID	no

Notification

Attribute	Description	Nullable
id	The notification ID	no
type	One of: "mention", "reblog", "favourite", "follow"	no
created_at	The time the notification was created	no
account	The Account sending the notification to the user	no
status	The Status associated with the notification, if applicable	yes

Relationship

Attribute	Description	Nullable
id	Target account id	no
following	Whether the user is currently following the account	no
followed_by	Whether the user is currently being followed by the account	no
blocking	Whether the user is currently blocking the account	no
muting	Whether the user is currently muting the account	no
muting_notifications	Whether the user is also muting notifications	no
requested	Whether the user has requested to follow the account	no
domain_blocking	Whether the user is currently blocking the accounts's domain	no

Report

Attribute	Description	Nullable
id	The ID of the report	no
action_taken	The action taken in response to the report	no

Results

Attribute	Description	Nullable
accounts	An array of matched Accounts	no
statuses	An array of matched Statuses	no
hashtags	An array of matched hashtags, as strings	no

Status

Attribute	Description	Nullable
id	The ID of the status	no
uri	A Fediverse-unique resource ID	no
url	URL to the status page (can be remote)	no
account	The Account which posted the status	no
in_reply_to_id	null or the ID of the status it replies to	yes
in_reply_to_account_id	null or the ID of the account it replies to	yes
reblog	null or the reblogged Status	yes
content	Body of the status; this will contain HTML (remote HTML already sanitized)	no
created_at	The time the status was created	no
emojis	An array of Emoji	no
reblogs_count	The number of reblogs for the status	no
favourites_count	The number of favourites for the status	no
reblogged	Whether the authenticated user has reblogged the status	yes
favourited	Whether the authenticated user has favourited the status	yes
muted	Whether the authenticated user has muted the conversation this status from	yes
sensitive	Whether media attachments should be hidden by default	no
spoiler_text	If not empty, warning text that should be displayed before the actual content	no
visibility	One of: public, unlisted, private, direct	no
media_attachments	An array of Attachments	no
mentions	An array of Mentions	no
tags	An array of Tags	no
application	Application from which the status was posted	yes
language	The detected language for the status, if detected	yes
pinned	Whether this is the pinned status for the account that posted it	yes

NOTE: When spoiler_text is present, sensitive is true

Tag

Attribute	Description	Nullable
name	The hashtag, not including the preceding #	no
url	The URL of the hashtag	no