Deprecation
As of NodeBB v1.15.0, this plugin is deprecated and has entered maintenance mode. You can of course still use this plugin with versions of v1.15.x and beyond, and I will continue to ensure it is compatible; however new features will not be added.
Please see this blog post for more information
New users are recommended to use the built-in Write API that comes with NodeBB v1.15.0 and up.
Write API
This plugin exposes a write enabled API interface for NodeBB. It is useful if you would like to supplment the built-in read-only API, in order to push items/actions/events to NodeBB.
For example, without this plugin, one can easily retrieve the contents of a post by prefixing api/ to the corresponding route. (e.g. https://community.nodebb.org/api/topic/687/help-translate-nodebb/2).
With this plugin, however, you can create content on NodeBB externally (new topics, new posts, etc), which comes in handy when third-party applications want deeper integration with NodeBB.
Installation
Install this plugin via the plugins page in the ACP.
Alternatively:
$ cd /path/to/nodebb/node_modules
$ git clone git@github.com:NodeBB/nodebb-plugin-write-api.git
$ cd nodebb-plugin-write-api
$ npm i
In both methods, you will need to ./nodebb build before (re-)starting your NodeBB forum.
API Resources
Quick Start
- Install and activate the plugin, reload NodeBB
- Generate your uid an API token in the ACP page
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer {YOUR_TOKEN}" --data "title={TITLE}&content={CONTENT}&cid={CID}" http://localhost:4567/api/v1/topics
Authentication
Authentication is handled either via HTTP Bearer Token or JSON Web Token, as generated/specified in the Write API.
Bearer Tokens
There are two types of tokens:
- A user token is associated with a specific uid, and all calls made are made in the name of that user
- A master token is not associated with any specific uid, though a
_uidparameter is required in the request, and then all calls are made in the name of that user.
This is the only difference between the two tokens. A master token with_uidset to a non-administrator will not allow you to make administrative calls.
Note: The first token can be generated via the administration page (admin/plugins/write-api), or via the token generation route (POST /api/v1/users/{UID}/tokens) by sending in a password, but additional user tokens can be generated using an existing user/master token.
JSON Web Tokens
JSON Web Tokens are an open, industry standard RFC 7519 method for representing claims securely between two parties.
To make requests with a JSON Web Token instead of a user/master token, sign the entire request payload with the same secret as defined in the plugin, and either send it in the POST body, or as a query string parameter. In both cases, the key token is used.
For example,
$ curl http://localhost:4567/api/v1/users/1/tokens?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJfdWlkIjoxfQ.pbm5wbAZ4__yFh5y8oeCsJyT0dm8ROcd5SEBr4yGlNw # secret is 'secret'
Error Handling
When the API encounters an error, it will do it's best to report what went wrong. Errors will follow the format specified in this example:
{
"code": "not-authorised",
"message": "You are not authorised to make this call",
"params": {}
}
Changelog
v5.0
- Introduced v2 router with breaking changes to some routes (see
api/v2Endpoints for more information) - Additional validation for post routes in v2 router only
v4.6
- Bug fixes
- Allowing users to generate token via password input (only in token generation route)
v4.5
- Bug fixes
- Updated integration with NodeBB so that privileged assets in NodeBB (e.g.
/unread) can be retrieved for a user via user/master tokens
v4.2
- Fix bug with topic deletion
- Introduced support for category enable/disable, and category purge (deletion)
v4.1
- Allow addition of tags when creating topics
- Handling post deletion via API
v3.x to v4.x
- Made compatible with NodeBB v1.0.0
v3.1
- Introduced support for JSON Web Tokens
v2.x to v3.x
users/routes now take a uid instead of a userslug. This affects the following routes:PUT /api/v1/users/:userslug->PUT /api/v1/users/:uidPOST /api/v1/users/:userslug/follow->POST /api/v1/users/:uid/followDELETE /api/v1/users/:userslug/follow->DELETE /api/v1/users/:uid/follow