Clerk Users API

openapi: 3.0.3
info:
  title: Clerk Backend Allowlist & Blocklist Users API
  description: 'The Clerk Backend API manages Clerk''s authentication and user management resources server-side: users, organizations and memberships, sessions, clients, sign-ups, JWT templates, JWKS, email/SMS verification and templates, allowlist/blocklist identifiers, invitations, SAML/enterprise connections, OAuth applications, and Svix-powered webhooks. The base URL is https://api.clerk.com/v1 and every request (except GET /jwks and the public interstitial) is authenticated with your instance Secret Key passed as `Authorization: Bearer sk_...`. This description is grounded in Clerk''s published OpenAPI spec (github.com/clerk/openapi-specs, bapi) but is a curated subset covering the primary resource groups; it does not enumerate every parameter or schema property. Verify the current version-dated spec on GitHub for the authoritative contract.'
  version: '2026-05-12'
  contact:
    name: Clerk
    url: https://clerk.com
  license:
    name: Clerk Documentation
    url: https://clerk.com/docs
servers:
- url: https://api.clerk.com/v1
  description: Clerk Backend API
security:
- bearerAuth: []
tags:
- name: Users
  description: Create and manage users and their identities.
paths:
  /users:
    get:
      operationId: getUserList
      tags:
      - Users
      summary: List all users
      description: Returns a list of users, filterable and paginated with limit/offset and query parameters.
      parameters:
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/Limit'
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/Offset'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: A list of users.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: array
                items:
                  $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized'
    post:
      operationId: createUser
      tags:
      - Users
      summary: Create a user
      description: Creates a new user. Your instance must be configured for the identifiers supplied.
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/CreateUser'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: The created user.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
        '401':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized'
        '422':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/ValidationError'
  /users/count:
    get:
      operationId: getUsersCount
      tags:
      - Users
      summary: Count users
      description: Returns a total count of users matching the given filters.
      responses:
        '200':
          description: The total user count.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: object
                properties:
                  object:
                    type: string
                  total_count:
                    type: integer
        '401':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized'
  /users/{user_id}:
    parameters:
    - $ref: '#/components/parameters/UserId'
    get:
      operationId: getUser
      tags:
      - Users
      summary: Retrieve a user
      responses:
        '200':
          description: The requested user.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
        '404':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/NotFound'
    patch:
      operationId: updateUser
      tags:
      - Users
      summary: Update a user
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              additionalProperties: true
      responses:
        '200':
          description: The updated user.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
        '404':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/NotFound'
    delete:
      operationId: deleteUser
      tags:
      - Users
      summary: Delete a user
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Deletion confirmation.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/DeletedObject'
        '404':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/NotFound'
  /users/{user_id}/ban:
    parameters:
    - $ref: '#/components/parameters/UserId'
    post:
      operationId: banUser
      tags:
      - Users
      summary: Ban a user
      description: Marks the user as banned, preventing them from signing in.
      responses:
        '200':
          description: The banned user.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
  /users/{user_id}/unban:
    parameters:
    - $ref: '#/components/parameters/UserId'
    post:
      operationId: unbanUser
      tags:
      - Users
      summary: Unban a user
      responses:
        '200':
          description: The unbanned user.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
  /users/{user_id}/lock:
    parameters:
    - $ref: '#/components/parameters/UserId'
    post:
      operationId: lockUser
      tags:
      - Users
      summary: Lock a user
      responses:
        '200':
          description: The locked user.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
  /users/{user_id}/unlock:
    parameters:
    - $ref: '#/components/parameters/UserId'
    post:
      operationId: unlockUser
      tags:
      - Users
      summary: Unlock a user
      responses:
        '200':
          description: The unlocked user.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
  /users/{user_id}/metadata:
    parameters:
    - $ref: '#/components/parameters/UserId'
    patch:
      operationId: updateUserMetadata
      tags:
      - Users
      summary: Merge and update user metadata
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/Metadata'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: The updated user.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
  /users/{user_id}/verify_password:
    parameters:
    - $ref: '#/components/parameters/UserId'
    post:
      operationId: verifyPassword
      tags:
      - Users
      summary: Verify a user's password
      requestBody:
        required: true
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              properties:
                password:
                  type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Verification result.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: object
                properties:
                  verified:
                    type: boolean
components:
  parameters:
    Limit:
      name: limit
      in: query
      required: false
      description: Number of results to return (1-500, default 10).
      schema:
        type: integer
        default: 10
    Offset:
      name: offset
      in: query
      required: false
      description: Number of results to skip for pagination.
      schema:
        type: integer
        default: 0
    UserId:
      name: user_id
      in: path
      required: true
      description: The ID of the user.
      schema:
        type: string
  schemas:
    Metadata:
      type: object
      properties:
        public_metadata:
          type: object
          additionalProperties: true
        private_metadata:
          type: object
          additionalProperties: true
        unsafe_metadata:
          type: object
          additionalProperties: true
    CreateUser:
      type: object
      properties:
        email_address:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        phone_number:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        username:
          type: string
        first_name:
          type: string
        last_name:
          type: string
        password:
          type: string
        skip_password_checks:
          type: boolean
        public_metadata:
          type: object
          additionalProperties: true
    DeletedObject:
      type: object
      properties:
        object:
          type: string
        id:
          type: string
        deleted:
          type: boolean
    ClerkErrors:
      type: object
      properties:
        errors:
          type: array
          items:
            type: object
            properties:
              message:
                type: string
              long_message:
                type: string
              code:
                type: string
        clerk_trace_id:
          type: string
    User:
      type: object
      properties:
        id:
          type: string
        object:
          type: string
        username:
          type: string
          nullable: true
        first_name:
          type: string
          nullable: true
        last_name:
          type: string
          nullable: true
        primary_email_address_id:
          type: string
          nullable: true
        banned:
          type: boolean
        locked:
          type: boolean
        two_factor_enabled:
          type: boolean
        public_metadata:
          type: object
          additionalProperties: true
        created_at:
          type: integer
        updated_at:
          type: integer
  responses:
    ValidationError:
      description: The request payload failed validation.
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ClerkErrors'
    Unauthorized:
      description: Missing or invalid Secret Key.
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ClerkErrors'
    NotFound:
      description: The requested resource was not found.
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ClerkErrors'
  securitySchemes:
    bearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      description: 'Your Clerk instance Secret Key (starts with sk_test_ or sk_live_) passed as `Authorization: Bearer YOUR_SECRET_KEY`.'