dotCMS Categories API

openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  title: dotCMS REST Categories API
  version: '3'
  description: Content categorization and taxonomy
servers:
- url: /
  description: dotCMS Server
tags:
- name: Categories
  description: Content categorization and taxonomy
paths:
  /api/v1/categories:
    get:
      tags:
      - Categories
      summary: Get paginated list of categories
      description: Returns a paginated list of categories. Supports filtering by name, sorting, and optionally including the count of child categories for each result.
      operationId: getCategories
      parameters:
      - name: filter
        in: query
        description: Filter string to match against category names
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: page
        in: query
        description: Page number (zero-based)
        schema:
          type: integer
          format: int32
      - name: per_page
        in: query
        description: Number of items per page
        schema:
          type: integer
          format: int32
      - name: orderby
        in: query
        description: Field to order results by
        schema:
          type: string
          default: category_name
      - name: direction
        in: query
        description: 'Sort direction: ASC or DESC'
        schema:
          type: string
          default: ASC
      - name: showChildrenCount
        in: query
        description: Whether to include children count for each category
        schema:
          type: boolean
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Paginated categories retrieved successfully
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ResponseEntityCategoryView'
        '401':
          description: Authentication required
        '403':
          description: Insufficient permissions
    put:
      tags:
      - Categories
      summary: Update an existing category
      description: Updates a working version of an existing category. The form must contain the inode of the category to update.
      operationId: updateCategory
      requestBody:
        description: Category form with updated properties including inode
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/CategoryForm'
        required: true
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Category updated successfully
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ResponseEntityCategoryView'
        '400':
          description: Bad request
        '401':
          description: Authentication required
        '403':
          description: Insufficient permissions to update categories
        '404':
          description: Category not found
    post:
      tags:
      - Categories
      summary: Create a new category
      description: Creates a new category using the provided form data. The category name is required.
      operationId: createCategory
      requestBody:
        description: Category form with name and properties
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/CategoryForm'
        required: true
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Category created successfully
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ResponseEntityCategoryView'
        '400':
          description: Bad request — category name is required
        '401':
          description: Authentication required
        '403':
          description: Insufficient permissions
    delete:
      tags:
      - Categories
      summary: Delete categories by inodes
      description: Deletes one or more categories and all their descendants at every depth. EDIT permission is validated on each selected category and every descendant before anything is deleted; a category that fails validation is skipped whole. Accepts a JSON array of category inodes. Inodes that could not be deleted are reported in the `fails` list of the result with the failure reason (category does not exist, insufficient permissions, or a permission-protected descendant). `successCount` counts the requested inodes that were deleted, while `deletedCount` counts every category actually removed, descendants included.
      operationId: deleteCategories
      requestBody:
        description: JSON payload containing a list of the inodes of categories to delete.
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: array
              items:
                type: string
        required: true
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Bulk delete result returned
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ResponseEntityCategoryBulkDeleteResultView'
        '400':
          description: Bad request
        '401':
          description: Authentication required
        '403':
          description: Insufficient permissions
  /api/v1/categories/_export:
    get:
      tags:
      - Categories
      summary: Export categories as CSV
      description: Exports categories to a CSV file. Optionally filter by name and scope to a parent category inode.
      operationId: exportCategories
      parameters:
      - name: contextInode
        in: query
        description: Context category inode to export from
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: filter
        in: query
        description: Filter pattern to match category names
        schema:
          type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          description: CSV file streamed successfully
          content:
            text/csv: {}
        '401':
          description: Authentication required
        '403':
          description: Insufficient permissions
        '404':
          description: Context category not found
  /api/v1/categories/{idOrKey}:
    get:
      tags:
      - Categories
      summary: Get a category by ID or key
      description: Retrieves a single category by either its inode (ID) or its unique key. First attempts to find by inode; if not found, searches by key.
      operationId: getCategoryByIdOrKey
      parameters:
      - name: idOrKey
        in: path
        description: Category ID (inode) or key
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: showChildrenCount
        in: query
        description: Whether to include children count
        schema:
          type: boolean
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Category retrieved successfully
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ResponseEntityCategoryView'
        '400':
          description: Bad request — idOrKey is required
        '401':
          description: Authentication required
        '404':
          description: Category not found
  /api/v1/categories/children:
    get:
      tags:
      - Categories
      summary: Get children of a category
      description: Returns a paginated list of child categories for the specified parent category inode. When 'allLevels' is true, returns categories at any depth; otherwise only immediate children.
      operationId: getCategoryChildren
      parameters:
      - name: filter
        in: query
        description: Filter text to search child categories
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: page
        in: query
        description: Page number for pagination
        schema:
          type: integer
          format: int32
      - name: per_page
        in: query
        description: Number of items per page
        schema:
          type: integer
          format: int32
      - name: orderby
        in: query
        description: Field to order results by
        schema:
          type: string
          default: category_name
      - name: direction
        in: query
        description: Sort direction (ASC or DESC)
        schema:
          type: string
          default: ASC
      - name: inode
        in: query
        description: Parent category inode to get children for
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: showChildrenCount
        in: query
        description: Whether to include children count for each category
        schema:
          type: boolean
      - name: allLevels
        in: query
        description: Whether to include all nested levels
        schema:
          type: boolean
      - name: parentList
        in: query
        description: Whether to include parent list hierarchy
        schema:
          type: boolean
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Children categories retrieved successfully
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ResponseEntityCategoryWithChildCountView'
        '400':
          description: Bad request
        '401':
          description: Authentication required
        '403':
          description: Insufficient permissions
        '404':
          description: Parent category not found
  /api/v1/categories/hierarchy:
    post:
      tags:
      - Categories
      summary: Get category hierarchy for multiple categories
      description: Retrieves the parent hierarchy for a set of categories specified by their keys. Returns parent lists for each category, starting from the top-level parent down to the direct parent. Categories that don't exist are ignored.
      operationId: getCategoryHierarchy
      requestBody:
        description: Category keys form containing array of category keys
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/CategoryKeysForm'
        required: true
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Category hierarchies retrieved successfully
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/HierarchyShortCategoriesResponseView'
        '400':
          description: Bad request - invalid category keys form
        '401':
          description: Unauthorized - user authentication required
  /api/v1/categories/_import:
    post:
      tags:
      - Categories
      summary: Import categories from a CSV file
      description: 'Imports categories from an uploaded CSV file. The ''exportType'' parameter controls the import strategy: ''replace'' deletes existing categories before importing, ''merge'' adds or updates without removing existing ones.'
      operationId: importCategories
      requestBody:
        description: CSV file containing categories to be imported.
        content:
          multipart/form-data:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/CategoryImportFormSchema'
        required: true
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Import result returned
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ResponseEntityBulkResultView'
        '400':
          description: Bad request or invalid file
        '401':
          description: Authentication required
        '403':
          description: Insufficient permissions
  /api/v1/categories/_sort:
    put:
      tags:
      - Categories
      summary: Update category sort order
      description: Updates the sort order of one or more existing categories.
      operationId: updateCategorySortOrder
      requestBody:
        description: List of category inodes to delete
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/CategoryEditForm'
        required: true
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Sort order updated successfully
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ResponseEntityCategoryView'
        '400':
          description: Bad request
        '403':
          description: Insufficient permissions
        '401':
          description: Authentication required
components:
  schemas:
    CategoryImportFormSchema:
      type: object
      properties:
        filter:
          type: string
          description: Filter pattern for categories
        exportType:
          type: string
          description: Import behavior
          enum:
          - replace
          - merge
        contextInode:
          type: string
          description: Context category inode to import into
        file:
          type: string
          description: CSV file containing categories to import
          format: binary
      description: Category import form data with CSV file and processing parameters
    CategoryForm:
      required:
      - categoryName
      type: object
      properties:
        siteId:
          type: string
        inode:
          type: string
        parent:
          type: string
        description:
          type: string
        keywords:
          type: string
        key:
          type: string
        categoryName:
          type: string
        active:
          type: boolean
        sortOrder:
          type: integer
          format: int32
        categoryVelocityVarName:
          type: string
    Pagination:
      type: object
      properties:
        currentPage:
          type: integer
          format: int32
        perPage:
          type: integer
          format: int32
        totalEntries:
          type: integer
          format: int64
    ResponseEntityCategoryBulkDeleteResultView:
      type: object
      properties:
        errors:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEntity'
        entity:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/CategoryBulkDeleteResultView'
        messages:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/MessageEntity'
        i18nMessagesMap:
          type: object
          additionalProperties:
            type: string
        permissions:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        pagination:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pagination'
    FailedResultView:
      type: object
      properties:
        element:
          type: string
        errorMessage:
          type: string
    BulkResultView:
      type: object
      properties:
        successCount:
          type: integer
          format: int64
        skippedCount:
          type: integer
          format: int64
        fails:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/FailedResultView'
    CategoryView:
      type: object
      properties:
        inode:
          type: string
        parent:
          type: string
        description:
          type: string
        keywords:
          type: string
        key:
          type: string
        categoryName:
          type: string
        active:
          type: boolean
        sortOrder:
          type: integer
          format: int32
        categoryVelocityVarName:
          type: string
        modDate:
          type: string
          format: date-time
    HierarchyShortCategoriesResponseView:
      type: object
      properties:
        errors:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEntity'
        entity:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/HierarchyShortCategory'
        messages:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/MessageEntity'
        i18nMessagesMap:
          type: object
          additionalProperties:
            type: string
        permissions:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        pagination:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pagination'
    ResponseEntityCategoryView:
      type: object
      properties:
        errors:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEntity'
        entity:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/CategoryView'
        messages:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/MessageEntity'
        i18nMessagesMap:
          type: object
          additionalProperties:
            type: string
        permissions:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        pagination:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pagination'
    ResponseEntityCategoryWithChildCountView:
      type: object
      properties:
        errors:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEntity'
        entity:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/CategoryWithChildCountView'
        messages:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/MessageEntity'
        i18nMessagesMap:
          type: object
          additionalProperties:
            type: string
        permissions:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        pagination:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pagination'
    ShortCategory:
      type: object
      properties:
        name:
          type: string
        inode:
          type: string
        key:
          type: string
    CategoryBulkDeleteResultView:
      type: object
      properties:
        successCount:
          type: integer
          format: int64
        skippedCount:
          type: integer
          format: int64
        fails:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/FailedResultView'
        deletedCount:
          type: integer
          format: int64
    CategoryWithChildCountView:
      type: object
      properties:
        inode:
          type: string
        parent:
          type: string
        description:
          type: string
        keywords:
          type: string
        key:
          type: string
        categoryName:
          type: string
        active:
          type: boolean
        sortOrder:
          type: integer
          format: int32
        categoryVelocityVarName:
          type: string
        modDate:
          type: string
          format: date-time
        childrenCount:
          type: integer
          format: int32
    HierarchyShortCategory:
      type: object
      properties:
        inode:
          type: string
        name:
          type: string
        key:
          type: string
        parentList:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ShortCategory'
    ErrorEntity:
      type: object
      properties:
        errorCode:
          type: string
        message:
          type: string
        fieldName:
          type: string
    ResponseEntityBulkResultView:
      type: object
      properties:
        errors:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEntity'
        entity:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/BulkResultView'
        messages:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/MessageEntity'
        i18nMessagesMap:
          type: object
          additionalProperties:
            type: string
        permissions:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        pagination:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Pagination'
    CategoryEditForm:
      type: object
      properties:
        filter:
          type: string
        page:
          type: integer
          format: int32
        perPage:
          type: integer
          format: int32
        direction:
          type: string
        orderBy:
          type: string
        siteId:
          type: string
        parentInode:
          type: string
        categoryData:
          type: object
          additionalProperties:
            type: integer
            format: int32
    CategoryKeysForm:
      type: object
      properties:
        keys:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
    MessageEntity:
      type: object
      properties:
        message:
          type: string