iNaturalist Messages API

openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  title: iNaturalist Annotations Messages API
  description: '# https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/


    [iNaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org/) is a global community of

    naturalists, scientists, and members of the public sharing over a million

    wildlife sightings to teach one another about the natural world while

    creating high quality citizen science data for science and conservation.


    These API methods return data in JSON/JSONP and PNG response formats. They

    are meant to supplement the existing [iNaturalist

    API](https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/api+reference), implemented in Ruby

    on Rails, which has more functionality and supports more write operations,

    but tends to be slower and have less consistent response formats. Visit our

    [developers page](https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/developers) for more

    information. Write operations that expect and return JSON describe a single

    `body` parameter that represents the request body, which should be specified

    as JSON. See the "Model" of each body parameter for attributes that we

    accept in these JSON objects.


    Multiple values for a single URL parameter should be separated by commas,

    e.g. `taxon_id=1,2,3`.


    Map tiles are generated using the

    [node-mapnik](https://github.com/mapnik/node-mapnik) library, following the

    XYZ map tiling scheme. The "Observation Tile" methods accept nearly all the

    parameters of the observation search APIs, and will generate map tiles

    reflecting the same observations returned by searches. These

    "Observation Tile" methods have corresponding

    [UTFGrid](https://github.com/mapbox/utfgrid-spec) JSON

    responses which return information needed to make interactive maps.


    Authentication in the Node API is handled via JSON Web Tokens (JWT). To

    obtain one, make an [OAuth-authenticated

    request](http://www.inaturalist.org/pages/api+reference#auth) to

    https://www.inaturalist.org/users/api_token. Each JWT will expire after 24

    hours. Authentication required for all PUT and POST requests. Some GET

    requests will also include private information like hidden coordinates if

    the authenticated user has permission to view them.


    Photos served from https://static.inaturalist.org and

    https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com have multiple size

    variants and not all size variants are returned in responses. To access

    other sizes, the photo URL can be modified to replace only the size

    qualifier (each variant shares the exact same extension). The domain a photo

    is hosted under reflects the license under which the photo is being shared,

    and the domain may change over time if the license changes. Photos in

    the `inaturalist-open-data` domain are shared under open licenses. These can

    be accessed in bulk in the [iNaturalist AWS Open Dataset](

    https://registry.opendata.aws/inaturalist-open-data/). Photos in the

    `static.inaturalist.org` domain do not have open licenses.


    The available photo sizes are:

    * original (max 2048px in either dimension)

    * large (max 1024px in either dimension)

    * medium (max 500px in either dimension)

    * small (max 240px in either dimension)

    * thumb (max 100px in either dimension)

    * square (75px square)


    iNaturalist Website: https://www.inaturalist.org/


    Open Source Software: https://github.com/inaturalist/


    ## Terms of Use


    Use of this API is subject to the iNaturalist

    [Terms of Service](https://www.inaturalist.org/terms) and

    [Privacy Policy](https://www.inaturalist.org/privacy). We will block any

    use of our API that violates our Terms or Privacy Policy without notice.

    The API is intended to support application development, not data scraping.

    For pre- generated data exports, see

    https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/developers.


    Please note that we throttle API usage to a max of 100 requests per minute,

    though we ask that you try to keep it to 60 requests per minute or lower,

    and to keep under 10,000 requests per day. If we notice usage that has

    serious impact on our performance we may institute blocks without

    notification.


    Terms of Service: https://www.inaturalist.org/terms


    Privacy Policy: https://www.inaturalist.org/privacy

    '
  version: 1.3.0
servers:
- url: /v1
tags:
- name: Messages
  description: Create, fetch, delete
paths:
  /messages:
    get:
      summary: Retrieve messages for the authenticated user. This does not mark them as read.
      description: Show the user's inbox or sent box
      parameters:
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/page'
      - name: box
        in: query
        description: Whether to view messages the user has received (default) or messages the user has sent
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - inbox
          - sent
          - any
          default: inbox
      - name: q
        in: query
        description: Search query for subject and body
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: user_id
        in: query
        description: User ID or username of correspondent to filter by
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: threads
        in: query
        description: 'Groups results by `thread_id`, only shows the latest message per

          thread, and includes a `thread_messages_count` attribute showing the

          total number of messages in that thread. Note that this will not

          work with the `q` param, and it probably should only be used with

          `box=any` because the `thread_messages_count` will be inaccurate when

          you restrict it to `inbox` or `sent`.

          '
        schema:
          type: boolean
          default: false
      tags:
      - Messages
      security:
      - api_token: []
      responses:
        '200':
          description: OK
        default:
          description: 'Returns an object with metadata and an array of messages

            '
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/MessagesResponse'
    post:
      summary: Create a new message
      description: Create and deliver a new message to another user
      tags:
      - Messages
      security:
      - api_token: []
      responses:
        '200':
          description: 'Returns the message just created

            '
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Message'
        default:
          description: Unexpected error
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/PostMessage'
  /messages/{id}:
    get:
      summary: Retrieve messages in a thread
      description: 'Retrieves all messages in the thread the specified message belongs to

        and marks them all as read.

        '
      tags:
      - Messages
      security:
      - api_token: []
      parameters:
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/path_id'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: 'Returns an object with metadata and an array of messages

            '
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                properties:
                  reply_to_user:
                    description: User to reply to
                    $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
                  thread_id:
                    description: Identifier for this thread
                    type: integer
                  flaggable_message_id:
                    description: 'Identifier for the message that should be flagged if the user

                      chooses to flag this thread

                      '
                    type: integer
                  results:
                    type: array
                    items:
                      $ref: '#/components/schemas/Message'
        default:
          description: Unexpected error
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
    delete:
      summary: Delete a message / thread
      description: 'This will all of the authenticated user''s copies of the messages in tha

        thread to which the specified message belongs.

        '
      tags:
      - Messages
      security:
      - api_token: []
      parameters:
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/path_id'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: 'No return data, 200 just means deletion was successful

            '
        '404':
          description: 'Specified message doesn''t exist

            '
        default:
          description: Unexpected error
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
  /messages/unread:
    get:
      summary: Gets a count of messages the authenticated user has not read
      tags:
      - Messages
      security:
      - api_token: []
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Number of unread messages
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                properties:
                  count:
                    type: integer
                    description: Number of unread messages
        default:
          description: Unexpected error
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
components:
  parameters:
    path_id:
      name: id
      in: path
      required: true
      description: ID of the record
      schema:
        type: integer
    page:
      name: page
      in: query
      description: Pagination `page` number
      schema:
        type: string
  schemas:
    User:
      type: object
      properties:
        created_at:
          type: string
          format: date-time
        id:
          type: integer
        icon:
          type: string
        icon_url:
          type: string
        identifications_count:
          type: integer
        journal_posts_count:
          type: integer
        login:
          type: string
        name:
          type: string
        observations_count:
          type: integer
        orcid:
          type: string
        roles:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
            enum:
            - admin
            - app owner
            - curator
        site_id:
          type: integer
        species_count:
          type: integer
        spam:
          type: boolean
        suspended:
          type: boolean
    MessagesResponse:
      allOf:
      - $ref: '#/components/schemas/BaseResponse'
      - required:
        - results
        properties:
          results:
            type: array
            items:
              $ref: '#/components/schemas/Message'
    Error:
      type: object
      properties:
        code:
          type: integer
        message:
          type: string
    Message:
      type: object
      properties:
        id:
          type: integer
        subject:
          type: string
        body:
          type: string
        user_id:
          type: integer
          description: 'ID of the user to whom this message belongs. Messages work like email,

            so the sender gets a copy and the recipient gets a copy of each

            message. This is always the authenticated user, so there''s no real

            need for a full user object.

            '
        to_user:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
        from_user:
          $ref: '#/components/schemas/User'
        thread_id:
          type: integer
          description: 'Identifier for the message thread, generally the ID of the sender''s

            copy of the first message

            '
        thread_messages_count:
          type: integer
          description: 'Number of messages in this thread. Only included when threads=true

            '
        thread_flags:
          type: array
          description: 'Array of flags on messages in this thread. Only included when

            threads=true

            '
          items:
            type: object
    PostMessage:
      type: object
      properties:
        message:
          type: object
          properties:
            to_user_id:
              type: integer
              description: User ID of the recipient
            thread_id:
              type: integer
              description: 'Identifier for the thread. Should be blank for new threads,

                but when replying to an existing message, it should be set to

                the thread_id of the message being replied to.

                '
            subject:
              type: string
              description: Subject of the message
            body:
              type: string
              description: Body of the message
    BaseResponse:
      type: object
      properties:
        total_results:
          type: integer
        page:
          type: integer
        per_page:
          type: integer
  securitySchemes:
    api_token:
      type: apiKey
      name: Authorization
      in: header