Operations for retrieving, searching, and managing questions across the Stack Exchange network.
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
title: Stack Exchange Answers Questions API
description: The Stack Exchange API v2.3 provides programmatic access to the Stack Exchange network of Q&A sites, including Stack Overflow, Server Fault, Super User, and hundreds of other communities. The API supports reading and writing questions, answers, comments, tags, users, and other content. Authentication is via OAuth 2.0 with access tokens. All responses are JSON-encoded and support GZIP compression.
version: '2.3'
contact:
name: Stack Exchange API Support
url: http://stackapps.com/
email: team+api@stackexchange.com
termsOfService: https://stackexchange.com/legal/api-terms-of-use
servers:
- url: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
description: Stack Exchange API v2.3
security:
- oauth2: []
- {}
tags:
- name: Questions
description: Operations for retrieving, searching, and managing questions across the Stack Exchange network.
paths:
/questions:
get:
operationId: getQuestions
summary: Get All Questions
description: Returns the questions on a Stack Exchange site. Results are sorted by activity by default. Requires the site parameter to specify which Stack Exchange site to query.
tags:
- Questions
parameters:
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/site'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/page'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/pagesize'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/fromdate'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/todate'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/order'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/sort'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/filter'
responses:
'200':
description: A list of questions
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/QuestionsResponse'
'400':
$ref: '#/components/responses/BadRequest'
'401':
$ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized'
'502':
$ref: '#/components/responses/Throttled'
/questions/{ids}:
get:
operationId: getQuestionsByIds
summary: Get Questions by IDs
description: Returns the questions identified by a semicolon-delimited list of IDs. Maximum 100 IDs per request.
tags:
- Questions
parameters:
- name: ids
in: path
required: true
schema:
type: string
description: Semicolon-delimited list of question IDs (max 100)
example: 1;2;3
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/site'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/filter'
responses:
'200':
description: Questions matching the provided IDs
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/QuestionsResponse'
'400':
$ref: '#/components/responses/BadRequest'
'502':
$ref: '#/components/responses/Throttled'
/questions/{ids}/answers:
get:
operationId: getAnswersForQuestion
summary: Get Answers for Questions
description: Returns the answers for a set of questions identified by a semicolon-delimited list of IDs.
tags:
- Questions
parameters:
- name: ids
in: path
required: true
schema:
type: string
description: Semicolon-delimited list of question IDs
example: '12345'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/site'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/page'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/pagesize'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/order'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/sort'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/filter'
responses:
'200':
description: Answers for the specified questions
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/AnswersResponse'
'400':
$ref: '#/components/responses/BadRequest'
/questions/{ids}/comments:
get:
operationId: getCommentsOnQuestions
summary: Get Comments on Questions
description: Returns the comments on a set of questions identified by a semicolon-delimited list of IDs.
tags:
- Questions
parameters:
- name: ids
in: path
required: true
schema:
type: string
description: Semicolon-delimited list of question IDs
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/site'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/page'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/pagesize'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/order'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/filter'
responses:
'200':
description: Comments on the specified questions
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/CommentsResponse'
/questions/unanswered:
get:
operationId: getUnansweredQuestions
summary: Get Unanswered Questions
description: Returns questions that have no answers. Questions returned by this method technically have at least one answer but none of those answers have been accepted.
tags:
- Questions
parameters:
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/site'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/page'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/pagesize'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/order'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/sort'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/tagged'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/filter'
responses:
'200':
description: List of unanswered questions
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/QuestionsResponse'
/questions/featured:
get:
operationId: getFeaturedQuestions
summary: Get Featured Questions
description: Returns questions that have active bounties. Questions with bounties are featured to attract attention and answers.
tags:
- Questions
parameters:
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/site'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/page'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/pagesize'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/order'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/sort'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/tagged'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/filter'
responses:
'200':
description: List of featured questions with active bounties
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/QuestionsResponse'
/users/{ids}/questions:
get:
operationId: getQuestionsByUser
summary: Get Questions by User
description: Returns the questions asked by the users identified in the IDs parameter.
tags:
- Questions
parameters:
- name: ids
in: path
required: true
schema:
type: string
description: Semicolon-delimited list of user IDs
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/site'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/page'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/pagesize'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/order'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/sort'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/filter'
responses:
'200':
description: Questions asked by the specified users
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/QuestionsResponse'
components:
schemas:
Question:
type: object
description: A question on a Stack Exchange site
properties:
question_id:
type: integer
description: Unique identifier of the question
title:
type: string
description: The title of the question
body:
type: string
description: The HTML body of the question
body_markdown:
type: string
description: The Markdown body of the question
score:
type: integer
description: The net vote score of the question
view_count:
type: integer
description: Number of times the question has been viewed
answer_count:
type: integer
description: Number of answers the question has received
accepted_answer_id:
type: integer
description: ID of the accepted answer if one exists
is_answered:
type: boolean
description: Whether the question has an accepted answer
creation_date:
type: integer
description: Unix timestamp of when the question was created
last_activity_date:
type: integer
description: Unix timestamp of the last activity on the question
last_edit_date:
type: integer
description: Unix timestamp of the last edit
owner:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ShallowUser'
tags:
type: array
items:
type: string
description: Tags associated with the question
link:
type: string
format: uri
description: Link to the question page
closed_reason:
type: string
description: Reason the question was closed if applicable
closed_date:
type: integer
description: Unix timestamp of when the question was closed
bounty_amount:
type: integer
description: Bounty amount if an active bounty exists
bounty_closes_date:
type: integer
description: Unix timestamp when the bounty closes
QuestionsResponse:
allOf:
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Wrapper'
- type: object
properties:
items:
type: array
items:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Question'
AnswersResponse:
allOf:
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Wrapper'
- type: object
properties:
items:
type: array
items:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Answer'
Wrapper:
type: object
description: Standard Stack Exchange API response wrapper containing items, pagination info, and backoff/quota information.
properties:
items:
type: array
description: The list of items returned
items:
type: object
has_more:
type: boolean
description: Whether there are more results available
quota_max:
type: integer
description: Maximum number of requests allowed per day
quota_remaining:
type: integer
description: Number of requests remaining for today
backoff:
type: integer
description: Number of seconds to wait before making additional requests if the API has asked for backoff
total:
type: integer
description: Total number of items available
page:
type: integer
description: Current page number
page_size:
type: integer
description: Number of items per page
type:
type: string
description: The type of items in the response
error_id:
type: integer
description: Error identifier if an error occurred
error_message:
type: string
description: Human-readable error description
error_name:
type: string
description: Machine-readable error name
ErrorResponse:
type: object
properties:
error_id:
type: integer
description: Numeric error identifier
error_message:
type: string
description: Human-readable error description
error_name:
type: string
description: Machine-readable error name
Answer:
type: object
description: An answer to a question on a Stack Exchange site
properties:
answer_id:
type: integer
description: Unique identifier of the answer
question_id:
type: integer
description: ID of the question this answer belongs to
body:
type: string
description: The HTML body of the answer
body_markdown:
type: string
description: The Markdown body of the answer
score:
type: integer
description: The net vote score of the answer
is_accepted:
type: boolean
description: Whether this answer has been accepted by the question owner
creation_date:
type: integer
description: Unix timestamp of when the answer was created
last_activity_date:
type: integer
description: Unix timestamp of the last activity on the answer
last_edit_date:
type: integer
description: Unix timestamp of the last edit
owner:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ShallowUser'
link:
type: string
format: uri
description: Link to the answer on the question page
ShallowUser:
type: object
description: A shallow representation of a Stack Exchange user
properties:
user_id:
type: integer
description: Unique identifier of the user
display_name:
type: string
description: The user's display name
reputation:
type: integer
description: The user's reputation score
user_type:
type: string
enum:
- unregistered
- registered
- moderator
- named_moderator
- team_admin
description: The type of user account
profile_image:
type: string
format: uri
description: URL of the user's profile image
link:
type: string
format: uri
description: Link to the user's profile page
accept_rate:
type: integer
description: Percentage of questions the user has accepted answers for
CommentsResponse:
allOf:
- $ref: '#/components/schemas/Wrapper'
- type: object
properties:
items:
type: array
items:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Comment'
Comment:
type: object
description: A comment on a question or answer on a Stack Exchange site
properties:
comment_id:
type: integer
description: Unique identifier of the comment
post_id:
type: integer
description: ID of the post (question or answer) this comment belongs to
body:
type: string
description: The HTML body of the comment
body_markdown:
type: string
description: The Markdown body of the comment
score:
type: integer
description: The net vote score of the comment
creation_date:
type: integer
description: Unix timestamp of when the comment was created
owner:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ShallowUser'
link:
type: string
format: uri
description: Link to the comment
parameters:
order:
name: order
in: query
schema:
type: string
enum:
- asc
- desc
default: desc
description: Sort order for results
page:
name: page
in: query
schema:
type: integer
minimum: 1
default: 1
description: The page number to return (1-indexed)
pagesize:
name: pagesize
in: query
schema:
type: integer
minimum: 0
maximum: 100
default: 30
description: Number of results to return per page (max 100)
sort:
name: sort
in: query
schema:
type: string
description: The field to sort results by (varies by endpoint)
tagged:
name: tagged
in: query
schema:
type: string
description: Semicolon-delimited list of tags to filter by
site:
name: site
in: query
required: true
schema:
type: string
default: stackoverflow
description: The Stack Exchange site to query. Use the API name of the site, e.g., stackoverflow, serverfault, superuser.
example: stackoverflow
fromdate:
name: fromdate
in: query
schema:
type: integer
description: Unix timestamp for the minimum creation date
todate:
name: todate
in: query
schema:
type: integer
description: Unix timestamp for the maximum creation date
filter:
name: filter
in: query
schema:
type: string
description: A filter to control which fields are returned in the response. Use the /filter endpoint to create custom filters.
responses:
BadRequest:
description: Bad request due to missing or invalid parameters
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
Throttled:
description: Request throttled due to rate limit
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
Unauthorized:
description: Authentication required or token is invalid
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
securitySchemes:
oauth2:
type: oauth2
description: OAuth 2.0 authentication for Stack Exchange API. Register an application at http://stackapps.com/apps/oauth to obtain client credentials.
flows:
authorizationCode:
authorizationUrl: https://stackoverflow.com/oauth
tokenUrl: https://stackoverflow.com/oauth/access_token/json
scopes:
no_expiry: Issues an access token that does not expire
write_access: Allows write access to a user's data
private_info: Access a user's private information
externalDocs:
description: Stack Exchange API Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs