Stack Exchange

aid: stackexchange
name: Stack Exchange
description: Stack Exchange is the network of Q&A communities founded by Joel Spolsky and Jeff Atwood and headlined by Stack
  Overflow, the largest community of software developers on the web. The Stack Exchange API v2.3 (api.stackexchange.com) is
  a single, read-mostly HTTP/JSON interface that spans 180+ Q&A sites — Stack Overflow, Server Fault, Super User, Ask Ubuntu,
  Stats, Math Overflow, and the long tail of topical communities — and exposes the entire Q&A graph (questions, answers, comments,
  users, tags, badges, reputation, revisions, notifications, inbox, suggested-edits, network sites) under a uniform method
  surface. Stack Exchange also operates Stack Overflow for Teams (private knowledge bases with its own v3 REST API) and ships
  an official Stack Overflow MCP server that grounds AI agents in community-verified content.
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/
specificationVersion: '0.20'
created: '2026-05-28'
modified: '2026-05-29'
x-source: public-apis/public-apis
x-category: Development
x-tier: 1
x-tier-reason: developer-flagship-community-knowledge-graph-with-mcp
x-type: company
tags:
- Q And A
- Developer Community
- Knowledge Graph
- Stack Overflow
- Stack Exchange
- Reputation
- Tags
- Community
- MCP
- AI Grounding
apis:
- name: Stack Exchange API v2.3
  description: Public, read-mostly HTTP/JSON API spanning all 180+ Stack Exchange sites. All method families — questions,
    answers, comments, users, tags, badges, sites, search, /me, access-tokens, notifications, inbox, events, revisions, info,
    reputation, privileges, suggested-edits, posts — live under a single base URL with a uniform response wrapper (items,
    has_more, page, quota_max, quota_remaining, backoff). Read access requires no auth; writes (posting, voting, flagging,
    accepting) require OAuth 2.0 with the appropriate scopes (write_access, private_info, no_expiry).
  humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
  baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
  tags:
  - Stack Exchange
  - Public API
  - Q And A
  - Read-Mostly
  - OAuth 2.0
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/stackexchange-api-v2-3.yaml
  - type: Signup
    url: https://stackapps.com/apps/oauth/register
  - type: Authentication
    url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/authentication
  - type: TermsOfService
    url: https://stackoverflow.com/legal/api-terms-of-use
  - type: RateLimits
    url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/throttle
  - type: Filters
    url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/filters
  - type: ChangeLog
    url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/revisions
  - type: SDKs
    url: https://github.com/StackExchange/StacMan
    title: .NET (StacMan)
- name: Stack Overflow for Teams API v3
  description: Newer REST API powering Stack Overflow for Teams (private/internal instances). Resource-oriented (questions,
    answers, articles, comments, tags, users, collections, communities) with full CRUD and bearer-token auth. This is the
    API the official TypeScript SDK and Terraform provider target; it is distinct from the public v2.3 API.
  humanURL: https://stackoverflowteams.help/en/articles/9085836-api-v3-overview
  baseURL: https://api.stackoverflowteams.com/v3/teams/{team}/
  tags:
  - Stack Overflow for Teams
  - Internal API
  - REST
  - Bearer Token
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://stackoverflowteams.help/en/articles/9085836-api-v3-overview
  - type: SDKs
    url: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@stackoverflow/teams-sdk
    title: TypeScript SDK
  - type: SDKs
    url: https://github.com/StackExchange/StackOverflowSDK
    title: TypeScript SDK Source
  - type: Tools
    url: https://github.com/StackExchange/terraform-provider-stackoverflow
    title: Terraform Provider
  - type: Tools
    url: https://github.com/StackExchange/backstage-stackoverflow
    title: Backstage Plugin
  - type: Tools
    url: https://github.com/StackExchange/langchain-stack-overflow-for-teams
    title: LangChain Integration
common:
- type: Website
  url: https://stackexchange.com/
- type: Documentation
  url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- type: DeveloperPortal
  url: https://stackapps.com/
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/StackExchange
- type: Blog
  url: https://stackoverflow.blog/
- type: TermsOfService
  url: https://stackoverflow.com/legal/api-terms-of-use
- type: PrivacyPolicy
  url: https://stackoverflow.com/legal/privacy-policy
- type: StatusPage
  url: https://stackstatus.tumblr.com/
- type: ApplicationRegistration
  url: https://stackapps.com/apps/oauth/register
- type: PublicAPIsListing
  url: https://github.com/public-apis/public-apis
- type: Tools
  title: MCP Server (Stack Overflow)
  url: https://github.com/StackExchange/Stack-MCP
- type: Tools
  title: MCP Server Documentation
  url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/mcp-server
- type: Tools
  title: Stack Exchange Data Explorer
  url: https://github.com/StackExchange/StackExchange.DataExplorer
- type: Tools
  title: Stacks Design System
  url: https://github.com/StackExchange/Stacks
- type: Plans
  url: plans/stackexchange-plans-pricing.yml
- type: RateLimits
  url: rate-limits/stackexchange-rate-limits.yml
- type: Rules
  url: rules/stackexchange-spectral-rules.yml
- type: Vocabulary
  url: vocabulary/stackexchange-vocabulary.yml
features:
- name: Network-Wide Q&A Graph
  description: Single API surface spans 180+ communities. Use the `site` parameter (`stackoverflow`, `serverfault`, `superuser`,
    `askubuntu`, `stats`, `mathoverflow`, …) to switch context without changing endpoints.
- name: Vectorized IDs
  description: Most methods accept up to 100 semicolon-delimited IDs in a single request (e.g., `/questions/{ids}`, `/users/{ids}`,
    `/answers/{ids}`), making bulk fetch and join workloads cheap.
- name: Filter System
  description: Custom response filters let consumers project exactly the fields they need, dramatically reducing payload size.
    Filters are created once via `/filters/create` and reused.
- name: Compressed JSON
  description: All responses are gzip-compressed by default; the wire payload is roughly 30-50% the size of an unconditioned
    JSON body.
- name: Quota and Backoff Discipline
  description: Every response advertises `quota_max`, `quota_remaining`, and an optional `backoff` integer. Clients must honor
    the backoff before re-querying the same method or risk being throttled at 503 / banned.
- name: OAuth 2.0 Write Access
  description: Read is unauthenticated. Write methods (post answer, create comment, vote, flag, accept) require an OAuth 2.0
    access token issued via explicit or implicit flows registered on stackapps.com.
- name: /me Convenience Methods
  description: Every `/users/{ids}/...` method has a `/me/...` equivalent that infers the user from the access token, simplifying
    agent code paths.
- name: Site Discovery
  description: '`/sites` enumerates every Q&A community on the network with its `api_site_parameter`, audience, launch date,
    and styling — the canonical way to bootstrap a multi-site integration.'
- name: AI Grounding via MCP
  description: The official Stack Overflow MCP server exposes search, retrieve, and ground tools so MCP-compatible clients
    (Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code) can reach community-verified answers without bespoke integration.
useCases:
- name: AI Answer Grounding
  description: Ground LLM responses in real Stack Overflow questions and answers — either directly via /search and /questions
    methods or through the official MCP server — to reduce hallucinations on technical topics.
- name: Developer Reputation Scoring
  description: Pull /users, /users/{ids}/reputation, badge counts, and tag scores to build developer reputation, expertise,
    and hiring-signal pipelines.
- name: Community Analytics
  description: Aggregate /questions, /tags, /tags/{tags}/info, and /sites data to track technology adoption, tag velocity,
    and community health across the network.
- name: Personal Activity Dashboards
  description: Use /me, /me/inbox, /me/notifications, /me/timeline, /me/answers, and /me/questions to build personal dashboards
    of a user's own activity, reputation, and unread events.
- name: Tag Tracking and Triage
  description: Watch /tags/{tags}/info, /questions?tagged=…, /search/advanced, and /questions/no-answers to triage incoming
    questions for OSS projects and vendor support teams.
- name: Knowledge Base Mirroring
  description: Periodically sweep /questions with a filter and a since-date to mirror Q&A into an internal knowledge base
    or RAG index, respecting the API quota and backoff.
- name: Moderation Workbench
  description: Combine /suggested-edits, /flags, /posts, and /revisions surfaces (with a moderator access token) to build
    moderation review queues.
- name: Stack Overflow for Teams Integrations
  description: Use the v3 Teams API plus the Terraform provider and Backstage plugin to provision questions, articles, and
    tags from CI/CD pipelines.
integrations:
- name: Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code via MCP
  description: The Stack Overflow MCP server plugs directly into any MCP-compatible client, giving AI agents a typed search/retrieve
    interface to community content.
- name: LangChain
  description: Official LangChain integration for Stack Overflow for Teams enables retrieval and chat over private Teams content
    from LangChain pipelines.
- name: Backstage
  description: Backstage plugin (`backstage-stackoverflow`) surfaces Stack Overflow for Teams content inside Backstage developer
    portals.
- name: Terraform
  description: Terraform provider (`terraform-provider-stackoverflow`) manages questions, answers, and articles in Stack Overflow
    for Teams as code.
- name: StacMan (.NET)
  description: Long-standing .NET client for Stack Exchange API v2 (StackExchange/StacMan) covering the public v2.3 surface.
solutions:
- name: Public API v2.3
  description: Read-mostly, unauthenticated public access to the full Q&A graph across 180+ sites. Default integration path
    for developer tools, dashboards, community analytics, and AI grounding.
- name: Stack Overflow for Teams API v3
  description: Private REST API for Stack Overflow for Teams customers, used by the TypeScript SDK, Terraform provider, Backstage
    plugin, and LangChain integration.
- name: Stack Overflow MCP Server
  description: Beta MCP server that lets MCP-compatible AI clients search, retrieve, and ground answers in Stack Overflow
    content with simple OAuth onboarding.
- name: Stack Exchange Data Explorer
  description: SQL-style query interface for the Stack Exchange data dumps, used for analytics workloads that exceed the API
    quota.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com