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.
Stack Exchange is listed with 17 APIs on the APIs.io network, including Access Tokens API, Answers API, Badges API, and 14 more. Tagged areas include Q&A, Developer Community, Knowledge Graph, Stack Overflow, and Stack Exchange.
The Stack Exchange catalog on APIs.io includes 2 JSON-LD contexts and 3 Spectral governance rulesets.
Stack Exchange’s developer surface includes signup flow, authentication, documentation, engineering blog, tooling, and 25 more developer resources.
Regulatory Posture applies to this provider. Its tags matched the
Horizontal (data, software, accessibility, platform) regime, so
Regulatory Posture carries 15 points of the composite.
If this regime is wrong for your business, say so on your
provider repo — the
applicability map is public and we will correct it.
Create-or-Update Ergonomics does not apply to this provider. The published contracts declare
no write operations, and a read-only API cannot create-or-update. The facet is excluded from this provider's
denominator entirely — not scored zero. A reference or data API is not deficient for being unable to
upsert.
The six quality facets above are damped to 85 points between them,
because the conditional facet above carries the other
15. That is why each facet's contribution is shown against a damped
maximum: raising a quality facet moves the composite by 85% of its nominal
weight, not 100%. The full arithmetic is at apis.io/rating/.
Show this score on your site.
It updates itself when the score changes. Paste this where you link to your API docs:
<a href="https://apis.io/providers/stackexchange/"><img src="https://apis.io/badge/stackexchange/card.svg" alt="Stack Exchange on APIs.io — Kin Score by API Evangelist"></a>
Other styles, a README pill and a shields.io endpoint are on the badge page.
Raise your score.
Agent readiness — checks not met, largest first (exact, from this profile):
MCP Server+12 pts — deployment.mode + probe verdict on the mcp/ manifest, not the pointer; an unprobed slug falls back to authorship
Stable Error Semantics+8 pts — OpenAPI $refs a shared error schema across 4xx/5xx responses (verified), else common[].type includes ErrorCatalog / ErrorCodes / DeclineCodes
A2A Agent Card+8 pts — a2a/-a2a.yml manifest, graded on conformance.grade against A2A 1.0.0
Request/Response Examples+7 pts — share of operations carrying request/response examples; else an Examples / Code Samples link
The Kin Score Market layer reads a provider inside its market:
its position, and how deep its integrations go. Depth is only comparable within a position. Provisional and unweighted:
not part of the Kin Score or agent readiness.
Registered MCP server and declares compatibility are report only — not weighted.
Undeclared means we found nothing we can read, so there is no number: we never infer integrations.
Standards this provider implements or carries. De facto ones are profiled and measured by the API Commons; formal ones come from the standards directory and are linked by the provider's own tags. The evidence column says how each claim was established — not that it was made.
Not yet checked against Stack Exchange's own pricing page. Compiled by API Evangelist on 2026-05-29 from api.stackexchange.com/docs; confirm before you rely on a figure. A free plan or tier is listed.
aid: stackexchange
deliveryModel:
model: saas
open_source: false
commercial: true
callable_host: true
label: Hosted service · you call their endpoint
confidence: high
source:
- openapi
- pricing
generated: '2026-08-28'
method: derived
accessModel:
pricing: freemium
onboarding: self-serve
trial: false
try_now: true
public: false
gated: none
gated_source:
- onboarding
label: Freemium · Self-serve signup
confidence: medium
source:
- plans
- authentication
- security
generated: '2026-11-06'
method: derived
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/stackexchange.png
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: '0.23'
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&A
- Developer Community
- Knowledge Graph
- Stack Overflow
- Stack Exchange
- Reputation
- Tags
- Community
- MCP
- AI Grounding
tags_raw:
- Q And A
- Developer Community
- Knowledge Graph
- Stack Overflow
- Stack Exchange
- Reputation
- Tags
- Community
- MCP
- AI Grounding
apis:
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-access-tokens-api
name: Stack Exchange Access Tokens API
description: OAuth access token introspection and invalidation.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Access Tokens
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-access-tokens-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-answers-api
name: Stack Exchange Answers API
description: Answer objects — list, fetch by id, and per-question answers.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Answers
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-answers-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-badges-api
name: Stack Exchange Badges API
description: Badges defined on a site — by id, name, type, and recipients.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Badges
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-badges-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-comments-api
name: Stack Exchange Comments API
description: Comments attached to questions and answers across the network.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Comments
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-comments-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-events-api
name: Stack Exchange Events API
description: Recent network events (1.5 minute live window) for the authenticated user.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Event
tags_raw:
- Events
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-events-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-filters-api
name: Stack Exchange Filters API
description: Custom response filter creation and inspection.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Filters
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-filters-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-info-api
name: Stack Exchange Info API
description: Site-wide statistics, totals, and metadata.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Info
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-info-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-me-api
name: Stack Exchange Me API
description: Convenience surfaces that infer the user from the OAuth access token.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Me
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-me-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-posts-api
name: Stack Exchange Posts API
description: Generic post surfaces covering both questions and answers as `post` objects.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Posts
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-posts-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-questions-api
name: Stack Exchange Questions API
description: Question objects across the network — list, fetch, related, linked, search-equivalents.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Questions
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-questions-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-revisions-api
name: Stack Exchange Revisions API
description: Revision history for posts.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Revisions
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-revisions-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-search-api
name: Stack Exchange Search API
description: Question search — basic title-match, full-text excerpts, and advanced.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Search
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-search-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-sites-api
name: Stack Exchange Sites API
description: Enumeration and metadata for the 180+ Stack Exchange Q&A sites.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Sites
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-sites-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-suggested-edits-api
name: Stack Exchange Suggested Edits API
description: Pending edits proposed by users awaiting review.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Suggested Edits
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-suggested-edits-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-tags-api
name: Stack Exchange Tags API
description: Tag catalog, synonyms, wikis, top askers/answerers, and related tags.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- Tags
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-tags-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
- aid: stackexchange:stackexchange-users-api
name: Stack Exchange Users API
description: Site users, their reputation, badges, tags, top posts, timeline, and write surfaces.
humanURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
baseURL: https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3
tags:
- User
tags_raw:
- Users
properties:
- type: OpenAPI
url: openapi/stackexchange-users-api-openapi.yml
- type: Documentation
url: https://api.stackexchange.com/docs
- 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
common:
- type: LinkedIn
url: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stack-exchange
- type: Signup
url: http://stackapps.com/apps/oauth/register
- type: Applications
url: http://stackapps.com/apps/oauth
- type: GitHub Topics
url: https://github.com/topics/stackexchange-api
- type: JSONLD
url: json-ld/stackexchange-context.jsonld
- type: JSONSchema
url: json-schema/stackexchange-question-schema.json
- type: SpectralRules
url: rules/stackexchange-rules.yml
- type: PostmanWorkspace
url: https://www.postman.com/kinlaneapi/stack-exchange/overview
- type: AgenticAccess
url: agentic-access/stackexchange-agentic-access.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
url: security/stackexchange-domain-security.yml
- type: Authentication
url: authentication/stackexchange-authentication.yml
- type: OAuthScopes
url: scopes/stackexchange-scopes.yml
- 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
Stack Exchange API — frequently asked questions
Does Stack Exchange have an API?
Yes. APIs.io lists 17 APIs from Stack Exchange, including Stack Overflow for Teams API v3, Stack Exchange Access Tokens API and Stack Exchange Answers API, and 14 more.
Is there an OpenAPI specification for the Stack Exchange API?
Yes. APIs.io indexes 16 OpenAPI specifications for Stack Exchange, each linked for download from this page.
How do I authenticate with the Stack Exchange API?
Stack Exchange documents its authentication (apiKey/oauth2 · 2 schemes). The details are profiled on APIs.io as Stackexchange Authentication.
How much does the Stack Exchange API cost?
APIs.io lists 3 pricing plans for Stack Exchange, with each plan's price, limits and inclusions under Pricing on this page.
Is the Stack Exchange API ready for AI agents?
Stack Exchange has a Kin Score of 41.3 out of 100 (developing) and an Agent Readiness score of 30.5 (agent-ready), scored by API Evangelist on 2026-11-06.
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