Send a message
POST https://ms-e1143.zulip.cs.aalto.fi/api/v1/messages
Send a stream message or a
direct message.
Usage examples
- Python
- JavaScript
- curl
- zulip-send
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import zulip
# Pass the path to your zuliprc file here.
client = zulip.Client(config_file="~/zuliprc")
# Send a stream message
request = {
"type": "stream",
"to": "Denmark",
"topic": "Castle",
"content": "I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts.",
}
result = client.send_message(request)
# Send a direct message
user_id = 10
request = {
"type": "private",
"to": [user_id],
"content": "With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.",
}
result = client.send_message(request)
print(result)
More examples and documentation can be found here.
const zulipInit = require("zulip-js");
// Pass the path to your zuliprc file here.
const config = { zuliprc: "zuliprc" };
(async () => {
const client = await zulipInit(config);
// Send a stream message
let params = {
to: "social",
type: "stream",
topic: "Castle",
content: "I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts.",
};
console.log(await client.messages.send(params));
// Send a direct message
const user_id = 9;
params = {
to: [user_id],
type: "direct",
content: "With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.",
};
console.log(await client.messages.send(params));
})();
# For stream messages
curl -X POST https://ms-e1143.zulip.cs.aalto.fi/api/v1/messages \
-u BOT_EMAIL_ADDRESS:BOT_API_KEY \
--data-urlencode type=stream \
--data-urlencode 'to="Denmark"' \
--data-urlencode topic=Castle \
--data-urlencode 'content=I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts.'
# For direct messages
curl -X POST https://ms-e1143.zulip.cs.aalto.fi/api/v1/messages \
-u BOT_EMAIL_ADDRESS:BOT_API_KEY \
--data-urlencode type=direct \
--data-urlencode 'to=[9]' \
--data-urlencode 'content=With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.'
You can use zulip-send
(available after you pip install zulip
) to easily send Zulips from
the command-line, providing the message content via STDIN.
# For stream messages
zulip-send --stream Denmark --subject Castle \
--user othello-bot@example.com --api-key a0b1c2d3e4f5a6b7c8d9e0f1a2b3c4d5
# For direct messages
zulip-send hamlet@example.com \
--user othello-bot@example.com --api-key a0b1c2d3e4f5a6b7c8d9e0f1a2b3c4d5
Passing in the message on the command-line
If you'd like, you can also provide the message on the command-line with the
-m
or --message
flag, as follows:
zulip-send --stream Denmark --subject Castle \
--message 'I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts.' \
--user othello-bot@example.com --api-key a0b1c2d3e4f5a6b7c8d9e0f1a2b3c4d5
You can omit the user
and api-key
parameters if you have a ~/.zuliprc
file.
Parameters
type string required
Example: "direct"
The type of message to be sent.
"direct"
for a direct message and "stream"
for a stream message.
Changes: In Zulip 7.0 (feature level 174), "direct"
was added as
the preferred way to request a direct message, deprecating the original
"private"
. While "private"
is still supported for requesting direct
messages, clients are encouraged to use to the modern convention with
servers that support it, because support for "private"
will eventually
be removed.
Must be one of: "direct"
, "stream"
, "private"
.
to string | integer | (string)[] | (integer)[] required
Example: [9, 10]
For stream messages, either the name or integer ID of the stream. For
direct messages, either a list containing integer user IDs or a list
containing string Zulip API email addresses.
Changes: Support for using user/stream IDs was added in Zulip 2.0.0.
content string required
Example: "Hello"
The content of the message.
Clients should use the max_message_length
returned by the
POST /register
endpoint to determine
the maximum message size.
topic string optional
Example: "Castle"
The topic of the message. Only required for stream messages
("type": "stream"
), ignored otherwise.
Clients should use the max_topic_length
returned by the
POST /register
endpoint to determine
the maximum topic length.
Changes: New in Zulip 2.0.0. Previous Zulip releases encoded
this as subject
, which is currently a deprecated alias.
queue_id string optional
Example: "fb67bf8a-c031-47cc-84cf-ed80accacda8"
For clients supporting
local echo,
the event queue
ID for the client. If passed, local_id
is required. If the message is
successfully sent, the server will include local_id
in the message
event
that the client with this queue_id
will receive notifying it of the new message
via GET /events
. This lets the client know unambiguously
that it should replace the locally echoed message, rather than adding this new
message (which would be correct if the user had sent the new message from another
device).
local_id string optional
Example: "100.01"
For clients supporting local echo, a unique string-format identifier
chosen freely by the client; the server will pass it back to the client without
inspecting it, as described in the queue_id
description.
read_by_sender boolean optional
Example: true
Whether the message should be initially marked read by its
sender. If unspecified, the server uses a heuristic based
on the client name.
Changes: New in Zulip 8.0 (feature level 236).
Response
Return values
-
id
: integer
The unique ID assigned to the sent message.
-
automatic_new_visibility_policy
: integer
If the message's sender had configured their visibility policy settings
to potentially automatically follow or unmute topics when sending messages,
and one of these policies did in fact change the user's visibility policy
for the topic where this message was sent, the new value for that user's
visibility policy for the recipient topic.
Only present if the sender's visibility was in fact changed.
The value can be either unmuted or followed.
Clients will also be notified about the change in policy via a
user_topic
event as usual. This field is intended to be used by clients
to explicitly inform the user when a topic's visibility policy was changed
automatically due to sending a message.
For example, the Zulip web application uses this field to decide whether
to display a warning or notice suggesting to unmute the topic after
sending a message to a muted stream. Such a notice would be confusing in
the event that the act of sending the message had already resulted in the
user automatically unmuting or following the topic in question.
Changes: New in Zulip 8.0 (feature level 218).
Example response(s)
Changes: As of Zulip 7.0 (feature level 167), if any
parameters sent in the request are not supported by this
endpoint, a successful JSON response will include an
ignored_parameters_unsupported
array.
A typical successful JSON response may look like:
{
"automatic_new_visibility_policy": 2,
"id": 42,
"msg": "",
"result": "success"
}
A typical failed JSON response for when a stream message is sent to a stream
that does not exist:
{
"code": "STREAM_DOES_NOT_EXIST",
"msg": "Stream 'nonexistent_stream' does not exist",
"result": "error",
"stream": "nonexistent_stream"
}
A typical failed JSON response for when a direct message is sent to a user
that does not exist:
{
"code": "BAD_REQUEST",
"msg": "Invalid email 'eeshan@zulip.com'",
"result": "error"
}
An example JSON error response for when the message was rejected because
of the organization's wildcard_mention_policy
and large number of
subscribers to the stream.
Changes: New in Zulip 8.0 (feature level 229). Previously, this
error returned the "BAD_REQUEST"
code.
{
"code": "STREAM_WILDCARD_MENTION_NOT_ALLOWED",
"msg": "You do not have permission to use stream wildcard mentions in this stream.",
"result": "error"
}
An example JSON error response for when the message was rejected because
the message contains a topic wildcard mention, but the user doesn't have
permission to use such a mention in this topic due to the
wildcard_mention_policy
(and large number of participants in this
specific topic).
Changes: New in Zulip 8.0 (feature level 229). Previously,
wildcard_mention_policy
was not enforced for topic mentions.
{
"code": "TOPIC_WILDCARD_MENTION_NOT_ALLOWED",
"msg": "You do not have permission to use topic wildcard mentions in this topic.",
"result": "error"
}