zulip/templates/zerver/api/send-message.md

Send a message

Send a stream or a private message.

POST {{ api_url }}/v1/messages

Usage examples

• Python
• JavaScript
• curl
• zulip-send

# For stream messages
curl {{ api_url }}/v1/messages \
    -u BOT_EMAIL_ADDRESS:BOT_API_KEY \
    -d "type=stream" \
    -d "to=Denmark" \
    -d "subject=Castle" \
    -d "content=Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."

# For private messages
curl {{ api_url }}/v1/messages \
    -u BOT_EMAIL_ADDRESS:BOT_API_KEY \
    -d "type=private" \
    -d "to=hamlet@example.com" \
    -d "content=I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts."

{generate_code_example(python)|/messages:post|example}

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 private 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 "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark." \
    --user othello-bot@example.com --api-key a0b1c2d3e4f5a6b7c8d9e0f1a2b3c4d5

You can omit the user and api-key arguments if you have a ~/.zuliprc file.

More examples and documentation can be found [here](https://github.com/zulip/zulip-js). ```js const zulip = require('zulip-js');

// Download zuliprc-dev from your dev server const config = { zuliprc: 'zuliprc-dev', };

// Send a stream message zulip(config).then((client) => { // Send a message const params = { to: 'Denmark', type: 'stream', subject: 'Castle', content: 'Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.' }

client.messages.send(params).then(console.log);

});

// Send a private message zulip(config).then((client) => { // Send a private message const params = { to: 'hamlet@example.com', type: 'private', content: 'I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts.', }

client.messages.send(params).then(console.log);

});

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## Arguments

{generate_api_arguments_table|zulip.yaml|/messages:post}

## Response

#### Return values

* `id`: The ID of the newly created message

#### Example response
A typical successful JSON response may look like:

{generate_code_example|/messages:post|fixture(200)}

A typical failed JSON response for when a stream message is sent to a stream
that does not exist:

{generate_code_example|/messages:post|fixture(400_non_existing_stream)}

A typical failed JSON response for when a private message is sent to a user
that does not exist:

{generate_code_example|/messages:post|fixture(400_non_existing_user)}