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Chatter REST API

Overview

The Chatter REST API makes it easy to integrate mobile apps, intranet sites, and 3rd party web applications with Chatter. It provides resources for feeds, comments, likes, users, groups, private messages, and recommendations - using a REST-based API.  This page points to all Chatter REST API resources.

Getting Started

The Chatter API is available and default-on in all organizations and editions that have Chatter. If you're a developer you can sign up for a developer organization here to get started.

• Developing Social Applications with the Chatter API
• API overview video presentation
• A Chatter API Developer Presentation (PDF) - presentation deck from the video targeted at a developer and IT technical audience.
• Use Case: The Chatter API (AKA Chatter Connect) at Burberry

The Chatter API is designed for UI integration use cases like those listed above. If you are building a sync, analytics, archival or migration application, the sobject API is generally a better fit. See our Selecting Which API to Use page for more information.

API Documentation

• Chatter API documentation: PDF | HTML

In the current doc, under /chatter/user/:user_id/ the follower, following, and group endpoints erroneously indicate that user id must be the context user. In fact user_id may be any user.

In the current documentation, the group element endpoint's myRole key is not completely described. The myRole key may have the following values: GroupOwner, GroupManager, StandardMember, NotAMemberPrivateRequested, NotAMember

For customers migrating from the Winter release, see the Spring '12 release notes for enhancements and changes: Spring '12 Release Notes. The Chatter API section begins on page 25.

Examples, Best Practices and Tips

Besides the documentation and articles, we're putting together a list of Examples, Best Practices and Tips.

Libraries and SDKs

Ruby/Rails gem for Chatter API and sobject REST API

Sample Applications

• iOS

• Rails : intranet application demo and code

• Rails + jQuery Mobile :- Sample implementation of a pure HTML5 Chatter client. Log in with any Force.com org credentials, and Try it out by logging in with your Force.com credentials, from any device, or grab the code to get a head start creating your own apps.

• Chatter Profile migration tool (Java)

The below sample applications were created against an earlier version of the API, so many of the payload handling elements are now different. However they are good references for high level examples of how to query the API and authenticate. Please refer to the documentation and sample payloads for more information.

• Android

• Java Example - posting a feed item with a file attachment

• Ruby example of multipart post to the feed with file attachments

Other Documentation

OAuth is a prerequisite to using the API. The OAuth documentation is part of the help section inside your developer or production organization. Log in to your org, then click "help" in the upper right, and search for the following topics:

• "Remote access" - This describes how you register an external application with Force.com. Once you've created a remote access application in your developer or production organization, users in any org may grant access to your application using OAuth.

• "OAuth2" - This describes the various authentication flows that your application may use.

• "Identity URLs" - After a user has authorized your application, your application can use the identity URL to get information about the authenticated user, including information like their name, their organization id, and their email.

Also see the Related Articles section on this page and the sample applications for more about OAuth and Authentication.

The Chatter API provides social and Chatter feeds related data. If your application needs access to other data, such as Accounts, Opportunities, Contacts and other objects, use the Force.com Web Services API.

Related Articles

• Digging Deeper into OAuth 2.0 on Force.com - provides more details on the OAuth authentication.
• Building Android Applications with the Force.com REST API - shows how to set up OAuth for mobile applications and access the Force.com Web Services REST API. While not about the Chatter API - the basic setup is very similar.

Known Issues

Please see our Known Issues page.

Questions - Discussion Board

Post any questions you have to the Discussion Board.