Understanding a Chatter REST API Request and Response

The general process flow for using Chatter REST API is as follows:

Send an HTTP request to Salesforce.
The system authenticates the user and client app.
Request Chatter REST API resources using an HTTP request.
The system returns an HTTP return code. Additional information (such as a Chatter REST API response body) is optionally included in the response.

Each resource in Chatter REST API is a URI used with an HTTP method (such as GET, POST, DELETE, or HEAD). Each resource represents something in Chatter, such as a user's news feed, or the comments on a post.

Many of the resources use either a specified user ID or the keyword me to indicate the current, context user. For example, to return the user-profile information for the current, context user, use the following resource:

1/chatter/users/me

You could also specify a particular user by user Id:

1/chatter/users/005D0000001GLoh

When you successfully access a resource, a response body is returned in JSON or XML. By default, JSON is returned. Each response body can contain one or more response bodies. For example, the following is the response body of the user resource. It includes other response bodies as well, such as address, current status, and phone numbers.

Property	Type	Description	Filter Group and Version	Available Version
`aboutMe`	String	Text from user's profile	Big, 29.0	23.0
`additionalLabel`	String	An additional label for the user, for example, “Customer,” “Partner,” or “Acme Corporation.” If the user doesn’t have an additional label, the value is `null`.	Small, 30.0	30.0
`address`	Address	Address	Big, 29.0	23.0
`bannerPhoto`	Banner Photo	User’s banner photo	Big, 36.0	36.0
`chatterActivity`	Chatter Activity	Chatter activity statistics	Big, 29.0	23.0
`chatterInfluence`	Chatter Influence	User’s influence rank	Big, 29.0	23.0
`communityNickname`	String	User’s nickname in the community	Medium, 32.0	32.0
`companyName`	String	Company name	Small, 29.0	23.0
`currentStatus`	User Status	This property is no longer available as of version 25.0. Note User's current status		23.0–25.0
`displayName`	String	User’s name that is displayed in the community. If nicknames are enabled, the nickname is displayed. If nicknames aren’t enabled, the full name is displayed.	Small, 32.0	32.0
`email`	String	User's email address	Medium, 29.0	23.0
`firstName`	String	User's first name	Small, 29.0	23.0
`followersCount`	Integer	Number of users following this user	Big, 29.0	23.0
`followingCounts`	Following Counts	Information about items the user is following	Big, 29.0	23.0
`groupCount`	Integer	Number of groups user is following	Big, 29.0	23.0
`hasChatter`	Boolean	`true` if user has access to Chatter; `false` otherwise	Small, 31.0	31.0
`id`	String	18-character ID of the user	Small, 29.0	23.0
`isActive`	Boolean	`true` if user is active, `false` otherwise	Small, 29.0	23.0
`isChatterGuest`	Boolean	This property is no longer available as of version 26.0. Use the `userType` property instead. Note `true` if user is a Chatter customer, `false` otherwise		23.0–25.0
`isInThisCommunity`	Boolean	`true` if user is in the same community as the context user; `false` otherwise. Can be `false` for record feed @mentions on posts with the scope “All Users.”	Small, 29.0	28.0
`lastName`	String	User's last name	Small, 29.0	23.0
`managerId`	String	18-character ID of the user’s manager	Big, 29.0	23.0
`managerName`	String	Locale-based concatenation of manager's first and last names	Big, 29.0	23.0
`motif`	Motif	Small, medium, and large icons indicating that the object is a user. The motif can also contain the object’s base color. The motif icon is not the user’s profile picture.	Small, 29.0	27.0
`mySubscription`	Reference	If the context user is following this user, this contains information about the subscription, else returns `null`	Medium, 29.0	23.0
`name`	String	Locale-based concatenation of user's first and last names	Small, 29.0	23.0
`phoneNumbers`	Phone Number[]	Collection of user's phone numbers	Big, 29.0	23.0
`photo`	Photo	Information about the user's photos	Small, 29.0	23.0
`reputation`	Reputation	Reputation of the user in the community, which is determined by the number of points earned from events and actions performed in the community	Big, 32.0	32.0
`thanksReceived`	Integer	Number of thanks the user has received	Big, 29.0	29.0
`title`	String	Title of the user	Small, 29.0	23.0
`type`	String	`User`	Small, 29.0	23.0
`url`	String	URL to the user's Chatter profile	Small, 29.0	23.0
`username`	String	User name of the user, such as `Admin@mycompany.com`	Small, 29.0	24.0
`userType`	String	Specifies the type of user. Valid values are: `ChatterGuest`—User is an external user in a private group. `ChatterOnly`—User is a Chatter Free customer. `Guest`—User is unauthenticated. `Internal`—User is a standard organization member. `Portal`—User is an external user in a customer portal, partner portal, or community. `System`—User is Chatter Expert or a system user. `Undefined`—User is a user type that is a custom object.	Medium, 29.0	26.0

In JSON format, the output is as follows:

1{
2   "aboutMe": "I&#39;m excited to be part of the team focused on building out our apps business
3 and showing our customers their future.",
4   "additionalLabel" : null,
5   "address": {
6      "city": "Seattle",
7      "country": "US",
8      "state": "WA",
9      "street": "2001 8th Ave",
10      "zip": "98121"
11      "formattedAdress": "2001 8th Ave\nSeattle, WA 98121\nUS"
12   },
13   "chatterActivity": {
14      "commentCount": 0,
15      "commentReceivedCount": 1,
16      "likeReceivedCount": 0,
17      "postCount": 2
18   },
19   "chatterInfluence" : {
20     "percentile" : "0.6666666666666667",
21     "rank" : 1
22   },
23   "communityNickname": "marRave",
24   "companyName": "Seattle Apps",
25   "displayName": "Marion Raven",
26   "email": "mraven@seattleapps.com",
27   "firstName": "Marion",
28   "followersCount": 1,
29   "followingCounts": {
30      "people": 5,
31      "records": 0,
32      "total": 5
33   },
34   "groupCount": 3,
35   "hasChatter": true,
36   "id": "005D0000001Kl6xIAC",
37   "isActive": true,
38   "isInThisCommunity" : true,
39   "lastName": "Raven",
40   "managerId": null,
41   "managerName": null,
42   "motif": {
43      "color" : "20aeb8",
44      "largeIconUrl": "/img/icon/profile64.png",
45      "mediumIconUrl": "/img/icon/profile32.png",
46      "smallIconUrl": "/img/icon/profile16.png"
47   },
48   "mySubscription": null,
49   "name": "Marion Raven",
50   "phoneNumbers": [{
51      "label": "Work",
52      "phoneNumber": "(206) 999-2846",
53      "phoneType": "Work"
54   }],
55   "photo": {
56      "fullEmailPhotoUrl": "https://instance_name/ncsphoto/SqRfG_-PUTY6KtfOp_f0cGW2pGjfqoWUUgTENHjVyS1i9x6Z16L8wXEGigpcWjAd",
57      "largePhotoUrl": "https://instance_name/profilephoto/729D00000000BDV/F",
58      "photoVersionId": "729D00000000BDV",
59      "smallPhotoUrl": "https://instance_name/profilephoto/729D00000000BDV/T",
60      "standardEmailPhotoUrl": "https://instance_name/ncsphoto/SqRfG_-PUTY6KtfOp_f0cGW2pGjfqoWUUgTENHjVyS1q43x_rW2ciXBHst0Eh3Y6",
61      "url":  "/services/data/v37.0/chatter/users/005D0000001LL8OIAW/photo"
62   },
63   "reputation" : null,
64   "thanksReceived" : null,
65   "title": null,
66   "type": "User",
67   "url": "/services/data/v37.0/chatter/users/005D0000001Kl6xIAC",
68   "userType": "Internal";
69   "username": "mraven@seattleapps.com"
70}

Salesforce runs on multiple server instances. The examples in this guide use instance_name to indicate the instance.

Some of the items in a response body have a fully qualified URL, however, most of the returned URLs are relative. If the URL is relative, prepend it with the instance given to the client app when the item is authenticated.

Note

Chatter REST API Developer Guide

Understanding a Chatter REST API Request and Response