Retrieve a thread Run in API Explorer

Add MCP server to your AI tool

Allow AI tools and LLMs to interact with the API documentation portal through MCP.

MCP server URL

https://api-reference.usecommune.dev/mcp

Standard setup for AI tools providing an mcp.json file

mcp.json 
{
  "REST API MCP server": {
    "url": "https://api-reference.usecommune.dev/mcp"
  }
}
Close
GET /threads/{thread}
Api key Oauth2

Read one thread and its opening message. The replies are a separate collection at GET /threads/{thread}/messages, so a busy thread does not make this response unbounded.

A thread opened by an article inherits that article's audience: if the article is not readable by this credential, neither is its thread.

A thread scoped to subscriber segments is a private room and answers 404 to a credential holding only read permissions, the same answer it gives for a thread that does not exist. One holding write in any family acts for the newsletter's team and reads it. audience_scoped says it is private; audience_tag_ids says which segments and comes back only with audience: read on this newsletter.

Headers

  • Commune-Version string

    The contract version this request is written against. Every version published so far is a release date (YYYY-MM-DD), which is why the examples look like one, but the value is an opaque identifier: match it against the versions this API publishes rather than parsing it, because a future one may not be only a date. An unknown value answers 400 with invalid_version.

    Omitting the header pins the request to the version that was current when the API key was issued, so an integration keeps working when a newer version ships.

    Minimum length is 1.

Path parameters

  • thread string Required

    The thread's id (a UUID) or its short_id. A thread that Commune opened under an article has no short_id, because it is addressed on the web through the article's own permalink, so use its id.

Query parameters

  • expand string

    Comma-separated list of relationship paths to inline in the response. Unexpanded relationships are returned as a reference object carrying only id and object. Each operation documents the paths it accepts, and an unknown path answers 400. Nested paths use a dot, for example article.newsletter.

  • fields string

    Comma-separated allow-list of top level properties to return on each object, so a client can trim a response it does not need in full. id and object are always returned. An unknown property name answers 400. Properties omitted by an operation, such as content on any article list, cannot be brought back with fields.

Responses

  • 200 application/json

    The thread.

    Hide response attributes Show response attributes object | null
    • object string Required

      Always thread.

      Value is thread.

    • id string(uuid) Required

      Stable identifier.

    • short_id string | null

      Eight character base62 identifier used by the thread's own URL at /n/{handle}/chat/{short_id}. Null for a thread Commune opened under an article, which is reached through the article instead.

    • newsletter object | null Required

      The community this thread lives in. A Ref unless newsletter is named in ?expand=.

      One of:
      Ref object | null Newsletter object
    • author object | null

      Who opened the thread. A Ref unless author is named in ?expand=.

      Any of:
      Ref object | null User object
    • content string Required

      The opening message. HTML, since people format what they write. Treat it as untrusted markup and render it in a sandboxed context.

    • media array[object]

      Attachments on the opening message.

      Hide media attributes Show media attributes object

      An image or file attached to a thread or a message.

      • url string(uri) Required

        Where the attachment is served from.

      • type string | null

        The attachment's media type when Commune recorded one, for example image/png. Null for an attachment old enough that none was recorded.

      • thumbnail string(uri) | null

        A smaller rendition, when one was generated.

    • visibility string Required

      Where a thread is placed. public puts it on the global Commune feed and makes it readable by anyone. subscribers keeps it inside the newsletter. Set and changed by the newsletter's team.

      A third value, paid, was in this enum until 2026-10-10. It was never produced by anything and no thread ever carried it, so it was removed rather than left as a state consumers had to handle. See Removals under Versioning.

      Values are public or subscribers.

    • audience_scoped boolean Required

      true when this thread is a private room: it was scoped to one or more of the newsletter's subscriber segments, and only the people holding one of those segments and the newsletter's team can read it or its replies. Evaluated live, so losing the segment takes the conversation away on the next request.

      A private thread is never on the global feed, so visibility is subscribers whenever this is true. Scoping a public thread to a room moves it to subscribers in the same write.

      Always present. It says that the conversation is private without saying to whom, which is why every credential that can read the thread gets it while audience_tag_ids is narrower.

    • audience_tag_ids array[string(uuid)] | null

      Which segments the thread is private to, by tag id, or null when it is not private. The semantics are OR: holding any one of them is enough.

      Present only for a credential holding audience: read on this newsletter. A thread is content, and the words in it come back to any credential the thread's own gate admits; which segments it was addressed to is the audience family's fact, priced at audience: read everywhere else a credential can ask for it (GET /newsletters/{newsletter}/tags, GET /tags/{tag}). So a credential without that family sees audience_scoped and not this property, and cannot read a creator's segmentation off a conversation. Absent and null are different answers: absent is "this credential may not read it", null is "there is none".

      Every id here is a tag with is_room set, because that is the only kind a thread can be scoped to. A tag that was since retired or un-roomed stays in the list and goes on deciding who may read the thread, exactly as it goes on deciding the audience of an article it was addressed to.

    • is_article_thread boolean Required

      true when Commune opened this thread under an article rather than a person starting it. These are kept off the global feed, because the article card already represents the conversation there.

    • article object | null

      The article that opened this thread, when is_article_thread is true. null otherwise. A Ref unless article is named in ?expand=.

      One of:
      Ref object | null Article object | null
    • reply_count integer

      Undeleted replies in the thread, at any depth.

      Minimum value is 0.

    • view_count integer

      How many times the thread was opened.

      Minimum value is 0.

    • created_at string(date-time) Required

      When the thread was opened.

    • updated_at string(date-time)

      When the thread row last changed for any reason.

    • edited_at string(date-time) | null

      When the author last edited the opening message. Null when it was never edited, which is what drives the edited marker in the product.

    • last_activity_at string(date-time) Required

      When the thread last received a reply, or when it was opened if it never did. This is the sort key for the thread list.
  • 400 application/json

    The request was malformed, and the same request will fail the same way until it is changed. param names the parameter or header at fault when there is exactly one, and allowed_values lists what it accepts when that is a finite set. The code is bad_request for every case below except the last.

    • A query parameter: one the operation does not have, a value outside its set, range or format (an unparseable cursor, an unknown expand path or fields name, an identifier that is not a UUID), or a required one left out, such as q on a search or newsletter when the credential reaches more than one.
    • The request body: not JSON, not the shape the operation reads, a property it does not write, or a value of the wrong type, length or format. param is absent here, since the body is not a parameter, and the message names the property.
    • The Idempotency-Key header, on an operation that changes something: missing, or a value this API will not store.
    • An unrecognised Commune-Version, which answers with its own code, invalid_version, because it is never fixed by changing the body.
    Hide response attribute Show response attribute object
    • error object Required

      Additional properties are NOT allowed.

      Hide error attributes Show error attributes object
      • code string Required

        The stable, machine readable reason a request failed. New codes may be added in a minor version, so treat an unrecognised code as a generic failure of its HTTP status class.

        Two of these share a status with a neighbour and exist because what a caller does next is different. invalid_version is a 400 that is never fixed by changing the request body. not_commune_newsletter is a 422 that is never fixed by changing the request at all: it says the newsletter's articles are published somewhere else and mirrored into Commune afterwards, so Commune cannot write one. Its page at https://usecommune.dev/errors/not_commune_newsletter, like every code's, is its docs_url, and it covers moving a newsletter onto Commune's own publishing, which is the only thing that resolves it.

        Values are bad_request, invalid_version, unauthorized, forbidden, insufficient_scope, payment_required, not_found, conflict, unprocessable, not_commune_newsletter, rate_limited, internal_error, or service_unavailable.

      • message string Required

        A human readable sentence describing what went wrong. Written for a developer reading a log, not for an end user. Do not branch on it, branch on code.

      • param string

        The query, path or body parameter the error is attributed to, when the error is attributable to exactly one. Absent otherwise.

      • allowed_values array[string]

        Everything param would have accepted, when what it accepts is a finite set. Absent when it is not: a cursor, an identifier or a numeric range has nothing to enumerate, and an empty array would read as "nothing is allowed".

        It repeats what message says in prose, so a caller can correct a request from this one response: the array is what a program branches on, the sentence is what a person or a model reads.

        On an unknown parameter name rather than an unknown value, this carries the parameter names the operation does accept, since that is the set the caller has to pick from.

        On an insufficient_scope failure there is usually no parameter at fault and param is absent, and this carries the one permission that was needed, written the way the permission table writes it, such as content: read. The exception is a credential that may call the operation but not with one value of a parameter, such as ?expand=subscriber on listNewsletterInsights without audience: read: then param names the parameter and this carries the values this credential may send instead.

      • request_id string

        Identifier for this request, echoed in the Commune-Request-Id response header. Quote it in support requests.

      • docs_url string(uri)

        Link to the documentation for this error code: always https://usecommune.dev/errors/ followed by the code, a page on what the code means, what usually causes it and how to fix it.
  • 401 application/json

    No credential was presented, or it is malformed, unknown, revoked or expired, or it is an access token minted for a different audience.

    Every one of these answers identically, down to the wording and the headers, so a refusal never confirms that a string was once real.

    Hide headers attribute Show headers attribute
    • WWW-Authenticate string

      The authentication scheme this API accepts, and where to find out how to get a credential for it. Always Bearer realm="Commune API", resource_metadata="https://api.usecommune.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource".

      resource_metadata is the RFC 9728 pointer to this API's protected resource metadata, which names the authorization server an OAuth client should send its user to. A client holding an API key can ignore it. The header carries no error parameter, not even error="invalid_token", because it describes what this API accepts rather than what was wrong with the credential sent, and the reasons above are deliberately indistinguishable.

      There is no second scheme and no query-parameter fallback, because a credential that can travel in a URL ends up in access logs and referer headers.

    Hide response attribute Show response attribute object
    • error object Required

      Additional properties are NOT allowed.

      Hide error attributes Show error attributes object
      • code string Required

        The stable, machine readable reason a request failed. New codes may be added in a minor version, so treat an unrecognised code as a generic failure of its HTTP status class.

        Two of these share a status with a neighbour and exist because what a caller does next is different. invalid_version is a 400 that is never fixed by changing the request body. not_commune_newsletter is a 422 that is never fixed by changing the request at all: it says the newsletter's articles are published somewhere else and mirrored into Commune afterwards, so Commune cannot write one. Its page at https://usecommune.dev/errors/not_commune_newsletter, like every code's, is its docs_url, and it covers moving a newsletter onto Commune's own publishing, which is the only thing that resolves it.

        Values are bad_request, invalid_version, unauthorized, forbidden, insufficient_scope, payment_required, not_found, conflict, unprocessable, not_commune_newsletter, rate_limited, internal_error, or service_unavailable.

      • message string Required

        A human readable sentence describing what went wrong. Written for a developer reading a log, not for an end user. Do not branch on it, branch on code.

      • param string

        The query, path or body parameter the error is attributed to, when the error is attributable to exactly one. Absent otherwise.

      • allowed_values array[string]

        Everything param would have accepted, when what it accepts is a finite set. Absent when it is not: a cursor, an identifier or a numeric range has nothing to enumerate, and an empty array would read as "nothing is allowed".

        It repeats what message says in prose, so a caller can correct a request from this one response: the array is what a program branches on, the sentence is what a person or a model reads.

        On an unknown parameter name rather than an unknown value, this carries the parameter names the operation does accept, since that is the set the caller has to pick from.

        On an insufficient_scope failure there is usually no parameter at fault and param is absent, and this carries the one permission that was needed, written the way the permission table writes it, such as content: read. The exception is a credential that may call the operation but not with one value of a parameter, such as ?expand=subscriber on listNewsletterInsights without audience: read: then param names the parameter and this carries the values this credential may send instead.

      • request_id string

        Identifier for this request, echoed in the Commune-Request-Id response header. Quote it in support requests.

      • docs_url string(uri)

        Link to the documentation for this error code: always https://usecommune.dev/errors/ followed by the code, a page on what the code means, what usually causes it and how to fix it.
  • 404 application/json

    No such resource, or the key is not allowed to know that it exists. Commune answers 404 rather than 403 where distinguishing the two would leak the existence of private content.

    Hide response attribute Show response attribute object
    • error object Required

      Additional properties are NOT allowed.

      Hide error attributes Show error attributes object
      • code string Required

        The stable, machine readable reason a request failed. New codes may be added in a minor version, so treat an unrecognised code as a generic failure of its HTTP status class.

        Two of these share a status with a neighbour and exist because what a caller does next is different. invalid_version is a 400 that is never fixed by changing the request body. not_commune_newsletter is a 422 that is never fixed by changing the request at all: it says the newsletter's articles are published somewhere else and mirrored into Commune afterwards, so Commune cannot write one. Its page at https://usecommune.dev/errors/not_commune_newsletter, like every code's, is its docs_url, and it covers moving a newsletter onto Commune's own publishing, which is the only thing that resolves it.

        Values are bad_request, invalid_version, unauthorized, forbidden, insufficient_scope, payment_required, not_found, conflict, unprocessable, not_commune_newsletter, rate_limited, internal_error, or service_unavailable.

      • message string Required

        A human readable sentence describing what went wrong. Written for a developer reading a log, not for an end user. Do not branch on it, branch on code.

      • param string

        The query, path or body parameter the error is attributed to, when the error is attributable to exactly one. Absent otherwise.

      • allowed_values array[string]

        Everything param would have accepted, when what it accepts is a finite set. Absent when it is not: a cursor, an identifier or a numeric range has nothing to enumerate, and an empty array would read as "nothing is allowed".

        It repeats what message says in prose, so a caller can correct a request from this one response: the array is what a program branches on, the sentence is what a person or a model reads.

        On an unknown parameter name rather than an unknown value, this carries the parameter names the operation does accept, since that is the set the caller has to pick from.

        On an insufficient_scope failure there is usually no parameter at fault and param is absent, and this carries the one permission that was needed, written the way the permission table writes it, such as content: read. The exception is a credential that may call the operation but not with one value of a parameter, such as ?expand=subscriber on listNewsletterInsights without audience: read: then param names the parameter and this carries the values this credential may send instead.

      • request_id string

        Identifier for this request, echoed in the Commune-Request-Id response header. Quote it in support requests.

      • docs_url string(uri)

        Link to the documentation for this error code: always https://usecommune.dev/errors/ followed by the code, a page on what the code means, what usually causes it and how to fix it.
  • 429 application/json

    Too many requests. Back off and retry after the interval named by the Retry-After response header.

    One of the budgets in RateLimit-Policy ran out, and the RateLimit-* headers on this response say which and when it resets.

    Hide headers attribute Show headers attribute
    • Retry-After integer

      Seconds to wait before retrying.

      Minimum value is 1.

    Hide response attribute Show response attribute object
    • error object Required

      Additional properties are NOT allowed.

      Hide error attributes Show error attributes object
      • code string Required

        The stable, machine readable reason a request failed. New codes may be added in a minor version, so treat an unrecognised code as a generic failure of its HTTP status class.

        Two of these share a status with a neighbour and exist because what a caller does next is different. invalid_version is a 400 that is never fixed by changing the request body. not_commune_newsletter is a 422 that is never fixed by changing the request at all: it says the newsletter's articles are published somewhere else and mirrored into Commune afterwards, so Commune cannot write one. Its page at https://usecommune.dev/errors/not_commune_newsletter, like every code's, is its docs_url, and it covers moving a newsletter onto Commune's own publishing, which is the only thing that resolves it.

        Values are bad_request, invalid_version, unauthorized, forbidden, insufficient_scope, payment_required, not_found, conflict, unprocessable, not_commune_newsletter, rate_limited, internal_error, or service_unavailable.

      • message string Required

        A human readable sentence describing what went wrong. Written for a developer reading a log, not for an end user. Do not branch on it, branch on code.

      • param string

        The query, path or body parameter the error is attributed to, when the error is attributable to exactly one. Absent otherwise.

      • allowed_values array[string]

        Everything param would have accepted, when what it accepts is a finite set. Absent when it is not: a cursor, an identifier or a numeric range has nothing to enumerate, and an empty array would read as "nothing is allowed".

        It repeats what message says in prose, so a caller can correct a request from this one response: the array is what a program branches on, the sentence is what a person or a model reads.

        On an unknown parameter name rather than an unknown value, this carries the parameter names the operation does accept, since that is the set the caller has to pick from.

        On an insufficient_scope failure there is usually no parameter at fault and param is absent, and this carries the one permission that was needed, written the way the permission table writes it, such as content: read. The exception is a credential that may call the operation but not with one value of a parameter, such as ?expand=subscriber on listNewsletterInsights without audience: read: then param names the parameter and this carries the values this credential may send instead.

      • request_id string

        Identifier for this request, echoed in the Commune-Request-Id response header. Quote it in support requests.

      • docs_url string(uri)

        Link to the documentation for this error code: always https://usecommune.dev/errors/ followed by the code, a page on what the code means, what usually causes it and how to fix it.
  • 500 application/json

    Something failed inside Commune. The request may be retried.

    Hide response attribute Show response attribute object
    • error object Required

      Additional properties are NOT allowed.

      Hide error attributes Show error attributes object
      • code string Required

        The stable, machine readable reason a request failed. New codes may be added in a minor version, so treat an unrecognised code as a generic failure of its HTTP status class.

        Two of these share a status with a neighbour and exist because what a caller does next is different. invalid_version is a 400 that is never fixed by changing the request body. not_commune_newsletter is a 422 that is never fixed by changing the request at all: it says the newsletter's articles are published somewhere else and mirrored into Commune afterwards, so Commune cannot write one. Its page at https://usecommune.dev/errors/not_commune_newsletter, like every code's, is its docs_url, and it covers moving a newsletter onto Commune's own publishing, which is the only thing that resolves it.

        Values are bad_request, invalid_version, unauthorized, forbidden, insufficient_scope, payment_required, not_found, conflict, unprocessable, not_commune_newsletter, rate_limited, internal_error, or service_unavailable.

      • message string Required

        A human readable sentence describing what went wrong. Written for a developer reading a log, not for an end user. Do not branch on it, branch on code.

      • param string

        The query, path or body parameter the error is attributed to, when the error is attributable to exactly one. Absent otherwise.

      • allowed_values array[string]

        Everything param would have accepted, when what it accepts is a finite set. Absent when it is not: a cursor, an identifier or a numeric range has nothing to enumerate, and an empty array would read as "nothing is allowed".

        It repeats what message says in prose, so a caller can correct a request from this one response: the array is what a program branches on, the sentence is what a person or a model reads.

        On an unknown parameter name rather than an unknown value, this carries the parameter names the operation does accept, since that is the set the caller has to pick from.

        On an insufficient_scope failure there is usually no parameter at fault and param is absent, and this carries the one permission that was needed, written the way the permission table writes it, such as content: read. The exception is a credential that may call the operation but not with one value of a parameter, such as ?expand=subscriber on listNewsletterInsights without audience: read: then param names the parameter and this carries the values this credential may send instead.

      • request_id string

        Identifier for this request, echoed in the Commune-Request-Id response header. Quote it in support requests.

      • docs_url string(uri)

        Link to the documentation for this error code: always https://usecommune.dev/errors/ followed by the code, a page on what the code means, what usually causes it and how to fix it.
GET /threads/{thread} 
curl https://api.usecommune.com/threads/b3Xn8kTw \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COMMUNE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Commune-Version: 2026-08-26"
Response examples (200) 
{
  "object": "thread",
  "id": "string",
  "short_id": "string",
  "newsletter": {
    "object": "newsletter",
    "id": "9a4c1c6e-0f2b-4f47-9d3f-6d1b1a2c3d4e"
  },
  "author": {
    "object": "newsletter",
    "id": "9a4c1c6e-0f2b-4f47-9d3f-6d1b1a2c3d4e"
  },
  "content": "string",
  "media": [
    {
      "url": "https://example.com",
      "type": "string",
      "thumbnail": "https://example.com"
    }
  ],
  "visibility": "public",
  "audience_scoped": true,
  "audience_tag_ids": [
    "string"
  ],
  "is_article_thread": true,
  "article": {
    "object": "newsletter",
    "id": "9a4c1c6e-0f2b-4f47-9d3f-6d1b1a2c3d4e"
  },
  "reply_count": 42,
  "view_count": 42,
  "created_at": "2026-05-04T09:42:00Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-05-04T09:42:00Z",
  "edited_at": "2026-05-04T09:42:00Z",
  "last_activity_at": "2026-05-04T09:42:00Z"
}
Response examples (400) 
{
  "error": {
    "code": "bad_request",
    "message": "Newsletter not found.",
    "param": "cursor",
    "allowed_values": [
      "subscribed",
      "unsubscribed",
      "bounced",
      "complained",
      "pending"
    ],
    "request_id": "req_01j9c8h1q7m3n4p5r6s7t8u9v0",
    "docs_url": "https://usecommune.dev/errors/not_found"
  }
}
Response examples (401) 
# Headers
WWW-Authenticate: string

# Payload
{
  "error": {
    "code": "bad_request",
    "message": "Newsletter not found.",
    "param": "cursor",
    "allowed_values": [
      "subscribed",
      "unsubscribed",
      "bounced",
      "complained",
      "pending"
    ],
    "request_id": "req_01j9c8h1q7m3n4p5r6s7t8u9v0",
    "docs_url": "https://usecommune.dev/errors/not_found"
  }
}
Response examples (404) 
{
  "error": {
    "code": "bad_request",
    "message": "Newsletter not found.",
    "param": "cursor",
    "allowed_values": [
      "subscribed",
      "unsubscribed",
      "bounced",
      "complained",
      "pending"
    ],
    "request_id": "req_01j9c8h1q7m3n4p5r6s7t8u9v0",
    "docs_url": "https://usecommune.dev/errors/not_found"
  }
}
Response examples (429) 
# Headers
Retry-After: 42

# Payload
{
  "error": {
    "code": "bad_request",
    "message": "Newsletter not found.",
    "param": "cursor",
    "allowed_values": [
      "subscribed",
      "unsubscribed",
      "bounced",
      "complained",
      "pending"
    ],
    "request_id": "req_01j9c8h1q7m3n4p5r6s7t8u9v0",
    "docs_url": "https://usecommune.dev/errors/not_found"
  }
}
Response examples (500) 
{
  "error": {
    "code": "bad_request",
    "message": "Newsletter not found.",
    "param": "cursor",
    "allowed_values": [
      "subscribed",
      "unsubscribed",
      "bounced",
      "complained",
      "pending"
    ],
    "request_id": "req_01j9c8h1q7m3n4p5r6s7t8u9v0",
    "docs_url": "https://usecommune.dev/errors/not_found"
  }
}