zulip/templates/zerver/api/get-messages.md

# Get messages

Fetch message history from a Zulip server.

`GET {{ api_url }}/v1/messages`

This `GET /api/v1/messages` endpoint is the primary way to fetch
message history from a Zulip server.  It is useful both for Zulip
clients (e.g. the web, desktop, mobile, and terminal clients) as well
as bots, API clients, backup scripts, etc.

By specifying a [narrow filter](/api/construct-narrow), you can use
this endpoint to fetch the messages matching any search query that is
supported by Zulip's powerful full-text search backend.

When a narrow is not specified, it can be used to fetch a user's
message history (We recommend paginating to 1000 messages at a time).

In either case, you specify an `anchor` message (or ask the server to
calculate the first unread message for you and use that as the
anchor), as well as a number of messages before and after the anchor
message.  The server returns those messages, sorted by message ID, as
well as some metadata that makes it easy for a client to determine
whether there are more messages matching the query that were not
returned due to the `num_before` and `num_after` limits.

We recommend using `num_before <= 1000` and `num_after <= 1000` to
avoid generating very large HTTP responses. A maximum of 5000 messages
can be obtained per request; attempting to exceed this will result in an
error.

## Usage examples

{start_tabs}
{tab|python}

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

{tab|js}

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',
};

zulip(config).then((client) => {
    const readParams = {
        stream,
        type: 'stream',
        anchor: res.id,
        num_before: 1,
        num_after: 1,
    };

    // Fetch messages anchored around id (1 before, 1 after)
    return client.messages.retrieve(readParams);
}).then(console.log);
```

{tab|curl}

```
curl {{ api_url }}/v1/messages \
    -u BOT_EMAIL_ADDRESS:BOT_API_KEY \
    -d "anchor=42" \
    -d "use_first_unread_anchor=false" \
    -d "num_before=3" \
    -d "num_after=14" \
    -d "narrow=[{\"operator\":\"stream\", \"operand\":\"party\"}]" \

```

{end_tabs}

## Arguments

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

## Response

#### Return values

When a request is successful, this endpoint returns a dictionary
containing the following (in addition to the `msg` and `result` keys
present in all Zulip API responses).

* `anchor`: the same `anchor` specified in the request.
* `found_newest`: whether the `messages` list includes the latest message in
    the narrow.
* `found_oldest`: whether the `messages` list includes the oldest message in
    the narrow.
* `found_anchor`: whether it was possible to fetch the requested anchor, or
    the closest in the narrow has been used.
* `messages`: an array of `message` objects, each containing the following
    fields:
    * `avatar_url`: The URL of the user's avatar.
    * `client`: A Zulip "client" string, describing what Zulip client
      sent the message.
    * `content`: The content/body of the message.
    * `content_type`: The HTTP `content_type` for the message content.  This
      will be `text/html` or `text/x-markdown`, depending on
      whether `apply_markdown` was set.
    * `display_recipient`: Data on the recipient of the message;
      either the name of a stream or a dictionary containing data on
      the users who received the message.
    * `flags`: The user's message flags for the message.
    * `id`: The unique message ID.  Messages should always be
      displayed sorted by ID.
    * `is_me_message`: Whether the message is a [/me status message][status-messages]
    * `reactions`: Data on any reactions to the message.
    * `recipient_id`: A unique ID for the set of users receiving the
      message (either a stream or group of users).  Useful primarily
      for hashing.
    * `sender_email`: The email address of the message's sender.
    * `sender_full_name`: The full name of the message's sender.
    * `sender_id`: The user ID of the message's sender.
    * `sender_realm_str`: A string identifier for the realm the sender
      is in.
    * `sender_short_name`: Reserved for future use.
    * `stream_id`: Only present for stream messages; the ID of the stream.
    * `subject`: The `topic` of the message (only present for stream
      messages).  The name is a legacy holdover from when topics were
      called "subjects".
    * `subject_links`: Data on any links to be included in the `topic`
      line (these are generated by
      [custom linkification filters][linkification-filters] that match
      content in the message's topic.)
    * `submessages`: Data used for certain experimental Zulip integrations.
    * `timestamp`: The UNIX timestamp for when the message was sent,
      in UTC seconds.
    * `type`: The type of the message: `stream` or `private`.

#### Example response

A typical successful JSON response may look like:

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

[status-messages]: /help/format-your-message-using-markdown#status-messages
[linkification-filters]: /help/add-a-custom-linkification-filter