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

# Get messages

{generate_api_description(/messages:get)}

## 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');

// Pass the path to your zuliprc file here.
const config = {
    zuliprc: 'zuliprc',
};

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}

{generate_code_example(curl, exclude=["client_gravatar", "apply_markdown", "use_first_unread_anchor"])|/messages:get|example}

{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).

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

#### 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
[message-flags]: /api/update-message-flags#available-flags