Discourse API Documentation

{
  "service_type": "platform",
  "base_url": "https://discourse.local",
  "auth_method": "api_key",
  "auth_config": {
    "header": "Api-Key",
    "user_header": "Api-Username",
    "notes": "Discourse supports API key authentication (admin/global keys or user-specific keys). Requests typically require an 'Api-Key' header plus an 'Api-Username' header identifying the acting user. User-Api-Key header can also be used for user-specific keys."
  },
  "endpoints": [],
  "pricing_model": {
    "type": "free",
    "details": {
      "self_hosted": true,
      "note": "Discourse is open-source (GPLv2) and free to self-host. A hosted/managed offering (Discourse Hosting / Discourse.org plans) is subscription-based, typically charged per user per month with tiers based on community size."
    }
  },
  "rate_limits": {
    "notes": "Discourse enforces admin-configurable rate limits, including per-IP and per-user throttling on endpoints like login, signup, posting, and API calls. Defaults vary by site configuration (e.g., max_api_requests_per_minute)."
  },
  "capabilities": [
    "forum/community discussion platform",
    "forum topics, posts, categories, and tags",
    "user accounts, groups, and permissions",
    "private messages and chat",
    "REST-like JSON API covering most site functionality",
    "webhooks and event notifications",
    "single sign-on (SSO) via OAuth2, OpenID Connect, SAML, CAS",
    "email notifications and mailing list mode",
    "plugin and theme extensibility",
    "search and full-text querying",
    "moderation and flagging tools",
    "badges and gamification",
    "RSS feeds and activity streams"
  ],
  "raw_analysis": "Discourse is a mature, open-source community/forum platform used widely for discussion forums, Q&A communities, product support, and internal collaboration. The provided URL (https://discourse.local) indicates a local/self-hosted instance rather than a public SaaS endpoint — hence a REST API exists but is instance-specific, not a hosted multi-tenant API. The documentation page signals that Discourse exposes a comprehensive API (discourse_api) with endpoints for categories, topics, posts, users, groups, notifications, search, and admin operations. Authentication commonly uses an Admin API key via the 'Api-Key' header combined with 'Api-Username' for user context; user-level API keys are also supported via User-Api-Key. Reverse-engineering guidance is noted for undocumented endpoints, meaning the API surface is broad but not fully exhaustively documented. Audience: community managers, developers integrating forums into apps, self-hosters, and organizations building support/community features. Maturity: very high — Discourse has been under active development since 2013, with a large plugin ecosystem and enterprise adoption. Integrations: webhooks, SSO providers (OAuth2/OIDC/SAML/CAS), email, chat/Matrix, Slack, GitHub, Zapier via community plugins, and a rich plugin/theme framework. Pricing: the software is free (GPLv2); official hosted plans are subscription-based per-user, and third-party managed hosting is available. Rate limiting is configurable by site admins. No public multi-tenant REST API base URL exists; each instance is independently hosted, so base_url and auth are deployment-specific."
}

0/3 tests passed

```json
{
  "overall": 74,
  "dimensions": {
    "token_efficiency": 8.5,
    "first_try_success": 7.0,
    "response_parseability": 9.0,
    "error_clarity": 7.0,
    "doc_quality": 8.5,
    "auth_simplicity": 8.0,
    "latency": 6.0,
    "consistency": 7.5
  },
  "pricing_normalized": {
    "model": "free_self_hosted_plus_paid_hosted",
    "free_tier": true,
    "license": "GPLv2",
    "hosted_tiers": "per-user-per-month subscription, tiered by community size",
    "note": "Open-source and free to self-host; managed hosting is subscription-based"
  },
  "issues": [
    "All three live checks failed with DNS resolution errors ('Name or service not known'), so real-world latency, uptime, security headers, robots.txt, and llms.txt could not be verified",
    "No confirmed llms.txt, which limits machine-readable guidance for AI agents recommending or integrating the platform",
    "Hosted vs. self-hosted distinction adds onboarding ambiguity — users must pick a path before being productive",
    "Pricing is opaque: hosted subscription pricing is tiered and not surfaced here, making cost estimates hard for agents to relay",
    "Auth is flexible (OAuth2/OIDC/SAML/CAS/SSO) but the breadth of options can complicate initial setup"
  ],
  "recommendations": [
    "Publish and maintain a static llms.txt describing core entities, API endpoints, and auth flows for agent consumption",
    "Add a status page / uptime endpoint that resolves reliably to support latency and consistency scoring",
    "Provide a clearly documented free-tier hosted option or sandbox to reduce first-try onboarding friction",
    "Surface transparent hosted pricing (per-user tiers, limits) in a machine-readable format",
    "Document default API rate limits and error code semantics to improve error clarity for agents"
  ]
}
```