CommCare HQ APIs



This feature requires a CommCare Software Plan

This feature (API Access) is only available to CommCare users with a Pro Plan or higher. For more details, see the CommCare Software Plan page.

This section is for you if...

- You are a programmer 

- You are looking to write code that interacts directly with CommCare HQ through its APIs

If you are not a programmer and are looking to integrate CommCare with other platforms we recommend looking at our Zapier Integration.

Things we take for granted...

- You should have a familiarity with HTTP conventions, such as GET and POST and url parameters

- To follow the examples, you should be familiar with the standard command line tool curl. Here's the manual: https://curl.haxx.se/docs/

- Character encoding is UTF-8. Dates should be compliant ISO 8601. (In some cases we're still using RFC 3339, but we're moving towards ISO 8601.) Guids should be generated in accordance with RFC 4122.

Authentication

Read the Authentication page for information about how to authenticate your requests with CommCare HQ.

API Explorer

A tool for browsing the read-only CommCare APIs can be found at https://commcare-api-explorer.dimagi.com/. This tool will connect directly to your CommCare account using Oauth2 so you don't have to worry about handling authentication.

Documented APIs and use of Standards

In the following, [version] should always be replaced with one of v0.5, v0.4. These documents only describe the latest version - some prior versions remain available only to support backwards compatibility with deployed systems, not for general use.

The latest version is v0.5.

In addition to the permissions listed, all APIs also require the "API Access" permission. The URL endpoints listed below should be utilized as part of a curl authentication command. For more information, please review CommCare's API Authentication Documentation.

API

Description

URL Endpoint

Permission required

API

Description

URL Endpoint

Permission required

Submission

API to submit data to CommCare HQ.

See Documentation

Set per domain

Bulk Upload API

Performs Bulk Imports of Case Data through the Excel Case Data Importer to either create or update cases

See Documentation

Valid login

User Creation (Mobile Worker)

API to create a mobile worker on CommCare HQ

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/[version]/user/

Edit Mobile Workers

User Edit (Mobile Worker)

API to edit a mobile worker on CommCare HQ

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/[version]/user/[id] 

Edit Mobile Workers

User Delete (Mobile Worker)

API to delete a mobile worker on CommCare HQ

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/[version]/user/[id]

Edit Mobile Workers

User Registration

API for registering users on CommCare HQ.

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/\[domain\]/receiver

Set per domain

OTA Restore (Case List)

API to retrieve data payload consumable to restore a users current state of cases.

See Documentation

Valid login

Data Export

API to export data from CommCare HQ.

See Documentation

Set per domain

Groups

List, create, edit and delete groups

See Documentation

Edit Mobile Workers

Mobile Workers

list mobile workers or access individual user data

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/[version]/user/

Edit Mobile Workers

Web Users

list web users or access individual user data

http://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/ [version] /web-user/

Edit Web Users

Locations

List locations and location types and view their details

See documentation

Valid login

SMS Mobile Worker Registration API

API to initiate the SMS Mobile Worker Registration workflow

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/[version]/sms_user_registration/

Edit Data

Send CommCare Install Info over SMS

API to facilitate the reinstallation of CommCare for already-registered users

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/[version]/sms_user_registration_reinstall/

Edit Data

Cases

list cases

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/[version]/case/

Edit Data

Case Data APIs

find a single case

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/[version]/case/[case_id]/

Edit Data

Forms

list form submissions

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/[version]/form/

Edit Data

Form Data APIs

list/search forms or access a single form

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/[version]/form/[form_id]/

Edit Data

Application Structure

view the schema of modules, cases, and forms for your application

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/[version]/application/

Edit Apps

User Identity

Look up user details

https://www.commcarehq.org/api/[version]/identity/

Valid login

User Domain List

Look up user domains

https://www.commcarehq.org/api/[version]/user_domains/

Valid login

Single Sign On

check login credentials and get the user details

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/[version]/sso/

Valid login

Form Attachments

API to get an attachment from a form

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/form/attachment/{form_id}/{attachment_name}

Valid login

Case Attachments

API to get an attachment from a case

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[domain]/api/case/attachment/{form_id}/{ attachment_name}

Valid login

Lookup Table Download

Get lookup table data

See documentation

Edit Apps

Lookup Table Upload

Create or edit lookup tables by uploading excel file containing table data

See documentation

Edit Apps

Download a .ccz file

Download the .ccz file for a specific version of an application

See documentation



List Reports

List the available reports in the project

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[PROJECT]/api/v0.5/simplereportconfiguration/?format=json

Domain Admin

Download Report Data

Filter and download data for a specific report

https://www.commcarehq.org/a/[PROJECT]/api/v0.5/configurablereportdata/REPORTID/

View Data

Enabling Data Integration 

Connecting to Google Sheets, Email and more using Zapier

How to enable Forms and Case Forwarding



API Clients

Note that any third party libraries are not supported by Dimagi.

API Key Restrictions

API Keys can be restricted by two methods IP address and/or Domain. 

  • The IP Allowlist restriction defines a specific IP address or comma separated list of IP addresses where the API Key can be used. The field references IPv4. There are many ways to check what your IP Address is, one simple way is to use: https://whatismyipaddress.com/

  • The Domain restriction allows an API Key to be restricted to a specific domain/project space.

If either of these fields are left blank, the API Key will by default be unrestricted.

Standards used in Some APIs

Standard

Description

Standard

Description

OpenRosa Request

The standard for HTTP(S) interactions between CommCare client and server

Meta Data Schema

Open Rosa standard meta data tags. (Taken care of by default by CommCare HQ.)

Case XML

XML spec for case-related transactions. (Taken care of by default by CommCare HQ.)

Authentication

How authentication is done between a CommCare device and the server 

CommCare 2.0 Specs

Additional documentation for CommCare APIs

 External links to the JavaRosa/CommCare docs



API Rate Limiting

CommCare applies API rate limits on all project spaces at all times.



Standard rate limit thresholds

  • The standard rate limit per minute is 3 API requests per mobile worker.

  • The standard rate limit per hour is 130 API requests per mobile worker.

  • The standard rate limit per day is 1000 API requests per mobile worker.



In the table below, you will see the calculated rate limit thresholds for each subscription plan.

(number of mobile workers) * (standard API requests per minute or hour or day etc.)



MOBILE WORKERS INCLUDED IN THE SUBSCRIPTION

TIME PERIOD

RATE LIMIT THRESHOLD

MOBILE WORKERS INCLUDED IN THE SUBSCRIPTION

TIME PERIOD

RATE LIMIT THRESHOLD

Standard plan

125 mobile workers

API requests per minute

375

API requests per hour

16,250

API requests per day

125,000

Pro plan

250 mobile workers

API requests per minute

750

API requests per hour

32,500

API requests per day

250,000

Advanced plan

500 mobile workers

API requests per minute

1,500

API requests per hour

65,000

API requests per day

500,000

Enterprise Plan

1000 mobile workers

API requests per minute

3,000

API requests per hour

130,000

API requests per day

1,000,000

Technically Feasible API Requests

We advise you to adhere to the rate limits as outlined above.