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Public Directory

Unless otherwise stated, endpoints are relative to https://api.groupme.com/v3/ and must include the token of the user making the call - so, for example, if an endpoint is GET /groups, the request you make should be using the URL https://api.groupme.com/v3/groups?token=aSDFghJkl, where aSDFghJkl is replaced with the user's token.

URLs which include a variable, such as GET /groups/:id, have their variables marked with a colon. So a request to that endpoint would look like https://api.groupme.com/v3/groups/1234567?token=aSDFghJkl, where 1234567 is replaced with the group's ID, and aSDFghJkl is replaced with the user's token.

Finally, all responses are wrapped in a response envelope of the following form:

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{
  "response": {
    "id": "12345",
    "name": "Family"
    ...
  },
  "meta": {
    "code": 200,
    "errors": []
  }
}

If the request succeeds, meta.errors will be null, and if the request fails, response will be null.

Preview Public Group

This call allows a client to check if a public or campus group requires a "join question" in order to apply for membership.

HTTP Request
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GET /groups/:group_id/preview
HTTP Response
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Status: 200 OK
{
  "id": "101646388",
  "theme_name": "wfh",
  "like_icon": {
    "type": "emoji",
    "pack_id": 1,
    "pack_index": 63
  },
  "updated_at": 1747666946,
  "requires_approval": true,
  "show_join_question": true,
  "join_question": {
    "type": "join_reason/questions/text",
    "text": "Why do you want to join our group?"
  },
  "children_count": 14
}

Join Public Group

Allows you to join (or request to join) a public group without a share token.

Breaking Change: Device Verification

This endpoint now requires platform-level device verification (e.g., Apple App Attest or Google Play Integrity). Requests must include valid attestation headers (X-verify-token), or they will be rejected.

This change was introduced by GroupMe to mitigate automated abuse. Unfortunately, it also blocks all third-party clients, including many valuable community projects. As such, this endpoint is no longer accessible to third-party applications and is retained here for historical reference only.

HTTP Request
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POST /groups/:group_id/join
{
  "answer": {
    "response": "Hi! This is why I'd like to join your group..."
  }
}

Parameters

  • response

    String - The answer you'd like to give in response to the group's join question (if one is used, otherwise you can omit this parameter)

HTTP Response
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Status: 201 Created
{
  "id": "1234567890",
  "name": "Family",
  "type": "private",
  "description": "Coolest Family Ever",
  "image_url": "https://i.groupme.com/123456789",
  "creator_user_id": "1234567890",
  "created_at": 1302623328,
  "updated_at": 1302623328,
  "members": [
    {
      "user_id": "1234567890",
      "nickname": "Jane",
      "muted": false,
      "image_url": "https://i.groupme.com/123456789"
    }
  ],
  "share_url": "https://groupme.com/join_group/1234567890/SHARE_TOKEN",
  "messages": {
    "count": 100,
    "last_message_id": "1234567890",
    "last_message_created_at": 1302623328,
    "preview": {
      "nickname": "Jane",
      "text": "Hello world",
      "image_url": "https://i.groupme.com/123456789",
      "attachments": [
        {
          "type": "image",
          "url": "https://i.groupme.com/123456789"
        },
        {
          "type": "location",
          "lat": "40.738206",
          "lng": "-73.993285",
          "name": "GroupMe HQ"
        },
        {
          "type": "emoji",
          "placeholder": "",
          "charmap": [
            [1, 42],
            [2, 34]
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Search Public Groups

Returns a list of public groups based on search terms or lattitude/longitude coordinates. If a location is supplied, groups will be orderd roughly by distance from that point.

Returned groups will be split into 4 different lists, depending on where they were found. * directories if you're a member of a university campus directory and matching results were found in your school domain * popular if they were found among the general list of public groups * trending if they were found on the curated list of groups published by GroupMe, * nearby if they were found in the automatically curated list of groups close to you.

Important

This request is relative to https://api.groupme.com/v1/, not https://api.groupme.com/v3/.

HTTP Request
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GET https://api.groupme.com/v1/search

Parameters

  • per_page

    Integer - Defines how many groups to return in the response. This value maxes out at 10,000 and defaults to 20 if omitted.

  • from

    Integer - The offset index to begin returning results from in the paginated list of groups. For example, from=0 returns results starting at the beginning, from=20 skips the first 20 groups. Defaults to 0 if omitted.

  • query

    String - A set of search terms to filter groups in the response.

  • lattitude

    Decimal - The lattitude coordinate for a point used to sort groups by their distance.

  • longitude

    Decimal - The longitude coordinate for a point used to sort groups by their distance.

HTTP Response
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Status: 200 OK
{
  "directories": [
    {
      "id": "91086340",
      "name": "Group Memes",
      "description": "Memes",
      "avatar_url": "https://i.groupme.com/236x236.jpeg.93edc4af32944ad18f863be07d3a8069",
      "directory_id": "1928",
      "group_type": "closed",
      "max_members": 5000,
      "members_count": 16,
      "locations": [
        {
          "point": {
            "lat": 40.23512,
            "lon": -111.66219
          },
          "name": "Provo, Utah, United States",
          "full_address": "Provo, Utah, Utah, United States",
          "locality": "Provo",
          "country_region": "United States",
          "country_subdivision": "Utah",
          "country_code": "US"
        }
      ],
      "children_count": 0
    }
    ...
  ],
  "popular": [
    {
      "id": "101804807",
      "name": "Clean Memes",
      "description": "Clean memes is a clean gc and the people are (partially insane) great!",
      "avatar_url": "https://i.groupme.com/960x960.jpeg.2c7a7d23ddde418ba6b7c164bd195e3a",
      "directory_id": "",
      "group_type": "closed",
      "max_members": 5000,
      "members_count": 4261,
        "locations": [
          {
            "point": {
              "lat": 40.713047,
              "lon": -74.00723
            },
            "name": "New York, New York, United States",
            "full_address": "New York, New York, United States",
            "locality": "New York",
            "country_region": "United States",
            "country_subdivision": "New York",
            "country_code": "US"
          },
        ],
        "children_count": 18,
        "trending_allowed": true
      },
      ...
  ],
  "nearby": [ ... ],
  "trending": [ ... ],
  "location_name": "Salt Lake City, Utah United States"
}

Returns a paginated list of the top 50 public groups, curated by GroupMe.

Important

This request is relative to https://api.groupme.com/v1/, not https://api.groupme.com/v3/.

HTTP Request
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GET https://api.groupme.com/v1/search/trending

Parameters

  • per_page

    Integer - Defines how many groups to return in the response. This value maxes out at 10,000 and defaults to 20 if omitted.

  • from

    Integer - The offset index to begin returning results from in the paginated list of groups. For example, from=0 returns results starting at the beginning, from=20 skips the first 20 groups. Defaults to 0 if omitted.

HTTP Response
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Status: 200 OK
{
  "trending": [
    {
      "id": "98296943",
      "name": "Chilling",
      "description": "a place to chill 😁 make sure you read the rules!",
      "avatar_url": "https://i.groupme.com/626x626.jpeg.2be242e18c3e418c90d280e064100163",
      "directory_id": "",
      "group_type": "closed",
      "max_members": 5000,
      "members_count": 4832,
      "locations": [
        {
          "point": {
            "lat": 38.892062,
            "lon": -77.019912
          },
          "name": "United States",
          "full_address": "United States",
          "country_region": "United States",
          "country_code": "US"
        }
      ],
      "children_count": 10,
      "trending_allowed": true
    },
    {
      "id": "92309453",
      "name": "Memes",
      "description": "¯\\_(ツ)_/¯",
      "avatar_url": "https://i.groupme.com/917x923.jpeg.1cb8105bb7df41fbbea2a5c5bc78fd34",
      "directory_id": "",
      "group_type": "closed",
      "max_members": 10000,
      "members_count": 8789,
      "locations": [
        {
          "point": {
            "lat": 32.71576,
            "lon": -117.163817
           },
          "name": "San Diego, California, United States",
          "full_address": "San Diego, San Diego, California, United States",
          "locality": "San Diego",
          "country_region": "United States",
          "country_subdivision": "California",
          "country_code": "US"
        }
      ],
      "children_count": 8,
      "trending_allowed": true
    }
  ]
}

Returns a paginated list of all public groups, ordered by member count (largest first).

Important

This request is relative to https://api.groupme.com/v1/, not https://api.groupme.com/v3/.

HTTP Request
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GET https://api.groupme.com/v1/search/popular

Parameters

  • per_page

    Integer - Defines how many groups to return in the response. This value maxes out at 10,000 and defaults to 20 if omitted.

  • from

    Integer - The offset index to begin returning results from in the paginated list of groups. For example, from=0 returns results starting at the beginning, from=20 skips the first 20 groups. Defaults to 0 if omitted.

HTTP Response
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Status: 200 OK
{
  "popular": [
    {
      "id": "92309453",
      "name": "Memes",
      "description": "¯\\_(ツ)_/¯",
      "avatar_url": "https://i.groupme.com/917x923.jpeg.1cb8105bb7df41fbbea2a5c5bc78fd34",
      "directory_id": "",
      "group_type": "closed",
      "max_members": 10000,
      "members_count": 8794,
      "locations": [
        {
          "point": {
            "lat": 32.71576,
            "lon": -117.163817
          },
          "name": "San Diego, California, United States",
          "full_address": "San Diego, San Diego, California, United States",
          "locality": "San Diego",
          "country_region": "United States",
          "country_subdivision": "California",
          "country_code": "US"
        },
      ],
      "children_count": 8,
      "trending_allowed": true
    },
    {
      "id": "16020539",
      "name": "ᏌᎪᏞᏴᎪNY ᏟᎻᎪᎢ 🎯🔥🐶📢",
      "description": "",
      "avatar_url": "https://i.groupme.com/1000x1000.jpeg.bf826152799f401f90045b64da690bb4",
      "directory_id": "",
      "group_type": "closed",
      "max_members": 8000,
      "members_count": 7608,
      "locations": [
        {
          "point": {
            "lat": 42.66709,
            "lon": -73.77516
          },
          "name": "Albany, New York, United States",
          "full_address": "Albany, Albany, New York, United States",
          "locality": "Albany",
          "country_region": "United States",
          "country_subdivision": "New York",
          "country_code": "US"
        }
      ],
      "children_count": 0
    }
    ...
  ]
}

Campus Directories

Note

These calls are exclusive to users who are already members of campus directories. For simplicity, this documentation will not cover how to join a campus domain via the API, but it does discuss how to navigate and manage one once you're a member.

Index

List information about the campus directory you're a member of

HTTP Request
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GET /directories
HTTP Response
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Status: 200 OK
{
  "id": 1928,
  "name": "Brigham Young University",
  "avatar_url": "",
  "type": "school_directory",
  "color": "#00458D",
  "short_name": "BYU",
  "members_count": 10380,
  "groups_count": 170,
  "share_url": "https://groupme.com/join_community/1928/6rRBO8DD",
  "share_qr_code_url": "https://image.groupme.com/qr/join_community/1928/6rRBO8DD/preview"
}

Leave Domain

Disconnect your account from a campus directory

HTTP Request
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DELETE /directories/:directory_id/membership

Parameters

  • directory_id

    String - the ID of the directory you're trying to leave

HTTP Response
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Status: 200 OK
[]

Index Groups

Returns a paginated list of groups that are a part of the domain.

Important

This request is relative to https://api.groupme.com/v1/, not https://api.groupme.com/v3/.

HTTP Request
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GET https://api.groupme.com/v1/search/directories

Parameters

  • per_page

    Integer - Defines how many groups to return in the response. This value maxes out at 10,000 and defaults to 20 if omitted.

  • from

    Integer - The offset index to begin returning results from in the paginated list of groups. For example, from=0 returns results starting at the beginning, from=20 skips the first 20 groups. Defaults to 0 if omitted.

HTTP Response
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Status: 200 OK
{
  "directories": [
    {
      "id": "101838896",
      "name": "BYU Geology Club",
      "description": "New geoclub group chat!😊",
      "avatar_url": "https://i.groupme.com/1024x1024.jpeg.ec0495b9ac3f47b79f4ae279e1aeb4a5",
      "directory_id": "1928",
      "group_type": "private",
      "max_members": 5000,
      "members_count": 116,
      "children_count": 0
    },
    {
      "id": "104386559",
      "name": "BYU Wildlife and Range",
      "description": "🦅Wildlife and Range Student Association 🦌",
      "avatar_url": "https://i.groupme.com/1024x1024.jpeg.0d027c5a80934f22a2ac2e6204b9e563",
      "directory_id": "1928",
      "group_type": "private",
      "max_members": 5000,
      "members_count": 81,
      "children_count": 0
    }
    ...
  ]
}

Index Members

Return a list containing all of the users who are visible to you within the campus directory. Note that the responses you get are also dependant on the privacy status of other users in the directory. Some people have their profiles set to be visible to only their major or graduation year, or hidden entirely.

Important

This request is relative to https://api.groupme.com/v1/, not https://api.groupme.com/v3/.

HTTP Request
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GET https://api.groupme.com/v1/search/directory/users

Parameters

  • per_page

    Integer - Defines how many groups to return in the response. This value maxes out at 10,000 and defaults to 20 if omitted.

  • from

    Integer - The offset index to begin returning results from in the paginated list of groups. For example, from=0 returns results starting at the beginning, from=20 skips the first 20 groups. Defaults to 0 if omitted.

  • majors

    Integer - A major code you'd like to filter by. The full dictionary of majors and their assigned codes can be found here: https://web.groupme.com/assets/majors/majors.en-US.json. You can include this parameter multiple times in one request to filter by multiple majors.

  • graduation_year

    Integer - A graduation year you'd like to filter users by.

HTTP Response
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Status: 200 OK
{
  "users": [
    {
      "id": "105436130",
      "avatar_url": "https://i.groupme.com/1024x1024.jpeg.63a049689246446ca2685764191ce7c3",
      "name": "Mikey",
      "bio": "",
      "graduation_year": "",
      "majors": ["3702"],
      "social_media_links": [],
      "shared_group_ids": null,
      "created_at": "2022-08-24T17:52:38+0000",
      "photo_urls": null,
      "song_url": "",
      "interests": null
    },
    {
      "id": "93031586",
      "avatar_url": "https://i.groupme.com/1024x1024.jpeg.4a1dca36b02744b0bac8cfe85a2d0331",
      "name": "Spencer",
      "bio": "",
      "graduation_year": "2024",
      "majors": ["3702"],
      "social_media_links": [],
      "shared_group_ids": null,
      "created_at": "2021-05-04T17:25:12+0000",
      "photo_urls": null,
      "song_url": "",
      "interests": null
    },
    ...
  ]
}