Web API Endpoints - Answer Overflow

Answer Overflow provides REST API endpoints for programmatic access to messages, webhooks, and integrations.

Base URL

https://www.answeroverflow.com/api

All API endpoints are prefixed with /api.

Authentication

API endpoints use API key authentication via header:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
# or
x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY

Generate API Key

Go to Answer Overflow Dashboard
Navigate to Settings
Click “Generate API Key”
Copy and securely store your key

API keys grant full access to your server data. Keep them secure and never commit them to version control.

OpenAPI Specification

Answer Overflow provides OpenAPI 3.0 specifications for all endpoints.

Get OpenAPI Spec

GET /api/openapi/json

Returns the full OpenAPI 3.1 specification.

Get Mintlify-Compatible Spec

GET /api/openapi-mintlify

Returns OpenAPI 3.0 specification compatible with Mintlify’s API playground. Response Example:

{
  "openapi": "3.0.0",
  "info": {
    "title": "AnswerOverflow API",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "description": "API for interacting with AnswerOverflow programmatically."
  },
  "servers": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.answeroverflow.com/",
      "description": "Production"
    }
  ],
  "components": {
    "securitySchemes": {
      "apiKey": {
        "type": "apiKey",
        "in": "header",
        "name": "x-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Message Endpoints

Update Message Solution

Mark or unmark a message as a solution.

POST /api/v1/messages/:id

string

required

Discord message ID (snowflake as string)

Headers:

x-api-key

string

required

Your Answer Overflow API key

Body:

solutionId

string | null

required

Discord message ID to mark as solution, or null to unmark the current solution

Request Example:

curl -X POST https://www.answeroverflow.com/api/v1/messages/1234567890 \
  -H "x-api-key: your_api_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "solutionId": "9876543210"
  }'

Response (200 OK):

success

boolean

Always true on success

{
  "success": true
}

Error Responses:

error

string

Error message describing what went wrong

400 Bad Request - Invalid message ID format or missing fields

{
  "error": "Invalid message ID format"
}

401 Unauthorized - Missing or invalid API key

{
  "error": "Unauthorized - x-api-key header required"
}

403 Forbidden - API key doesn’t have access to this server

{
  "error": "API key does not have access to this server"
}

404 Not Found - Message not found in database

{
  "error": "Message not found"
}

500 Internal Server Error - Server error

{
  "error": "Internal server error"
}

Implementation: /apps/main-site/src/app/(main-site)/api/[[...slugs]]/route.ts:122

Show Unmark Solution Example

# Remove solution marking
curl -X POST https://www.answeroverflow.com/api/v1/messages/1234567890 \
  -H "x-api-key: your_api_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "solutionId": null
  }'

Webhook Endpoints

Convex Webhooks

Receive webhooks from Convex database operations.

POST /api/v1/webhooks/convex

Internal Use Only - This endpoint is called by Convex and requires webhook signature verification. Headers:

webhook-signature

string

required

Convex webhook signature for verification

Body: Convex webhook payload varies by event type. Events:

Database document created
Database document updated
Database document deleted
Scheduled function completed

Implementation: /apps/main-site/src/app/handlers/convex-webhooks.ts

GitHub Webhooks

Receive webhooks from GitHub for issue/PR synchronization.

POST /api/v1/webhooks/github

Internal Use Only - This endpoint is called by GitHub and requires webhook signature verification. Headers:

x-hub-signature-256

string

required

GitHub webhook signature (HMAC SHA256)

x-github-event

string

required

GitHub event type (e.g., “issues”, “pull_request”)

Body: GitHub webhook payload varies by event type. Events:

issues.opened - New issue created
issues.closed - Issue closed
issues.reopened - Issue reopened
issue_comment.created - Comment added to issue
pull_request.opened - PR opened
pull_request.merged - PR merged

What It Does:

Syncs Discord threads with GitHub issues
Posts updates to Discord when issues are updated
Tracks issue status in Answer Overflow

Implementation: /apps/main-site/src/app/handlers/github-webhooks.ts

Authentication Endpoints

Better Auth

Answer Overflow uses Better Auth for authentication.

ALL /api/auth/*

Available Routes:

GET /api/auth/signin - Sign in page
POST /api/auth/signin/discord - Discord OAuth sign in
POST /api/auth/signin/github - GitHub OAuth sign in
POST /api/auth/signout - Sign out
GET /api/auth/session - Get current session
POST /api/auth/callback/discord - Discord OAuth callback
POST /api/auth/callback/github - GitHub OAuth callback

Session Cookie: Authentication state is maintained via HTTP-only secure cookies:

Cookie name: auth_session
HttpOnly: true
Secure: true (production)
SameSite: Lax

Implementation: Uses Better Auth library with custom Convex adapter

Content Endpoints

Message Markdown Export

Get a message rendered as Markdown.

GET /m/:messageId/markdown

messageId

string

required

Discord message ID

Response (200 OK):

# Question Title

**Author:** @username  
**Posted:** January 15, 2024 at 10:30 AM

## Question

How do I configure webhooks in Discord?

## Solution

**Author:** @helper  
**Posted:** January 15, 2024 at 10:45 AM

You can configure webhooks by...

Content-Type: text/markdown Implementation: /apps/main-site/src/app/(main-site)/m/[messageId]/markdown/route.ts

User Comments

Get all comments/messages from a specific user.

GET /u/:userId/comments

userId

string

required

Discord user ID

Query Parameters:

page

number

Page number for pagination (default: 1)

limit

number

Items per page (default: 50, max: 100)

Response (200 OK):

{
  "comments": [
    {
      "messageId": "1234567890",
      "content": "Here's how to solve that...",
      "threadId": "9876543210",
      "threadTitle": "Help with webhooks",
      "serverId": "111222333",
      "serverName": "My Server",
      "channelId": "444555666",
      "channelName": "help",
      "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:45:00Z",
      "isSolution": true
    }
  ],
  "pagination": {
    "page": 1,
    "limit": 50,
    "total": 127,
    "hasMore": true
  }
}

Implementation: /apps/main-site/src/app/(main-site)/u/[userId]/comments/route.ts

Sitemap & Robots

Dynamic Sitemap

Get XML sitemap for a specific server domain.

GET /sitemap.xml
GET /:domain/sitemap.xml

Response (200 OK):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://help.example.com/m/1234567890</loc>
    <lastmod>2024-01-15</lastmod>
    <changefreq>weekly</changefreq>
    <priority>0.8</priority>
  </url>
  <!-- More URLs -->
</urlset>

Content-Type: application/xml Implementation: /apps/main-site/src/app/[domain]/(content)/sitemap.xml/route.ts

Robots.txt

Get robots.txt for SEO crawlers.

GET /robots.txt  
GET /:domain/robots.txt

Response (200 OK):

User-agent: *
Allow: /
Disallow: /admin
Disallow: /api
Sitemap: https://help.example.com/sitemap.xml

Content-Type: text/plain Implementation: /apps/main-site/src/app/[domain]/(content)/robots.txt/route.ts

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

MCP Server Endpoint

Model Context Protocol endpoint for AI tools integration.

POST /mcp
GET /mcp

Purpose: Allows AI models and tools to query Answer Overflow’s knowledge base. Request:

{
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "search",
    "arguments": {
      "query": "how to setup webhooks",
      "server": "My Server"
    }
  }
}

Response:

{
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "text": "Based on the community discussions..."
    },
    {
      "type": "resource",
      "resource": {
        "uri": "answeroverflow://message/1234567890",
        "name": "How to Setup Webhooks"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Available Tools:

search_answeroverflow

tool

Search for answers on Answer Overflow - a searchable archive of Discord help channels.Parameters:

query (string, required) - The search query (error messages, function names, concepts)
serverId (string, optional) - Filter to specific Discord server
limit (number, optional) - Max results (1-25, default 10)

search_servers

tool

Search for Discord servers indexed on Answer Overflow by name.Parameters:

query (string, optional) - Filter servers by name
limit (number, optional) - Max servers (1-100, default 25)

get_thread_messages

tool

Get the full conversation of a thread including all messages.Parameters:

threadId (string, required) - The thread identifier

find_similar_threads

tool

Find similar threads using semantic search.Parameters:

query (string, required) - The search query
limit (number, optional) - Max results

Implementation: /apps/main-site/src/app/(main-site)/mcp/route.ts:36

Rate Limiting

API endpoints implement rate limiting to prevent abuse:

Limits

Authenticated Requests: 100 requests per minute
Public Requests: 20 requests per minute
Webhook Endpoints: No rate limit (signature verified)

Rate Limit Headers

Responses include rate limit information:

X-RateLimit-Limit: 100
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 95
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1642345678

Rate Limit Exceeded

429 Too Many Requests:

{
  "error": "Rate limit exceeded",
  "retryAfter": 60
}

Error Handling

All endpoints follow consistent error response format:

{
  "error": "Error message",
  "code": "ERROR_CODE",
  "details": {
    "field": "Additional context"
  }
}

Common Error Codes

UNAUTHORIZED - Missing or invalid authentication
FORBIDDEN - Insufficient permissions
NOT_FOUND - Resource not found
INVALID_INPUT - Invalid request parameters
RATE_LIMITED - Rate limit exceeded
INTERNAL_ERROR - Server error

SDK & Client Libraries

TypeScript/JavaScript

npm install @answeroverflow/api

import { AnswerOverflow } from '@answeroverflow/api';

const client = new AnswerOverflow({
  apiKey: process.env.ANSWER_OVERFLOW_API_KEY
});

// Mark a solution
await client.messages.markSolution({
  questionId: '1234567890',
  solutionId: '9876543210'
});

// Search messages
const results = await client.search.messages({
  query: 'webhooks',
  serverId: '111222333'
});

Python

pip install answeroverflow

from answeroverflow import AnswerOverflow

client = AnswerOverflow(api_key=os.environ['ANSWER_OVERFLOW_API_KEY'])

# Mark a solution
client.messages.mark_solution(
    question_id='1234567890',
    solution_id='9876543210'
)

# Search messages
results = client.search.messages(
    query='webhooks',
    server_id='111222333'
)

Webhooks (Outgoing)

Configure Answer Overflow to send webhooks to your endpoints when events occur.

Setup

Go to Dashboard Settings
Navigate to “Webhooks”
Add your webhook URL
Select events to receive

Events

message.created - New message indexed
message.updated - Message content changed
solution.marked - Solution marked on thread
solution.unmarked - Solution removed from thread
thread.created - New thread indexed
thread.archived - Thread archived

Webhook Payload

{
  "event": "solution.marked",
  "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:45:00Z",
  "data": {
    "questionId": "1234567890",
    "solutionId": "9876543210",
    "threadId": "1111222333",
    "serverId": "4444555666",
    "markedBy": "7777888999"
  }
}

Webhook Signature

Verify webhooks using HMAC signature:

import crypto from 'crypto';

function verifyWebhook(payload: string, signature: string, secret: string) {
  const expectedSignature = crypto
    .createHmac('sha256', secret)
    .update(payload)
    .digest('hex');
  
  return crypto.timingSafeEqual(
    Buffer.from(signature),
    Buffer.from(expectedSignature)
  );
}

Getting Started

Monorepo Structure

Core Applications

Packages

Development Guides

API Reference

​Base URL

​Authentication

​Generate API Key

​OpenAPI Specification

​Get OpenAPI Spec

​Get Mintlify-Compatible Spec

​Message Endpoints

​Update Message Solution

​Webhook Endpoints

​Convex Webhooks

​GitHub Webhooks

​Authentication Endpoints

​Better Auth

​Content Endpoints

​Message Markdown Export

​User Comments

​Sitemap & Robots

​Dynamic Sitemap

​Robots.txt

​MCP (Model Context Protocol)

​MCP Server Endpoint

​Rate Limiting

​Limits

​Rate Limit Headers

​Rate Limit Exceeded

​Error Handling

​Common Error Codes

​SDK & Client Libraries

​TypeScript/JavaScript

​Python

​Webhooks (Outgoing)

​Setup

​Events

​Webhook Payload

​Webhook Signature

Base URL

Authentication

Generate API Key

OpenAPI Specification

Get OpenAPI Spec

Get Mintlify-Compatible Spec

Message Endpoints

Update Message Solution

Webhook Endpoints

Convex Webhooks

GitHub Webhooks

Authentication Endpoints

Better Auth

Content Endpoints

Message Markdown Export

User Comments

Sitemap & Robots

Dynamic Sitemap

Robots.txt

MCP (Model Context Protocol)

MCP Server Endpoint

Rate Limiting

Limits

Rate Limit Headers

Rate Limit Exceeded

Error Handling

Common Error Codes

SDK & Client Libraries

TypeScript/JavaScript

Python

Webhooks (Outgoing)

Setup

Events

Webhook Payload

Webhook Signature