External Content Types

Use this API to define and manage external content types. A type refers to a kind of content, such as blog posts, tech notes, or bug reports. Because end users can filter help center search results by content type, use descriptive names to help them understand and navigate your content.

For more information on federated search, see Introduction and About Zendesk Federated Search in Zendesk help.

JSON format

Types are represented as JSON objects with the following properties:

Name	Type	Read-only	Mandatory	Description
created_at	string	false	false	ISO-8601 compliant date-time reflecting the time the event was created. If not set, the API sets the value when it receives the event
id	string	true	false	Universally Unique Lexicographically Sortable Identifier. See https://github.com/ulid/spec
name	string	false	true	The name of the type to be displayed in the help center
updated_at	string	false	false	ISO-8601 compliant date-time reflecting the time the event was last updated

List External Content Types

• GET /api/v2/guide/external_content/types

Returns a list of the external content types created for this account.

Allowed for

• Help Center managers

Parameters

Name	Type	In	Required	Description
page	object	Query	false	Paginate query

Code Samples

curl

curl https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types \
  -v -u {email_address}/token:{api_token}

Go

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	url := "https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types?page="
	method := "GET"
	req, err := http.NewRequest(method, url, nil)

	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")
	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Basic <auth-value>") // Base64 encoded "{email_address}/token:{api_token}"

	client := &http.Client {}
	res, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	body, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

Java

import com.squareup.okhttp.*;
OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient();
HttpUrl.Builder urlBuilder = HttpUrl.parse("https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types")
		.newBuilder()
		.addQueryParameter("page", "");
String userCredentials = "your_email_address" + "/token:" + "your_api_token";
String basicAuth = "Basic " + java.util.Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(userCredentials.getBytes());

Request request = new Request.Builder()
		.url(urlBuilder.build())
		.method("GET", null)
		.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.addHeader("Authorization", basicAuth)
		.build();
Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

Nodejs

var axios = require('axios');

var config = {
  method: 'GET',
  url: 'https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types',
  headers: {
	'Content-Type': 'application/json',
	'Authorization': 'Basic <auth-value>', // Base64 encoded "{email_address}/token:{api_token}"
  },
  params: {
    'page': '',
  },
};

axios(config)
.then(function (response) {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
})
.catch(function (error) {
  console.log(error);
});

Python

import requests
from requests.auth import HTTPBasicAuth

url = "https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types?page="
headers = {
	"Content-Type": "application/json",
}
email_address = 'your_email_address'
api_token = 'your_api_token'
# Use basic authentication
auth = HTTPBasicAuth(f'{email_address}/token', api_token)

response = requests.request(
	"GET",
	url,
	auth=auth,
	headers=headers
)

print(response.text)

Ruby

require "net/http"
require "base64"
uri = URI("https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form("page": "")
request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri, "Content-Type": "application/json")
email = "your_email_address"
api_token = "your_api_token"
credentials = "#{email}/token:#{api_token}"
encoded_credentials = Base64.strict_encode64(credentials)
request["Authorization"] = "Basic #{encoded_credentials}"
response = Net::HTTP.start uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true do |http|
	http.request(request)
end

Example response(s)

200 OK

// Status 200 OK

{
  "meta": {
    "after_cursor": "MG",
    "before_cursor": "MQ",
    "has_more": true
  },
  "types": [
    {
      "created_at": "2020-05-01T09:12:20Z",
      "id": "01EBDWWC98ZF7DK9YQF3DK9Y77",
      "name": "Book",
      "updated_at": "2020-05-26T09:11:30Z"
    }
  ]
}

Show External Content Type

• GET /api/v2/guide/external_content/types/{id}

Returns the specified content type.

Allowed for

• Help Center managers

Parameters

Name	Type	In	Required	Description
id	string	Path	true	ULID for the object

Code Samples

curl

curl https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/{id} \
  -v -u {email_address}/token:{api_token}

Go

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	url := "https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP"
	method := "GET"
	req, err := http.NewRequest(method, url, nil)

	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")
	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Basic <auth-value>") // Base64 encoded "{email_address}/token:{api_token}"

	client := &http.Client {}
	res, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	body, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

Java

import com.squareup.okhttp.*;
OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient();
HttpUrl.Builder urlBuilder = HttpUrl.parse("https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP")
		.newBuilder();
String userCredentials = "your_email_address" + "/token:" + "your_api_token";
String basicAuth = "Basic " + java.util.Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(userCredentials.getBytes());

Request request = new Request.Builder()
		.url(urlBuilder.build())
		.method("GET", null)
		.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.addHeader("Authorization", basicAuth)
		.build();
Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

Nodejs

var axios = require('axios');

var config = {
  method: 'GET',
  url: 'https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP',
  headers: {
	'Content-Type': 'application/json',
	'Authorization': 'Basic <auth-value>', // Base64 encoded "{email_address}/token:{api_token}"
  },
};

axios(config)
.then(function (response) {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
})
.catch(function (error) {
  console.log(error);
});

Python

import requests
from requests.auth import HTTPBasicAuth

url = "https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP"
headers = {
	"Content-Type": "application/json",
}
email_address = 'your_email_address'
api_token = 'your_api_token'
# Use basic authentication
auth = HTTPBasicAuth(f'{email_address}/token', api_token)

response = requests.request(
	"GET",
	url,
	auth=auth,
	headers=headers
)

print(response.text)

Ruby

require "net/http"
require "base64"
uri = URI("https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP")
request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri, "Content-Type": "application/json")
email = "your_email_address"
api_token = "your_api_token"
credentials = "#{email}/token:#{api_token}"
encoded_credentials = Base64.strict_encode64(credentials)
request["Authorization"] = "Basic #{encoded_credentials}"
response = Net::HTTP.start uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true do |http|
	http.request(request)
end

Example response(s)

200 OK

// Status 200 OK

{
  "type": {
    "created_at": "2020-05-01T09:12:20Z",
    "id": "01E7H2DC2EDTK45NZTFGFAAA1N",
    "name": "Book",
    "updated_at": "2020-05-26T09:11:30Z"
  }
}

Create External Content Type

• POST /api/v2/guide/external_content/types

Creates an external content type.

Allowed for

• Help Center managers

Example body

{
  "type": {
    "name": "Book"
  }
}

Code Samples

curl

curl https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types \
  -d '{"type": { "name": "Book" }}' \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -v -u {email_address}/token:{api_token} -X POST

Go

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"strings"
)

func main() {
	url := "https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types"
	method := "POST"
	payload := strings.NewReader(`{
  "type": {
    "name": "Book"
  }
}`)
	req, err := http.NewRequest(method, url, payload)

	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")
	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Basic <auth-value>") // Base64 encoded "{email_address}/token:{api_token}"

	client := &http.Client {}
	res, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	body, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

Java

import com.squareup.okhttp.*;
OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient();
HttpUrl.Builder urlBuilder = HttpUrl.parse("https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types")
		.newBuilder();
RequestBody body = RequestBody.create(MediaType.parse("application/json"),
		"""
{
  \"type\": {
    \"name\": \"Book\"
  }
}""");
String userCredentials = "your_email_address" + "/token:" + "your_api_token";
String basicAuth = "Basic " + java.util.Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(userCredentials.getBytes());

Request request = new Request.Builder()
		.url(urlBuilder.build())
		.method("POST", body)
		.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.addHeader("Authorization", basicAuth)
		.build();
Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

Nodejs

var axios = require('axios');
var data = JSON.stringify({
  "type": {
    "name": "Book"
  }
});

var config = {
  method: 'POST',
  url: 'https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types',
  headers: {
	'Content-Type': 'application/json',
	'Authorization': 'Basic <auth-value>', // Base64 encoded "{email_address}/token:{api_token}"
  },
  data : data,
};

axios(config)
.then(function (response) {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
})
.catch(function (error) {
  console.log(error);
});

Python

import requests
import json
from requests.auth import HTTPBasicAuth

url = "https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types"

payload = json.loads("""{
  "type": {
    "name": "Book"
  }
}""")
headers = {
	"Content-Type": "application/json",
}
email_address = 'your_email_address'
api_token = 'your_api_token'
# Use basic authentication
auth = HTTPBasicAuth(f'{email_address}/token', api_token)

response = requests.request(
	"POST",
	url,
	auth=auth,
	headers=headers,
	json=payload
)

print(response.text)

Ruby

require "net/http"
require "base64"
uri = URI("https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types")
request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri, "Content-Type": "application/json")
request.body = %q({
  "type": {
    "name": "Book"
  }
})
email = "your_email_address"
api_token = "your_api_token"
credentials = "#{email}/token:#{api_token}"
encoded_credentials = Base64.strict_encode64(credentials)
request["Authorization"] = "Basic #{encoded_credentials}"
response = Net::HTTP.start uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true do |http|
	http.request(request)
end

Example response(s)

201 Created

// Status 201 Created

{
  "type": {
    "created_at": "2020-05-01T09:12:20Z",
    "id": "01E7H2DC2EDTK45NZTFGFAAA1N",
    "name": "Book",
    "updated_at": "2020-05-26T09:11:30Z"
  }
}

Update External Content Type

• PUT /api/v2/guide/external_content/types/{id}

Updates the specified external content type with the request body.

Allowed for

• Help Center managers

Parameters

Name	Type	In	Required	Description
id	string	Path	true	ULID for the object

Example body

{
  "type": {
    "name": "Book"
  }
}

Code Samples

curl

curl https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/{id} \
  -d '{"type": { "name": "Book" }}' \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -v -u {email_address}/token:{api_token} -X PUT

Go

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"strings"
)

func main() {
	url := "https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP"
	method := "PUT"
	payload := strings.NewReader(`{
  "type": {
    "name": "Book"
  }
}`)
	req, err := http.NewRequest(method, url, payload)

	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")
	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Basic <auth-value>") // Base64 encoded "{email_address}/token:{api_token}"

	client := &http.Client {}
	res, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	body, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

Java

import com.squareup.okhttp.*;
OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient();
HttpUrl.Builder urlBuilder = HttpUrl.parse("https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP")
		.newBuilder();
RequestBody body = RequestBody.create(MediaType.parse("application/json"),
		"""
{
  \"type\": {
    \"name\": \"Book\"
  }
}""");
String userCredentials = "your_email_address" + "/token:" + "your_api_token";
String basicAuth = "Basic " + java.util.Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(userCredentials.getBytes());

Request request = new Request.Builder()
		.url(urlBuilder.build())
		.method("PUT", body)
		.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.addHeader("Authorization", basicAuth)
		.build();
Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

Nodejs

var axios = require('axios');
var data = JSON.stringify({
  "type": {
    "name": "Book"
  }
});

var config = {
  method: 'PUT',
  url: 'https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP',
  headers: {
	'Content-Type': 'application/json',
	'Authorization': 'Basic <auth-value>', // Base64 encoded "{email_address}/token:{api_token}"
  },
  data : data,
};

axios(config)
.then(function (response) {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
})
.catch(function (error) {
  console.log(error);
});

Python

import requests
import json
from requests.auth import HTTPBasicAuth

url = "https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP"

payload = json.loads("""{
  "type": {
    "name": "Book"
  }
}""")
headers = {
	"Content-Type": "application/json",
}
email_address = 'your_email_address'
api_token = 'your_api_token'
# Use basic authentication
auth = HTTPBasicAuth(f'{email_address}/token', api_token)

response = requests.request(
	"PUT",
	url,
	auth=auth,
	headers=headers,
	json=payload
)

print(response.text)

Ruby

require "net/http"
require "base64"
uri = URI("https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP")
request = Net::HTTP::Put.new(uri, "Content-Type": "application/json")
request.body = %q({
  "type": {
    "name": "Book"
  }
})
email = "your_email_address"
api_token = "your_api_token"
credentials = "#{email}/token:#{api_token}"
encoded_credentials = Base64.strict_encode64(credentials)
request["Authorization"] = "Basic #{encoded_credentials}"
response = Net::HTTP.start uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true do |http|
	http.request(request)
end

Example response(s)

200 OK

// Status 200 OK

{
  "type": {
    "created_at": "2020-05-01T09:12:20Z",
    "id": "01E7H2DC2EDTK45NZTFGFAAA1N",
    "name": "Book",
    "updated_at": "2020-05-26T09:11:30Z"
  }
}

Delete External Content Type

• DELETE /api/v2/guide/external_content/types/{id}

Deletes the specified external content type. Will also delete any crawler or record associated with this type.

Allowed for

• Help Center managers

Parameters

Name	Type	In	Required	Description
id	string	Path	true	ULID for the object

Code Samples

curl

curl https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/{id} \
  -v -u {email_address}/token:{api_token} -X DELETE

Go

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	url := "https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP"
	method := "DELETE"
	req, err := http.NewRequest(method, url, nil)

	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")
	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Basic <auth-value>") // Base64 encoded "{email_address}/token:{api_token}"

	client := &http.Client {}
	res, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()

	body, err := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	if err != nil {
		fmt.Println(err)
		return
	}
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

Java

import com.squareup.okhttp.*;
OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient();
HttpUrl.Builder urlBuilder = HttpUrl.parse("https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP")
		.newBuilder();
String userCredentials = "your_email_address" + "/token:" + "your_api_token";
String basicAuth = "Basic " + java.util.Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(userCredentials.getBytes());

Request request = new Request.Builder()
		.url(urlBuilder.build())
		.method("DELETE", null)
		.addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
		.addHeader("Authorization", basicAuth)
		.build();
Response response = client.newCall(request).execute();

Nodejs

var axios = require('axios');

var config = {
  method: 'DELETE',
  url: 'https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP',
  headers: {
	'Content-Type': 'application/json',
	'Authorization': 'Basic <auth-value>', // Base64 encoded "{email_address}/token:{api_token}"
  },
};

axios(config)
.then(function (response) {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(response.data));
})
.catch(function (error) {
  console.log(error);
});

Python

import requests
from requests.auth import HTTPBasicAuth

url = "https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP"
headers = {
	"Content-Type": "application/json",
}
email_address = 'your_email_address'
api_token = 'your_api_token'
# Use basic authentication
auth = HTTPBasicAuth(f'{email_address}/token', api_token)

response = requests.request(
	"DELETE",
	url,
	auth=auth,
	headers=headers
)

print(response.text)

Ruby

require "net/http"
require "base64"
uri = URI("https://support.zendesk.com/api/v2/guide/external_content/types/01E7GZVZHBWYD50V00XDMYCMYP")
request = Net::HTTP::Delete.new(uri, "Content-Type": "application/json")
email = "your_email_address"
api_token = "your_api_token"
credentials = "#{email}/token:#{api_token}"
encoded_credentials = Base64.strict_encode64(credentials)
request["Authorization"] = "Basic #{encoded_credentials}"
response = Net::HTTP.start uri.hostname, uri.port, use_ssl: true do |http|
	http.request(request)
end

Example response(s)

204 No Content

// Status 204 No Content

null