bbPress Extended REST API

Interactive Developer Reference & Swagger Sandbox · Plugin Version: v3.5.0

WP Mobile Kit Companion Plugin + WP App Creation Service Our companion plugin extends the WordPress REST API for native app workflows. Use the plugin to expose the data you need, then use WP Mobile Kit’s app creation service to build white-labeled mobile apps for your WordPress Blog, bbPress, WP Job Manager, and The Events Calendar modules.

WordPress Blog App · bbPress Forum App · WP Job Manager App · The Events Calendar App · WP App Creator Guide

Welcome to the bbPress Extended REST API Documentation Portal. This developer reference guides you through connecting, querying, and interacting with your WordPress-powered bbPress discussion forums via native iOS and Android application channels.

By using the high-performance wpmk-bbpress-rest-api gateway plugin, you obtain fully optimized JSON endpoints that group sub-forums, support granular thread tracking, and minimize database lockups with automatic query invalidations.

Environment Requirements

Before using the REST API endpoints, ensure your host environment meets the baseline execution standards:

Requirement	Supported Version	Notes
WordPress Core	`5.0` or higher	WP REST API router must be public and unblocked by server firewalls.
bbPress Plugin	`2.6` or higher	Forums, topics, and reply custom post types must be activated.
PHP	`7.2` or higher	Ensure active `openssl` extension modules to handle JWT key signing.
Security Middleware	JWT Auth / Nonces	Required for write capabilities (posting threads, liking replies).

Authentication & Security

All read-only endpoints (e.g., retrieving public forums, topics, and replies) are open to public queries. Write operations (e.g., creating topics, replies, subscribing, or favoring) require authentication.

Security Hardening (v3.5.0) All write operations are safeguarded by a transient-based 10-second user-level posting throttle to prevent spam. In addition, the public homepage aggregators conform to strict rate limits (10 reqs/min per client IP).

1. Cookie-based Nonce Auth (WordPress Local Stacks)

For theme scripts or local developer actions, authenticate queries by passing the standard WordPress header:

X-WP-Nonce: [your-active-nonce-token]

2. JWT Token Auth (Native Applications)

For iOS/Android React Native client handshakes, authorize requests by supplying the JWT Token in the headers:

Authorization: Bearer [your-jwt-auth-token]

Forums API Reference

Retrieve structural sub-forums, categories, and manage push notification subscriptions.

GET /forums

Returns a paginated list of all active forums and category blocks.

GET https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/bb-forums-api/v1/forums

GET /forum/{id}

Get detailed characteristics for a single forum, including nested topic counts and sub-forums.

GET https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/bb-forums-api/v1/forum/123

POST /forum/{id}/subscription

Toggle push notification subscriptions for the target forum. Unlocks automatic push alerts upon new topics.

POST https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/bb-forums-api/v1/forum/123/subscription

Topics API Reference

Create, query, and search through user-generated discussion threads.

GET /topics

Query discussion threads dynamically. Supports keyword parameters s, tags slug tag, pagination index page, and limit per_page.

GET https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/bb-forums-api/v1/topics?s=react&page=1&per_page=10

POST /topics

Publish a new discussion thread. Requires authentication credentials.

POST https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/bb-forums-api/v1/topics
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "forum_id": 45,
  "title": "Configuring React Native Push Notifications",
  "content": "Does anyone have setup guides for iOS Firebase configurations?",
  "tags": "push, firebase, react-native"
}

POST /topic/{id}/favorite

Add or remove the discussion thread from the caller's personal favorite lists.

POST https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/bb-forums-api/v1/topic/582/favorite

Replies & Interactions API

Handle post replies, paginated response lists, and support interactive likes using WP Ulike.

GET /replies

Fetch all replies for a target topic thread. Employs caching optimization on author avatars to prevent slow database loops.

GET https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/bb-forums-api/v1/replies?topic_id=582&page=1&per_page=20

POST /reply

Post a response to an active thread. Offloads outbound mobile push notification payloads asynchronously to WordPress shutdown cycles to prevent screen delay.

POST https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/bb-forums-api/v1/reply
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "topic_id": 582,
  "content": "Verify your GoogleServices configuration files are fully updated.",
  "notify": true
}

POST /reply/{id}/like

Like or dislike a forum reply. Integrates natively with the WP Ulike engine and anonymizes client IP addresses for complete GDPR compliance.

POST https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/bb-forums-api/v1/reply/891/like

Users & Profile Management

Retrieve community engagement stats, topics authored, and update bio summaries.

GET /users/{id}

Returns general profile attributes, gravatar URLs, registration metrics, and detailed forum counts.

GET https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/bb-forums-api/v1/users/77

PUT /users/{id}

Modify biographical details or update public display names.

PUT https://yourdomain.com/wp-json/bb-forums-api/v1/users/77
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "display_name": "Developer Pro",
  "description": "Full-stack engineer focusing on high-traffic WordPress forums."
}

Interactive Swagger Sandbox

Explore, execute, and test the endpoints directly from the sandbox interface below. Specify the authorized headers and toggle input parameters to check live responses.