Reference

Route index and conventions for the JSON REST API.

Complete route index for the Elements CMS JSON REST API.

Conventions

• Base URL: https://example.test/api, or whatever the Online Editor's API page shows.

• Most routes live under /cms/.

• Requests and responses are application/json unless noted.

• Public read routes use the envelope documented in Errors.

• Authenticated write and settings routes bridge into the Online Editor handlers and may return the editor JSON shape directly.

• JSON API access is required for every route. Without it, the API returns 402 Payment Required.

• Authenticated routes require Authorization: Bearer api_.... See Authentication and API Keys.

• Public read routes can be called same-server without a key. Cross-origin clients should send an api_... key.

Resource pages

• GET / and GET /status - service status and CMS app version.

• Collections - list the site's content collections.

• Items - CRUD for content items inside a collection.

• Resources - media and file management.

• Versions - item revision metadata, reads, and restore routes.

• Settings - theme, users, and webhooks.

• Search and Feeds - search index, tags, RSS, sitemap, and related items.

Collection addressing

Routes that target a specific collection accept either the integer folder index or the case-insensitive label slug. These are equivalent:

GET /cms/collections/0/items
GET /cms/collections/blog/items

Slugs come from the folder label, such as Blog Posts becoming blog-posts, or from the folder-path basename.

Item addressing

Items are stored on disk as YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md or <slug>.md. Item routes accept either:

• The slug alone, for example hello-from-rest.

• The full filename, for example 2026-04-20-hello-from-rest.md.

Use the bare slug unless you need to target a specific dated filename.