Manage content types using the REST API

Create a content type

You can create content types using the content type API. You must provide a unique key and a baseType.

POST https://example.com/_cms/preview2/contenttypes
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "key": "story",
    "baseType": "component",
    "displayName": "Story",
    "properties": {
        "heading": {
            "type": "string",
            "displayName": "Heading",
            "description": "Write the greatest heading you can think of."
            "localized": true,
            "required": true,
            "sortOrder": 10,
            "maxLength": 100
        },
        "body": {
            "type": "string",
            "format": "html",
            "displayName": "Body text",
            "localized": true,
            "required": true,
            "sortOrder": 20
        },
        "tags": {
            "type": "array",
            "required": false,
            "sortOrder": 30,
            "items": {
                "type": "string",
                "format": "shortString",
                "maxLength": 50
            } 
        }
    }
}

See Create content type API reference.

Update a content type

You can update existing content types using the content type API, but you cannot update the key or baseType of an existing content type.

PUT https://example.com/_cms/preview2/contenttypes/story
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "key": "story",
    "baseType": "component",
    "displayName": "Story",
    "properties": {
        "heading": {
            "type": "string",
            "displayName": "Heading",
            "description": "Write the greatest heading you can think of."
            "localized": true,
            "required": true,
            "sortOrder": 10,
            "maxLength": 100
        },
        "body": {
            "type": "string",
            "format": "html",
            "displayName": "Body text",
            "localized": true,
            "required": true,
            "sortOrder": 20
        }
    }
}

See Create or replace content type API reference.

You can modify individual content type properties and field values. The response returns the updated content type.

PATCH https://example.com/_cms/preview2/contenttypes/story
Content-Type: application/merge-patch+json

{
    "properties": {
        "heading": {
            "required": false
        }
    }
}

See Update content API reference.

Get a specific content type

You can retrieve a content type using content type API with its unique key.

GET https://example.com/_cms/preview2/contenttypes/story

{
    "key": "story",
    "displayName": "Story",
    "description": "The Story contains data about news stories."
    "baseType": "component",
    "sortOrder": 10,
    "mayContainTypes": [ "*" ],
    "features": [ "localization", "versioning", "publishPeriod" ],
    "usage": [ "property", "instance" ],
    "source": "",
    "created": "2023-05-22T14:31:08.43+00:00",
    "lastModified": "2023-05-22T14:31:20.557+00:00",
    "lastModifiedBy": "steve",
    "properties": {
        "heading": {
            "type": "string",
            "displayName": "Heading",
            "description": "Write the greatest heading you can think of."
            "localized": true,
            "required": true,
            "sortOrder": 10,
            "maxLength": 100
        },
        "body": {
            "type": "string",
            "format": "html",
            "displayName": "Body text",
            "localized": true,
            "required": true,
            "sortOrder": 20
        },
        "tags": {
            "type": "array",
            "required": false,
            "sortOrder": 30,
            "items": {
                "type": "string",
                "format": "shortString",
                "maxLength": 50
            } 
        }
    }
}

See Get content type API reference.

List content types

You can retrieve a list of content types using the content type API.

GET https://example.com/_cms/preview2/contenttypes

{
  "items": [
    {
      "key": "story",
      "baseType": "component",
      "displayName": "Story"
    },
    {
      "key": "newspage",
      "baseType": "page",
      "displayName": "News"
    }
  ],
  "pageSize": 10,
  "pageIndex": 0,
  "totalItemCount": 2
}

See List content types API reference.

List editable content types

Because you can edit only certain content types, you may want to list only editable content types by providing the sources parameter.

The value default returns content types where the source field is empty.

List content types from a specific source

You can restrict the list to only return content types from one or more sources. For example, you could use this to limit the listing to include only content types that are editable in the UI.

The value default indicates that content types where the source field is empty should be returned; all indicates that every content type, regardless of source, should be returned.

GET https://example.com/_cms/preview2/contenttypes?sources=default,custom

See List content types API reference.

List content types you can create under a content type

Use the forContainerType parameter to list which content type you can create under another content type.

GET https://example.com/_cms/preview2/contenttypes?forContainerType=news

See List content types API reference.

Delete a content type

You can delete existing content types using the content type API. You cannot delete built-in content types.

DELETE https://example.com/_cms/preview2/contenttypes/story

See Delete content type API reference.