- Trigger event — send a workflow to a subscriber
- Create a subscriber — register a notification recipient
- Retrieve subscriber notifications — read in-app notifications for the Inbox
- Create a workflow — define a notification workflow programmatically
- Authentication — authenticate requests with your secret API key
The REST API and server-side SDKs are intended for server-side applications only. Using them in client-side code causes Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) errors and exposes your secret key.
Base URL
| Region | Base URL |
|---|---|
| US (default) | https://api.novu.co/v1 |
| EU | https://eu.api.novu.co/v1 |
API conventions
The Novu API is organized around REST. It has predictable, resource-oriented URLs, accepts and returns JSON request and response bodies, and uses standard HTTP verbs and status codes.- Resource-oriented — Each resource (subscribers, topics, workflows, and more) has its own set of endpoints. Use
POSTto create,GETto read,PATCH/PUTto update, andDELETEto remove. - JSON everywhere — Send
Content-Type: application/jsonon requests with a body. Responses are JSON-encoded. - Response envelope — Successful responses wrap the result in a
datafield, for example{ "data": { ... } }. List endpoints return{ "data": [ ... ] }alongside pagination metadata. - Consistent errors — Failures return a standard error body with a
statusCodeandmessage. See Errors. - Versioned paths — The API version is part of the URL (
/v1,/v2).
API capabilities
The REST API is organized around the core resources you use to build and operate notifications:Events
Trigger, bulk trigger, broadcast, and cancel workflow executions.
Subscribers
Create, update, and manage notification recipients and their preferences.
Inbox
Read, mark, archive, snooze, and manage in-app notifications.
Topics
Group subscribers and send notifications to topic audiences.
Workflows
Create, sync, and manage notification workflow definitions.
Integrations
Configure channel providers for email, SMS, push, and chat delivery.
Environments
Manage environments and publish resources between them.
Messages
List and delete sent messages across channels.
Developer resources
Use these resources to explore, test, and integrate with the API:OpenAPI specification
Machine-readable API schema for code generation, validation, and tooling.
Postman collection
Pre-built requests to test endpoints in Postman or compatible tools.
Server-side SDKs
Official SDKs for TypeScript, Python, Go, PHP, .NET, and Java.
Authentication
Set up API keys, environment credentials, and security best practices.
Errors
HTTP status codes, error response shapes, and how to debug failed requests.
Pagination
Page through large list responses with cursor-based pagination.
Import the Postman collection
- Clone or download the novu-postman repository.
- Import
postman/novu_api_postman_collection.jsoninto Postman. - Set the
secretKeycollection variable to your environment’s secret key from the API Keys page.
Getting started
Get your API key
Copy your environment’s secret key from the Novu Dashboard. See Authentication for details on credential types and security.
Make your first request
Trigger a workflow or create a subscriber using the REST API or an SDK. Start with Trigger event or Create a subscriber.
Review API policies
Understand Errors, Pagination, Rate limiting, Idempotency, and Payload limits before building production integrations.