RocketChat

Rocket.Chat team messaging - channels, messages, users, integrations via REST API

Rocket.Chat Skill

Open-source team chat platform for communication and collaboration.

Overview

Rocket.Chat supports:

• Channels (public/private), DMs, threads
• User and role management
• Integrations (webhooks, bots)
• Federation and omnichannel

Three room types: channels (channels.*), groups/private (groups.*), DMs (im.*). Generic chat.* endpoints work across all types via roomId.

API Authentication

# Header-based auth
curl -s \
  -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" \
  -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/me"

# Get tokens from login
curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"user":"username","password":"password"}' \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/login" | jq '{userId: .data.userId, authToken: .data.authToken}'

Key Identifiers

• roomId — room identifier (e.g. GENERAL, ByehQjC44FwMeiLbX)
• msgId — alphanumeric message ID (not a timestamp like Slack)
• emoji — name without colons (e.g. thumbsup, white_check_mark)

Message context lines include rocketchat message id and room fields — reuse them directly.

Channels

# List channels
curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/channels.list?count=50"

# Channel info
curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/channels.info?roomId=ROOM_ID"

# Get channel history
curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/channels.history?roomId=ROOM_ID&count=50"

# Create channel
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name":"new-channel","members":["user1"]}' \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/channels.create"

# Archive channel
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"roomId":"ROOM_ID"}' \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/channels.archive"

# Set channel topic
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"roomId":"ROOM_ID","topic":"Weekly standup notes"}' \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/channels.setTopic"

# List channel members
curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/channels.members?roomId=ROOM_ID&count=50"

For private groups use groups.*, for DMs use im.*. Same query params.

Messages

# Send message (simple)
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"channel":"#general","text":"Hello!"}' \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/chat.postMessage"

channel accepts: #channel-name, @username (DM), or a roomId.

# Send message (advanced — custom _id, alias, avatar)
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"message":{"rid":"ROOM_ID","msg":"Hello from Clawdbot"}}' \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/chat.sendMessage"

# Read recent messages
curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/channels.messages?roomId=ROOM_ID&count=20"

# Edit message
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"roomId":"ROOM_ID","msgId":"MSG_ID","text":"Updated text"}' \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/chat.update"

# Delete message
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"roomId":"ROOM_ID","msgId":"MSG_ID"}' \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/chat.delete"

# Search messages
curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/chat.search?roomId=ROOM_ID&searchText=keyword"

# React to message (toggle — calling again removes it)
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"messageId":"MSG_ID","emoji":"thumbsup"}' \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/chat.react"

# Get message (includes reactions in message.reactions field)
curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/chat.getMessage?msgId=MSG_ID"

Pins

# Pin a message
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"messageId":"MSG_ID"}' \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/chat.pinMessage"

# Unpin a message
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"messageId":"MSG_ID"}' \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/chat.unPinMessage"

# List pinned messages (query is URL-encoded {"pinned":true})
curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/channels.messages?roomId=ROOM_ID&query=%7B%22pinned%22%3Atrue%7D"

Users

# List users
curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/users.list"

# Get user info (by username or userId)
curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/users.info?username=john"

curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/users.info?userId=USER_ID"

# Create user (admin)
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"[e-mail]","name":"John","username":"john","password":"pass123"}' \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/users.create"

# Set user status
curl -s -X POST -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"message":"In a meeting","status":"busy"}' \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/users.setStatus"

Emoji

# List custom emoji
curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/emoji-custom.list"

Integrations

# List webhooks
curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/integrations.list?type=webhook-incoming"

# Use incoming webhook (no auth needed)
curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"text":"Alert from external system!"}' \
  "$RC_URL/hooks/WEBHOOK_ID/WEBHOOK_TOKEN"

Statistics

# Server statistics
curl -s -H "X-Auth-Token: $RC_TOKEN" -H "X-User-Id: $RC_USER_ID" \
  "$RC_URL/api/v1/statistics"

Rate Limits

Default: 20 requests/second per user. Check headers: X-RateLimit-Limit, X-RateLimit-Remaining.

Ideas to try

• React with white_check_mark to mark completed tasks
• Pin key decisions or weekly status updates
• Search messages for past discussions before asking a question
• Create project-specific channels and set descriptive topics
• DM users via chat.postMessage with "channel": "@username"
• Use incoming webhooks for external system alerts without auth

For full documentation, see Rocket.Chat API Docs.