Quick Start

This guide walks you through making your first API call to Publive.

Step 1: Get your API credentials

The Publive API uses HTTP Basic Auth. You need your API Key, API Secret, and Publisher ID. You have separate CDS (read-only) and CMS (read and write) credentials.

Log in to your Publive Dashboard.
Navigate to configurations > API Developer Hub.
Click the View API credentials button.
Copy the API Key and API Secret under CDS. You’ll use them in Step 2.
Note your Publisher ID from the dashboard URL.

Only need to read content? CDS credentials are all you need. If you plan to create content in Step 4, use your CMS credentials there.

If you do not have dashboard access, please reach out via our contact page.

Generate your Base64 token from your CDS credentials by running:

echo -n 'YOUR_API_KEY:YOUR_API_SECRET' | base64

Important: Keep your API credentials secure and out of public repositories. CDS credentials are read-only and safe to use in client-side code. Never expose CMS credentials in client-side code.

Step 2: Make your first API call

Fetch your published posts using the Content Delivery API:

curl -X GET \
  'https://cds.thepublive.com/publisher/YOUR_PUBLISHER_ID/posts/?limit=5' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic <BASE64_AUTH_TOKEN>'

Step 3: Understand the response

{
  "status": "ok",
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 12345,
      "title": "My First Article",
      "slug": "my-first-article",
      "type": "Article",
      "primary_category": {
        "id": 1,
        "name": "News",
        "slug": "news"
      },
      "contributors": [
        {
          "id": 1,
          "name": "John Doe",
          "slug": "john-doe"
        }
      ],
      "content_html": "<p>Article content here...</p>",
      "absolute_url": "/news/my-first-article-12345"
    }
  ],
  "message": "",
  "page_no": 1,
  "per_page": 5
}

That’s it! You’ve successfully fetched content from Publive. The response includes the full post object with title, content, categories, tags, authors, and metadata.

Step 4: Create content via CMS API

To create a new post programmatically, use the Content Management API. Generate a new Base64 token from your CMS credentials, and make this call from your server. A write request made with CDS credentials returns a 403 Forbidden response on accounts set up from 7 October 2026.

curl -X POST \
  'https://cms.thepublive.com/publisher/YOUR_PUBLISHER_ID/post/' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic <BASE64_AUTH_TOKEN>' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "title": "My API-Created Post",
    "english_title": "My API-Created Post",
    "type": "Article",
    "status": "Draft",
    "primary_category": 1,
    "content": "<p>Hello from the API!</p>"
  }'

What’s next?

Authentication — Learn about API authentication in detail
Core Concepts — Understand posts, categories, tags, and content types
Content Delivery API — Full CDS API reference
Content Management API — Full CMS API reference

Getting Started

Quickstarts

Core Concepts

Distribution

Roles & Permissions

Enterprise & Governance

Step 1: Get your API credentials

Step 2: Make your first API call

Step 3: Understand the response

Step 4: Create content via CMS API

What’s next?

​Step 1: Get your API credentials

​Step 2: Make your first API call

​Step 3: Understand the response

​Step 4: Create content via CMS API

​What’s next?

Step 1: Get your API credentials

Step 2: Make your first API call

Step 3: Understand the response

Step 4: Create content via CMS API

What’s next?