Cannot create topic via API when category is “see & reply only”

Product Support

AI-generated summary

A user reports an issue where they cannot create a topic via the API in a category set to “see & reply only,” receiving a 403 error. st0rm explains that the API call fails because the user lacks permission to create topics in that category. The user asks if there’s a way to allow topic creation without changing the category’s permissions. supermathie confirms this is intended behavior, as API calls act as the user, not with elevated permissions, and suggests workarounds: changing the topic owner or moving the topic into the restricted category after creation.

1

Hi all,

I’m running into a permissions issue when trying to create new topics via the API in a category that’s locked down to “see” and “reply” only.

What I’m Trying to Do

  1. On an external page, I collect title/body/category from a user.
  2. My script sends a POST to /posts.json to impersonate that user.
  3. I expect a new topic to be created in the chosen category.

What Actually Happens

  • The category’s permissions are set to See & Reply only (no “Create” allowed).
  • My script immediately fails with:
{"status":403,"body":"{\"errors\":[\"You are not permitted to view the requested resource.\"],\"error_type\":\"invalid_access\"}"}

If I temporarily change the category to allow “Create” for every user, the same API call succeeds and the topic is created.

Is there any way to let user‑level API calls create a new topic in a category that’s otherwise locked without permanently opening up the category?

Thanks in advance!

2

This is functioning as intended.

When you act as a user using an API key you’re acting as that user, no extra permissions.

Workarounds are to either change topic owner after creation (as admin), or move the topic into the restricted category (as admin).