Mastodon
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profile API methods

Methods concerning profiles.

    • Get current user profile
      • 401: Unauthorized
    • Update current user profile
    • Delete profile avatar
      • 401: Unauthorized
    • Delete profile header
      • 401: Unauthorized

Get current user profile

GET /api/v1/profile HTTP/1.1

Returns: Profile
OAuth: User token + profile or read:accounts
Version history: 4.6.0 (mastodon API version 8) - added
4.6.0 (mastodon API version 9) - added avatar_description and header_description

Request

Headers
Authorization
required Provide this header with Bearer <user_token> to gain authorized access to this API method.

Response

200: OK

The current user’s profile is returned.

{
  "id": "116222600881276277",
  "display_name": "Documentation user",
  "note": "I'm only here as an example for documentation",
  "fields": [
    {
      "name": "pronouns",
      "value": "it/its",
      "verified_at": null
    }
  ],
  "avatar": null,
  "avatar_static": null,
  "avatar_description": "",
  "header": null,
  "header_static": null,
  "header_description": "",
  "locked": false,
  "bot": false,
  "hide_collections": null,
  "discoverable": true,
  "indexable": true,
  "show_media": true,
  "show_media_replies": true,
  "show_featured": true,
  "attribution_domains": [
    "articles.example.com"
  ],
  "featured_tags": [
    {
      "id": "1",
      "name": "foo",
      "url": "https://example.com/@darrel_metz0/tagged/foo",
      "statuses_count": "0",
      "last_status_at": null
    }
  ]
}

401: Unauthorized

Invalid or missing Authorization header.

{
	"error": "The access token is invalid"
}

Update current user profile

PATCH /api/v1/profile

Update the current user’s profile.

Returns: Profile
OAuth: User token + write:accounts
Version history: 4.6.0 (mastodon API version 8) - added

Request

Headers
Authorization
required Provide this header with Bearer <user_token> to gain authorized access to this API method.
Form data parameters
display_name
String. The display name to use for the profile.
note
String. The account bio.
avatar
Avatar image encoded using multipart/form-data
avatar_description
String. A plain-text description of the avatar, for accessibility purposes.
header
Header image encoded using multipart/form-data
header_description
String. A plain-text description of the header, for accessibility purposes.
locked
Boolean. Whether manual approval of follow requests is required.
bot
Boolean. Whether the account has a bot flag.
discoverable
Boolean. Whether the account should be shown in the profile directory.
hide_collections
Boolean. Whether to hide followers and followed accounts.
indexable
Boolean. Whether public posts should be searchable to anyone.
show_media
Boolean. Whether a “Media” tab with media attachments should be shown on this profile.
show_media_replies
Boolean. Whether media attachments in replies should be shown in the “Media” tab of this profile.
show_featured
Boolean. Whether a “Featured” tab should be shown on this profile.
attribution_domains[]
Array of String. Domains of websites allowed to credit the account. Maximum of 10 domains.
fields_attributes
Array of Hash. The profile fields to be set. Each hash includes name and value. By default, max 4 fields (specified in Instance#max_profile_fields).
fields_attributes[:index][name]
String. The name of the profile field. By default, max 255 characters (specified in Instance#profile_field_name_limit).
fields_attributes[:index][value]
String. The value of the profile field. By default, max 255 characters (specified in Instance#profile_field_value_limit).

Response

200: OK

Returns the updated profile.

401: Unauthorized
{
  "error": "The access token is invalid"
}
422: Unprocessable entity

Token does not have an authorized user

{
  "error": "This method requires an authenticated user"
}

Delete profile avatar

DELETE /api/v1/profile/avatar HTTP/1.1

Returns: CredentialAccount
OAuth: User token + write:accounts
Version history:
4.2.0 - added

Deletes the avatar associated with the user’s profile.

Request

Headers
Authorization
required Provide this header with Bearer <user_token> to gain authorized access to this API method.
Path parameters

Response

200: OK

The avatar was successfully deleted from the user’s profile. If there were no avatar associated with the profile, the response will still indicate a successful deletion.

{
  "id": "110357222516183152",
  "username": "rob",
  "acct": "rob",
  "display_name": "",
  "locked": false,
  "bot": false,
  "discoverable": false,
  "group": false,
  "created_at": "2023-05-12T00:00:00.000Z",
  "note": "",
  "url": "http://localhost:3000/@rob",
  "uri": "http://localhost:3000/users/rob",
  "avatar": "http://localhost:3000/avatars/original/missing.png",
  "avatar_static": "http://localhost:3000/avatars/original/missing.png",
  "header": "http://localhost:3000/system/accounts/headers/110/357/222/516/183/152/original/0cd99648c23005ed.png",
  "header_static": "http://localhost:3000/system/accounts/headers/110/357/222/516/183/152/original/0cd99648c23005ed.png",
  "followers_count": 14,
  "following_count": 2,
  "statuses_count": 10,
  "last_status_at": "2023-06-26",
  "noindex": false,
  "source": {
    "privacy": "public",
    "sensitive": false,
    "language": null,
    "note": "",
    "fields": [],
    "follow_requests_count": 0
  },
  "emojis": [],
  "roles": [],
  "fields": [],
  "role": {
    "id": "-99",
    "name": "",
    "permissions": "65536",
    "color": "",
    "highlighted": false
  }
}

401: Unauthorized

Invalid or missing Authorization header.

{
	"error": "The access token is invalid"
}

Delete profile header

DELETE /api/v1/profile/header HTTP/1.1

Returns: CredentialAccount
OAuth: User token + write:accounts
Version history:
4.2.0 - added

Deletes the header image associated with the user’s profile.

Request

Headers
Authorization
required Provide this header with Bearer <user_token> to gain authorized access to this API method.
Path parameters

Response

200: OK

The header was successfully deleted from the user’s profile. If there were no header associated with the profile, the response will still indicate a successful deletion.

{
  "id": "110357222516183152",
  "username": "rob",
  "acct": "rob",
  "display_name": "",
  "locked": false,
  "bot": false,
  "discoverable": false,
  "group": false,
  "created_at": "2023-05-12T00:00:00.000Z",
  "note": "",
  "url": "http://localhost:3000/@rob",
  "uri": "http://localhost:3000/users/rob",
  "avatar": "http://localhost:3000/avatars/original/missing.png",
  "avatar_static": "http://localhost:3000/avatars/original/missing.png",
  "header": "http://localhost:3000/headers/original/missing.png",
  "header_static": "http://localhost:3000/headers/original/missing.png",
  "followers_count": 14,
  "following_count": 2,
  "statuses_count": 10,
  "last_status_at": "2023-06-26",
  "noindex": false,
  "source": {
    "privacy": "public",
    "sensitive": false,
    "language": null,
    "note": "",
    "fields": [],
    "follow_requests_count": 0
  },
  "emojis": [],
  "roles": [],
  "fields": [],
  "role": {
    "id": "-99",
    "name": "",
    "permissions": "65536",
    "color": "",
    "highlighted": false
  }
}

401: Unauthorized

Invalid or missing Authorization header.

{
	"error": "The access token is invalid"
}

Last updated April 7, 2026 · Improve this page

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