Getting Started

Introduction

The Pushpay ChMS API is an XML-based API accessed over HTTPS with HTTP Basic Authentication. This guide covers how to make requests, authenticate, and interpret responses.

Access to the API is available for all Pushpay ChMS organizations. You will need API credentials assigned from the Pushpay ChMS software — see Authentication for details.

Base URL

All API requests are made to the organization's subdomain over HTTPS:

https://yourchurch.ccbchurch.com/api.php

The specific subdomain for the organization is displayed in the API Admin section of the Pushpay ChMS software.

Making Requests

All service calls require a srv parameter with the name of the service being called:

curl -u username:password "https://yourchurch.ccbchurch.com/api.php?srv=api_status"

All services accept an optional describe_api parameter with a value of 1. This returns the parameters the service accepts without counting against your daily limit.

If you send duplicate parameters, only the last one will be recognized.

Next Steps

• Authentication — setting up credentials and HTTP Basic Auth
• Rate Limiting — throttle limits and daily quotas
• Errors — error codes and troubleshooting
• XML Response Format — understanding API responses