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Lichess.org API reference (2.0.0)

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Lichess.org API: contact@lichess.org URL: https://lichess.org/api License: AGPL-3.0-or-later

Introduction

Welcome to the reference for the Lichess API! Lichess is free/libre, open-source chess server powered by volunteers and donations.

Endpoint

All requests go to https://lichess.org (unless otherwise specified).

Rate limiting

All requests are rate limited using various strategies, to ensure the API remains responsive for everyone. Only make one request at a time. If you receive an HTTP response with a 429 status, please wait a full minute before resuming API usage.

Streaming with ND-JSON

Some API endpoints stream their responses as Newline Delimited JSON a.k.a. nd-json, with one JSON object per line.

Here's a JavaScript utility function to help reading NDJSON streamed responses.

Authentication

Which authentication method is right for me?

Read about the Lichess API authentication methods and code examples

Personal Access Token

Personal API access tokens allow you to quickly interact with Lichess API without going through an OAuth flow.

Token Security

  • Keep your tokens secret. Do not share them in public repositories or public forums.
  • Your tokens can be used to make your account perform arbitrary actions (within the limits of the tokens' scope). You remain responsible for all activities on your account.
  • Do not hardcode tokens in your application's code. Use environment variables or a secure storage and ensure they are not shipped/exposed to users. Be especially careful that they are not included in frontend bundles or apps that are shipped to users.
  • If you suspect a token has been compromised, revoke it immediately.

To see your active tokens or revoke them, see your Personal API access tokens.

Authorization Code Flow with PKCE

The authorization code flow with PKCE allows your users to login with Lichess. Lichess supports unregistered and public clients (no client authentication, choose any unique client id). The only accepted code challenge method is S256. Access tokens are long-lived (expect one year), unless they are revoked. Refresh tokens are not supported.

See the documentation for the OAuth endpoints or the PKCE RFC for a precise protocol description.

Real life examples

Token format

Access tokens and authorization codes match ^[A-Za-z0-9_]+$. The length of tokens can be increased without notice. Make sure your application can handle at least 512 characters. By convention tokens have a recognizable prefix, but do not rely on this.

Account

Read and write account information and preferences. https://lichess.org/account/preferences/game-display

Get my profile

Public information about the logged in user.

Authorizations:
OAuth2

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "georges",
  • "username": "Georges",
  • "perfs": {
    },
  • "flair": "string",
  • "createdAt": 1290415680000,
  • "disabled": false,
  • "tosViolation": false,
  • "profile": {
    },
  • "seenAt": 1522636452014,
  • "patron": true,
  • "verified": true,
  • "playTime": {
    },
  • "title": "NM",
  • "url": "https://lichess.org/@/georges",
  • "playing": "https://lichess.org/yqfLYJ5E/black",
  • "count": {
    },
  • "streaming": false,
  • "streamer": {},
  • "followable": true,
  • "following": false,
  • "blocking": false,
  • "followsYou": false
}

Get my email address

Read the email address of the logged in user.

Authorizations:
OAuth2

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "email": "abathur@mail.org"
}

Get my preferences

Read the preferences of the logged in user.

Authorizations:
OAuth2

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "prefs": {
    },
  • "language": "en-US"
}

Get my kid mode status

Read the kid mode status of the logged in user.

Authorizations:
OAuth2

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "kid": false
}

Set my kid mode status

Set the kid mode status of the logged in user.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
query Parameters
v
required
boolean
Example: v=true

Kid mode status

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}

Get my timeline

Get the timeline events of the logged in user.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
query Parameters
since
integer >= 1356998400070

Show events since this timestamp.

nb
integer [ 1 .. 30 ]
Default: 15

Max number of events to fetch.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "entries": [
    ],
  • "users": {
    }
}

Users

Access registered users on Lichess. https://lichess.org/player

Get real-time users status

Read the online, playing and streaming flags of several users. This API is very fast and cheap on lichess side. So you can call it quite often (like once every 5 seconds). Use it to track players and know when they're connected on lichess and playing games.

query Parameters
ids
required
string
Example: ids=thibault,maia1,maia5

User IDs separated by commas. Up to 100 IDs.

withSignal
boolean
Example: withSignal=true

Also return the network signal of the player, when available. It ranges from 1 (poor connection, lag > 500ms) to 4 (great connection, lag < 150ms) Defaults to false to preserve server resources.

withGameIds
boolean
Example: withGameIds=true

Also return the ID of the game being played, if any, for each player, in a playingId field. Defaults to false to preserve server resources.

withGameMetas
boolean
Example: withGameMetas=true

Also return the id, time control and variant of the game being played, if any, for each player, in a playing field. Defaults to false to preserve server resources. Disables withGameIds.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
[
  • {
    },
  • {
    }
]

Get all top 10

Get the top 10 players for each speed and variant. See https://lichess.org/player.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "bullet": [
    ],
  • "blitz": [ ],
  • "rapid": [ ],
  • "classical": [ ],
  • "ultraBullet": [ ],
  • "chess960": [ ],
  • "crazyhouse": [ ],
  • "antichess": [ ],
  • "atomic": [ ],
  • "horde": [ ],
  • "kingOfTheHill": [ ],
  • "racingKings": [ ],
  • "threeCheck": [ ]
}

Get one leaderboard

Get the leaderboard for a single speed or variant (a.k.a. perfType). There is no leaderboard for correspondence or puzzles. See https://lichess.org/player/top/200/bullet.

path Parameters
nb
required
integer [ 1 .. 200 ]
Example: 100

How many users to fetch

perfType
required
string
Enum: "ultraBullet" "bullet" "blitz" "rapid" "classical" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck"
Example: bullet

The speed or variant

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/vnd.lichess.v3+json
{
  • "users": [
    ]
}

Get user public data

Read public data of a user.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
username
required
string
query Parameters
trophies
boolean
Default: false

Include user trophies

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "georges",
  • "username": "Georges",
  • "perfs": {
    },
  • "flair": "string",
  • "createdAt": 1290415680000,
  • "disabled": false,
  • "tosViolation": false,
  • "profile": {
    },
  • "seenAt": 1522636452014,
  • "patron": true,
  • "verified": true,
  • "playTime": {
    },
  • "title": "NM",
  • "url": "https://lichess.org/@/georges",
  • "playing": "https://lichess.org/yqfLYJ5E/black",
  • "count": {
    },
  • "streaming": false,
  • "streamer": {},
  • "followable": true,
  • "following": false,
  • "blocking": false,
  • "followsYou": false
}

Get rating history of a user

Read rating history of a user, for all perf types. There is at most one entry per day. Format of an entry is [year, month, day, rating]. month starts at zero (January).

path Parameters
username
required
string

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
[
  • {
    },
  • {
    }
]

Get performance statistics of a user

Read performance statistics of a user, for a single performance. Similar to the performance pages on the website.

path Parameters
username
required
string
perf
required
string (PerfType)
Enum: "ultraBullet" "bullet" "blitz" "rapid" "classical" "correspondence" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck"

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "user": {
    },
  • "perf": {
    },
  • "rank": 98121,
  • "percentile": 69.7,
  • "stat": {
    }
}

Get user activity

Read data to generate the activity feed of a user.

path Parameters
username
required
string

Responses

Response samples

Get users by ID

Get up to 300 users by their IDs. Users are returned in the same order as the IDs. The method is POST to allow a longer list of IDs to be sent in the request body. Please do not try to download all the Lichess users with this endpoint, or any other endpoint. An API is not a way to fully export a website. We do not provide a full download of the Lichess users. This endpoint is limited to 8,000 users every 10 minutes, and 120,000 every day.

Request Body schema: text/plain
required

User IDs separated by commas.

string

Responses

Request samples

Content type
text/plain
thibault,maia1,maia5

Response samples

Content type
application/json
[
  • {
    }
]

Get live streamers

Get basic info about currently streaming users. This API is very fast and cheap on lichess side. So you can call it quite often (like once every 5 seconds).

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
[]

Get crosstable

Get total number of games, and current score, of any two users. If the matchup flag is provided, and the users are currently playing, also gets the current match game number and scores.

path Parameters
user1
required
string
user2
required
string
query Parameters
matchup
boolean

Whether to get the current match data, if any

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "users": {
    },
  • "nbGames": 346,
  • "matchup": {
    }
}

Autocomplete usernames

Provides autocompletion options for an incomplete username.

query Parameters
term
required
string >= 3 characters

The beginning of a username

object
boolean
Default: false
  • false returns an array of usernames
  • true returns an object with matching users
friend
boolean

Returns followed players matching term if any, else returns other players. Requires OAuth.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "result": [
    ]
}

Add a note for a user

Add a private note available only to you about this account.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
username
required
string
Example: thibault
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
text
required
string

The contents of the note

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}

Get notes for a user

Get the private notes that you have added for a user.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
username
required
string
Example: thibault

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
[
  • {
    }
]

Relations

Access relations between users.

Get users followed by the logged in user

Users are streamed as ndjson.

Authorizations:
OAuth2

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/x-ndjson
{
  • "id": "georges",
  • "username": "Georges",
  • "perfs": {
    },
  • "flair": "string",
  • "createdAt": 1290415680000,
  • "disabled": false,
  • "tosViolation": false,
  • "profile": {
    },
  • "seenAt": 1522636452014,
  • "patron": true,
  • "verified": true,
  • "playTime": {
    },
  • "title": "NM",
  • "url": "https://lichess.org/@/georges",
  • "playing": "https://lichess.org/yqfLYJ5E/black",
  • "count": {
    },
  • "streaming": false,
  • "streamer": {},
  • "followable": true,
  • "following": false,
  • "blocking": false,
  • "followsYou": false
}

Follow a player

Follow a player, adding them to your list of Lichess friends.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
username
required
string
Example: thibault

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}

Unfollow a player

Unfollow a player, removing them from your list of Lichess friends.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
username
required
string
Example: thibault

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}

Block a player

Block a player, adding them to your list of blocked Lichess users.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
username
required
string
Example: thibault

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}

Unblock a player

Unblock a player, removing them from your list of blocked Lichess users.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
username
required
string
Example: thibault

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}

Games

Access games played on Lichess. https://lichess.org/games

Export one game

Download one game in either PGN or JSON format. Ongoing games are delayed by a few seconds ranging from 3 to 60 depending on the time control, as to prevent cheat bots from using this API.

path Parameters
gameId
required
string

The game ID (8 characters).

query Parameters
moves
boolean
Default: true

Include the PGN moves.

pgnInJson
boolean
Default: false

Include the full PGN within the JSON response, in a pgn field.

tags
boolean
Default: true

Include the PGN tags.

clocks
boolean
Default: true

Include clock status when available. Either as PGN comments: 2. exd5 { [%clk 1:01:27] } e5 { [%clk 1:01:28] } Or in a clocks JSON field, as centisecond integers, depending on the response type.

evals
boolean
Default: true

Include analysis evaluations and comments, when available. Either as PGN comments: 12. Bxf6 { [%eval 0.23] } a3 { [%eval -1.09] } Or in an analysis JSON field, depending on the response type.

accuracy
boolean
Default: false

Include accuracy percent of each player, when available.

opening
boolean
Default: true

Include the opening name. Example: [Opening "King's Gambit Accepted, King's Knight Gambit"]

division
boolean
Default: true

Plies which mark the beginning of the middlegame and endgame. Only available in JSON

literate
boolean
Default: false

Insert textual annotations in the PGN about the opening, analysis variations, mistakes, and game termination. Example: 5... g4? { (-0.98 → 0.60) Mistake. Best move was h6. } (5... h6 6. d4 Ne7 7. g3 d5 8. exd5 fxg3 9. hxg3 c6 10. dxc6)

withBookmarked
boolean
Default: false

Add a bookmarked: true JSON field when the logged in user has bookmarked the game. The response type must be set to application/x-ndjson by the request Accept header.

players
string

URL of a text file containing real names and ratings, to replace Lichess usernames and ratings in the PGN. Example: https://gist.githubusercontent.com/ornicar/6bfa91eb61a2dcae7bcd14cce1b2a4eb/raw/768b9f6cc8a8471d2555e47ba40fb0095e5fba37/gistfile1.txt

Responses

Response samples

Content type
No sample

Export ongoing game of a user

Download the ongoing game, or the last game played, of a user. Available in either PGN or JSON format. Ongoing games are delayed by a few seconds ranging from 3 to 60 depending on the time control, as to prevent cheat bots from using this API.

path Parameters
username
required
string
query Parameters
moves
boolean
Default: true

Include the PGN moves.

pgnInJson
boolean
Default: false

Include the full PGN within the JSON response, in a pgn field.

tags
boolean
Default: true

Include the PGN tags.

clocks
boolean
Default: true

Include clock status when available. Either as PGN comments: 2. exd5 { [%clk 1:01:27] } e5 { [%clk 1:01:28] } Or in a clocks JSON field, as centisecond integers, depending on the response type.

evals
boolean
Default: true

Include analysis evaluations and comments, when available. Either as PGN comments: 12. Bxf6 { [%eval 0.23] } a3 { [%eval -1.09] } Or in an analysis JSON field, depending on the response type.

accuracy
boolean
Default: false

Include accuracy percent of each player, when available.

opening
boolean
Default: true

Include the opening name. Example: [Opening "King's Gambit Accepted, King's Knight Gambit"]

division
boolean
Default: false

Plies which mark the beginning of the middlegame and endgame. Only available in JSON

literate
boolean
Default: false

Insert textual annotations in the PGN about the opening, analysis variations, mistakes, and game termination. Example: 5... g4? { (-0.98 → 0.60) Mistake. Best move was h6. } (5... h6 6. d4 Ne7 7. g3 d5 8. exd5 fxg3 9. hxg3 c6 10. dxc6)

players
string

URL of a text file containing real names and ratings, to replace Lichess usernames and ratings in the PGN. Example: https://gist.githubusercontent.com/ornicar/6bfa91eb61a2dcae7bcd14cce1b2a4eb/raw/768b9f6cc8a8471d2555e47ba40fb0095e5fba37/gistfile1.txt

Responses

Response samples

Content type
No sample

Export games of a user

Download all games of any user in PGN or ndjson format. Games are sorted by reverse chronological order (most recent first). We recommend streaming the response, for it can be very long. https://lichess.org/@/german11 for instance has more than 500,000 games. The game stream is throttled, depending on who is making the request:

  • Anonymous request: 20 games per second
  • OAuth2 authenticated request: 30 games per second
  • Authenticated, downloading your own games: 60 games per second
Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
username
required
string

The user name.

query Parameters
since
integer >= 1356998400070

Download games played since this timestamp. Defaults to account creation date.

until
integer >= 1356998400070

Download games played until this timestamp. Defaults to now.

max
integer >= 1

How many games to download. Leave empty to download all games.

vs
string

[Filter] Only games played against this opponent

rated
boolean

[Filter] Only rated (true) or casual (false) games

perfType
string
Default: null
Enum: "ultraBullet" "bullet" "blitz" "rapid" "classical" "correspondence" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck"

[Filter] Only games in these speeds or variants. Multiple perf types can be specified, separated by a comma. Example: blitz,rapid,classical

color
string
Enum: "white" "black"

[Filter] Only games played as this color.

analysed
boolean

[Filter] Only games with or without a computer analysis available

moves
boolean
Default: true

Include the PGN moves.

pgnInJson
boolean
Default: false

Include the full PGN within the JSON response, in a pgn field. The response type must be set to application/x-ndjson by the request Accept header.

tags
boolean
Default: true

Include the PGN tags.

clocks
boolean
Default: false

Include clock status when available. Either as PGN comments: 2. exd5 { [%clk 1:01:27] } e5 { [%clk 1:01:28] } Or in a clocks JSON field, as centisecond integers, depending on the response type.

evals
boolean
Default: false

Include analysis evaluations and comments, when available. Either as PGN comments: 12. Bxf6 { [%eval 0.23] } a3 { [%eval -1.09] } Or in an analysis JSON field, depending on the response type.

accuracy
boolean
Default: false

Include accuracy percent of each player, when available.

opening
boolean
Default: false

Include the opening name. Example: [Opening "King's Gambit Accepted, King's Knight Gambit"]

division
boolean
Default: false

Plies which mark the beginning of the middlegame and endgame. Only available in JSON

ongoing
boolean
Default: false

Ongoing games are delayed by a few seconds ranging from 3 to 60 depending on the time control, as to prevent cheat bots from using this API.

finished
boolean
Default: true

Include finished games. Set to false to only get ongoing games.

literate
boolean
Default: false

Insert textual annotations in the PGN about the opening, analysis variations, mistakes, and game termination. Example: 5... g4? { (-0.98 → 0.60) Mistake. Best move was h6. } (5... h6 6. d4 Ne7 7. g3 d5 8. exd5 fxg3 9. hxg3 c6 10. dxc6)

lastFen
boolean
Default: false

Include the FEN notation of the last position of the game. The response type must be set to application/x-ndjson by the request Accept header.

withBookmarked
boolean
Default: false

Add a bookmarked: true JSON field when the logged in user has bookmarked the game. The response type must be set to application/x-ndjson by the request Accept header.

players
string

URL of a text file containing real names and ratings, to replace Lichess usernames and ratings in the PGN. Example: https://gist.githubusercontent.com/ornicar/6bfa91eb61a2dcae7bcd14cce1b2a4eb/raw/768b9f6cc8a8471d2555e47ba40fb0095e5fba37/gistfile1.txt

sort
string
Default: "dateDesc"
Enum: "dateAsc" "dateDesc"

Sort order of the games.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
No sample

Export games by IDs

Download games by IDs in PGN or ndjson format, depending on the request Accept header. Games are sorted by reverse chronological order (most recent first) The method is POST so a longer list of IDs can be sent in the request body. 300 IDs can be submitted. Ongoing games are delayed by a few seconds ranging from 3 to 60 depending on the time control, as to prevent cheat bots from using this API.

query Parameters
moves
boolean
Default: true

Include the PGN moves.

pgnInJson
boolean
Default: false

Include the full PGN within the JSON response, in a pgn field.

tags
boolean
Default: true

Include the PGN tags.

clocks
boolean
Default: false

Include clock status when available. Either as PGN comments: 2. exd5 { [%clk 1:01:27] } e5 { [%clk 1:01:28] } Or in a clocks JSON field, as centisecond integers, depending on the response type.

evals
boolean
Default: false

Include analysis evaluations and comments, when available. Either as PGN comments: 12. Bxf6 { [%eval 0.23] } a3 { [%eval -1.09] } Or in an analysis JSON field, depending on the response type.

accuracy
boolean
Default: false

Include accuracy percent of each player, when available.

opening
boolean
Default: false

Include the opening name. Example: [Opening "King's Gambit Accepted, King's Knight Gambit"]

division
boolean
Default: false

Plies which mark the beginning of the middlegame and endgame. Only available in JSON

literate
boolean
Default: false

Insert textual annotations in the PGN about the opening, analysis variations, mistakes, and game termination. Example: 5... g4? { (-0.98 → 0.60) Mistake. Best move was h6. } (5... h6 6. d4 Ne7 7. g3 d5 8. exd5 fxg3 9. hxg3 c6 10. dxc6)

players
string

URL of a text file containing real names and ratings, to replace Lichess usernames and ratings in the PGN. Example: https://gist.githubusercontent.com/ornicar/6bfa91eb61a2dcae7bcd14cce1b2a4eb/raw/768b9f6cc8a8471d2555e47ba40fb0095e5fba37/gistfile1.txt

Request Body schema: text/plain
required

Game IDs separated by commas. Up to 300.

string

Responses

Request samples

Content type
text/plain
TJxUmbWK,4OtIh2oh,ILwozzRZ

Response samples

Content type
No sample

Stream games of users

Stream the games played between a list of users, in real time. Only games where both players are part of the list are included. The stream emits an event each time a game is started or finished. To also get all current ongoing games at the beginning of the stream, use the withCurrentGames flag. Games are streamed as ndjson. Maximum number of users: 300. The method is POST so a longer list of IDs can be sent in the request body.

query Parameters
withCurrentGames
boolean
Default: false

Include the already started games at the beginning of the stream.

Request Body schema: text/plain
required

Up to 300 user IDs separated by commas. Example: thibault,maia1,maia5

string

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/x-ndjson
[
  • {
    }
]

Stream games by IDs

Creates a stream of games from an arbitrary streamId, and a list of game IDs. The stream first outputs the games that already exists, then emits an event each time a game is started or finished. Games are streamed as ndjson. Maximum number of games: 500 for anonymous requests, or 1000 for OAuth2 authenticated requests. While the stream is open, it is possible to add new game IDs to watch.

path Parameters
streamId
required
string
Example: myAppName-someRandomId

Arbitrary stream ID that you can later use to add game IDs to the stream.

Request Body schema: text/plain
required

Up to 500 or 1000 game IDs separated by commas. Example: gameId01,gameId02,gameId03

string

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/x-ndjson
[
  • {
    }
]

Add game IDs to stream

Add new game IDs for an existing stream to watch. The stream will immediately outputs the games that already exists, then emit an event each time a game is started or finished.

path Parameters
streamId
required
string
Example: myAppName-someRandomId

The stream ID you used to create the stream.

Request Body schema: text/plain
required

Up to 500 or 1000 game IDs separated by commas. Example: gameId04,gameId05,gameId06

string

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}

Get my ongoing games

Get the ongoing games of the current user. Real-time and correspondence games are included. The most urgent games are listed first.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
query Parameters
nb
integer [ 1 .. 50 ]
Default: 9

Max number of games to fetch

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "nowPlaying": [
    ]
}

Stream moves of a game

Stream positions and moves of any ongoing game, in ndjson. A description of the game is sent as a first message. Then a message is sent each time a move is played. Finally a description of the game is sent when it finishes, and the stream is closed. Ongoing games are delayed by a few seconds ranging from 3 to 60 depending on the time control, as to prevent cheat bots from using this API. No more than 8 game streams can be opened at the same time from the same IP address.

path Parameters
id
required
string
Example: LuGQwhBb

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/x-ndjson
[
  • {
    },
  • {
    },
  • {
    },
  • {
    },
  • {
    },
  • {
    }
]

Import one game

Import a game from PGN. See https://lichess.org/paste. Rate limiting: 200 games per hour for OAuth requests, 100 games per hour for anonymous requests. To broadcast ongoing games, consider pushing to a broadcast instead. To analyse a position or a line, just construct an analysis board URL: https://lichess.org/analysis/pgn/e4_e5_Nf3_Nc6_Bc4_Bc5_Bxf7+

Authorizations:
OAuth2
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required

A single game to import

pgn
string

The PGN. It can contain only one game. Most standard tags are supported.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{}

Export your imported games

Download all games imported by you. Games are exported in PGN format.

Authorizations:
OAuth2

Responses

TV

Access Lichess TV channels and games. https://lichess.org/tv & https://lichess.org/games

Get current TV games

Get basic info about the best games being played for each speed and variant, but also computer games and bot games. See lichess.org/tv.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "bot": {
    },
  • "blitz": {
    },
  • "racingKings": {
    },
  • "ultraBullet": {
    },
  • "bullet": {
    },
  • "classical": {
    },
  • "threeCheck": {
    },
  • "antichess": {
    },
  • "computer": {
    },
  • "horde": {
    },
  • "rapid": {
    },
  • "atomic": {
    },
  • "crazyhouse": {
    },
  • "chess960": {
    },
  • "kingOfTheHill": {
    },
  • "best": {
    }
}

Stream current TV game

Stream positions and moves of the current TV game in ndjson. Try it with curl https://lichess.org/api/tv/feed.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/x-ndjson
Example
{
  • "t": "featured",
  • "d": {
    }
}

Stream current TV game of a TV channel

Stream positions and moves of a current TV channel's game in ndjson. Try it with curl https://lichess.org/api/tv/rapid/feed.

path Parameters
channel
required
string

The name of the channel in camel case.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/x-ndjson
Example
{
  • "t": "featured",
  • "d": {
    }
}

Get best ongoing games of a TV channel

Get a list of ongoing games for a given TV channel. Similar to lichess.org/games. Available in PGN or ndjson format, depending on the request Accept header.

path Parameters
channel
required
string

The name of the channel in camel case.

query Parameters
nb
number [ 1 .. 30 ]
Default: 10

Number of games to fetch.

moves
boolean
Default: true

Include the PGN moves.

pgnInJson
boolean
Default: false

Include the full PGN within the JSON response, in a pgn field.

tags
boolean
Default: true

Include the PGN tags.

clocks
boolean
Default: false

Include clock status when available. Either as PGN comments: 2. exd5 { [%clk 1:01:27] } e5 { [%clk 1:01:28] } Or in a clocks JSON field, as centisecond integers, depending on the response type.

opening
boolean
Default: false

Include the opening name. Example: [Opening "King's Gambit Accepted, King's Knight Gambit"]

Responses

Response samples

Content type
No sample

Puzzles

Access Lichess puzzle history and dashboard.

Our collection of puzzles is in the public domain, you can download it here. For a list of our puzzle themes with their description, check out the theme translation file. The daily puzzle can be posted in your slack workspace.

Get the daily puzzle

Get the daily Lichess puzzle in JSON format. Alternatively, you can post it in your slack workspace.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "game": {
    },
  • "puzzle": {
    }
}

Get a puzzle by its ID

Get a single Lichess puzzle in JSON format.

path Parameters
id
required
string

The puzzle ID

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "game": {
    },
  • "puzzle": {
    }
}

Get your puzzle activity

Download your puzzle activity in ndjson format. Puzzle activity is sorted by reverse chronological order (most recent first) We recommend streaming the response, for it can be very long.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
query Parameters
max
integer >= 1

How many entries to download. Leave empty to download all activity.

before
integer >= 1356998400070

Download entries before this timestamp. Defaults to now. Use before and max for pagination.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/x-ndjson
{
  • "date": 1717460624888,
  • "puzzle": {
    },
  • "win": true
}

Get your puzzle dashboard

Download your puzzle dashboard as JSON. Also includes all puzzle themes played, with aggregated results. Allows re-creating the improvement/strengths interfaces.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
days
required
integer >= 1

How many days to look back when aggregating puzzle results. 30 is sensible.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "days": 30,
  • "global": {
    },
  • "themes": {
    }
}

Get the storm dashboard of a player

Download the storm dashboard of any player as JSON. Contains the aggregated highscores, and the history of storm runs aggregated by days. Use ?days=0 if you only care about the highscores.

path Parameters
username
required
string

Username of the player

query Parameters
days
integer [ 0 .. 365 ]
Default: 30

How many days of history to return

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "days": [
    ],
  • "high": {
    }
}

Create and join a puzzle race

Create a new private puzzle race. The Lichess user who creates the race must join the race page, and manually start the race when enough players have joined.

Authorizations:
OAuth2

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{}

Teams

Access and manage Lichess teams and their members. https://lichess.org/team

Get team swiss tournaments

Get all swiss tournaments of a team. Tournaments are sorted by reverse chronological order of start date (last starting first). Tournaments are streamed as ndjson.

path Parameters
teamId
required
string
Example: coders
query Parameters
max
integer >= 1
Default: 100

How many tournaments to download.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/nd-json
{
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "createdBy": "lichess",
  • "id": "SuwsOIhE",
  • "name": "Rapid",
  • "nbOngoing": 0,
  • "nbPlayers": 37,
  • "nbRounds": 7,
  • "rated": true,
  • "round": 7,
  • "startsAt": "2024-06-11T02:00:00Z",
  • "stats": {
    },
  • "status": "finished",
  • "variant": "standard",
  • "verdicts": {
    }
}

Get a single team

Public info about a team. Includes the list of publicly visible leaders.

path Parameters
teamId
required
string

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "lichess-swiss",
  • "name": "Lichess Swiss",
  • "description": "The official Lichess Swiss team. We organize regular swiss tournaments for all to join.",
  • "flair": "food-drink.cheese-wedge",
  • "leader": {
    },
  • "leaders": [
    ],
  • "nbMembers": 487629,
  • "open": true,
  • "joined": false,
  • "requested": false
}

Get popular teams

Paginator of the most popular teams.

query Parameters
page
number
Default: 1
Example: page=1

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "currentPage": 4,
  • "maxPerPage": 15,
  • "currentPageResults": [
    ],
  • "nbResults": 205194,
  • "previousPage": 3,
  • "nextPage": 5,
  • "nbPages": 13680
}

Teams of a player

All the teams a player is a member of.

path Parameters
username
required
string
Example: thibault

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
[
  • {
    }
]

Search teams

Paginator of team search results for a keyword.

query Parameters
text
string
Example: text=coders
page
number
Default: 1
Example: page=1

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "currentPage": 4,
  • "maxPerPage": 15,
  • "currentPageResults": [
    ],
  • "nbResults": 205194,
  • "previousPage": 3,
  • "nextPage": 5,
  • "nbPages": 13680
}

Get members of a team

Members are sorted by reverse chronological order of joining the team (most recent first). OAuth is only required if the list of members is private. Up to 5,000 users are streamed as ndjson.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
teamId
required
string
Example: coders
query Parameters
full
boolean
Default: false

Full user documents with performance ratings. This limits the response to 1,000 users.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/x-ndjson
{
  • "joinedTeamAt": 1716930043067,
  • "id": "chess-network",
  • "name": "Chess-Network",
  • "title": "NM",
  • "patron": true
}

Get team Arena tournaments

Get all Arena tournaments relevant to a team. Tournaments are sorted by reverse chronological order of start date (last starting first). Tournaments are streamed as ndjson.

path Parameters
teamId
required
string

ID of the team

query Parameters
max
integer >= 1
Default: 100

How many tournaments to download.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/x-ndjson
{
  • "id": "XhfVxYPG",
  • "createdBy": "lichess",
  • "system": "arena",
  • "minutes": 27,
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "rated": true,
  • "fullName": "Hourly Bullet Arena",
  • "nbPlayers": 4,
  • "variant": {
    },
  • "startsAt": 1716930043067,
  • "finishesAt": 1716931663067,
  • "status": 10,
  • "perf": {
    },
  • "secondsToStart": 871,
  • "minRatedGames": {
    },
  • "schedule": {
    }
}

Join a team

Join a team. If the team requires a password but the password field is incorrect, then the call fails with 403 Forbidden. Similarly, if the team join policy requires a confirmation but the message parameter is not given, then the call fails with 403 Forbidden.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
teamId
required
string
Example: coders
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
message
string [ 30 .. 2000 ] characters

Required if team manually reviews admission requests.

password
string

Optional password, if the team requires one.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}

Leave a team

Leave a team.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
teamId
required
string
Example: coders

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}

Get join requests

Get pending join requests of your team

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
teamId
required
string
query Parameters
declined
boolean
Default: false

Get the declined join requests

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
[
  • {
    }
]

Accept join request

Accept someone's request to join your team

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
teamId
required
string
Example: coders
userId
required
string
Example: neio

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}

Decline join request

Decline someone's request to join your team

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
teamId
required
string
Example: coders
userId
required
string
Example: neio

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}

Kick a user from your team

Kick a member out of one of your teams.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
teamId
required
string
Example: coders
userId
required
string
Example: neio

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}

Message all members

Send a private message to all members of a team. You must be a team leader with the "Messages" permission.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
teamId
required
string
Example: coders
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
message
string

The message to send to all your team members.

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}

Board

Play on Lichess with physical boards and third-party clients. Works with normal Lichess accounts. Engine play or assistance is forbidden.

Features

Restrictions

Stream incoming events

Stream the events reaching a lichess user in real time as ndjson.

An empty line is sent every 6 seconds for keep alive purposes.

Each non-empty line is a JSON object containing a type field. Possible values are:

  • gameStart Start of a game
  • gameFinish Completion of a game
  • challenge A player sends you a challenge or you challenge someone
  • challengeCanceled A player cancels their challenge to you
  • challengeDeclined The opponent declines your challenge

When the stream opens, all current challenges and games are sent.

Authorizations:
OAuth2

Responses

Response samples

Content type
application/x-ndjson
Example
{
  • "type": "gameStart",
  • "game": {
    }
}

Create a seek

Create a public seek, to start a game with a random player.

Real-time seek

Specify the time and increment clock values. The response is streamed but doesn't contain any information.

Keep the connection open to keep the seek active.

If the client closes the connection, the seek is canceled. This way, if the client terminates, the user won't be paired in a game they wouldn't play. When the seek is accepted, or expires, the server closes the connection.

Make sure to also have an Event stream open, to be notified when a game starts. We recommend opening the Event stream first, then the seek stream. This way, you won't miss the game event if the seek is accepted immediately.

Correspondence seek

Specify the days per turn value. The response is not streamed, it immediately completes with the seek ID. The seek remains active on the server until it is joined by someone.

Authorizations:
OAuth2
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required

Parameters of the seek

rated
boolean
Default: false

Whether the game is rated and impacts players ratings.

time
number [ 0 .. 180 ]

Clock initial time in minutes. Required for real-time seeks.

increment
integer [ 0 .. 180 ]

Clock increment in seconds. Required for real-time seeks.

days
integer
Enum: 1 2 3 5 7 10 14

Days per turn. Required for correspondence seeks.

variant
string (VariantKey)
Enum: "standard" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck" "fromPosition"
color
string
Default: "random"
Enum: "random" "white" "black"

The color to play. Better left empty to automatically get 50% white.

ratingRange
string

The rating range of potential opponents. Better left empty. Example: 1500-1800

Responses

Response samples

Content type
text/plain
Stream Board game state 
 Stream the state of a game being played with the Board API, as ndjson.


Use this endpoint to get updates about the game in real-time, with a single request.


Each line is a JSON object containing a type field. Possible values are:


    

  • gameFull Full game data. All values are immutable, except for the state field.
    

    • 

  • gameState Current state of the game. Immutable values not included. Sent when a move is played, a draw is offered, or when the game ends.
    

    • 

  • chatLine Chat message sent by a user in the room "player" or "spectator".
    

    • 

  • opponentGone Whether the opponent has left the game, and how long before you can claim a win or draw.
    

    • 



The first line is always of type gameFull.


The server closes the stream when the game ends, or if the game has already ended.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
Example
{
  • "id": "QdzzBlzY",
  • "variant": {
    },
  • "speed": "blitz",
  • "perf": {
    },
  • "rated": true,
  • "createdAt": 1714920830966,
  • "white": {
    },
  • "black": {
    },
  • "initialFen": "startpos",
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "type": "gameFull",
  • "state": {
    }
}
Make a Board move 
Make a move in a game being played with the Board API.
The move can also contain a draw offer/agreement.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
move
required
string
 
 Example:  e2e4
The move to play, in UCI format


query Parameters
offeringDraw
boolean
 
Whether to offer (or agree to) a draw


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Write in the chat 
Post a message to the player or spectator chat, in a game being played with the Board API.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
room
required
string
 Enum: "player" "spectator" 
 
text
required
string
 
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Fetch the game chat 
Get the messages posted in the game chat


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
[
  • {
    },
  • {
    },
  • {
    }
]
Abort a game 
Abort a game being played with the Board API.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Resign a game 
Resign a game being played with the Board API.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Handle draw offers 
Create/accept/decline draw offers.


    

  • yes: Offer a draw, or accept the opponent's draw offer.
    • 

  • no: Decline a draw offer from the opponent.
    • 



Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
required
boolean or "yes" (string)
 
 Example:  yes
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Handle takeback offers 
Create/accept/decline takebacks.


    

  • yes: Propose a takeback, or accept the opponent's takeback offer.
    • 

  • no: Decline a takeback offer from the opponent.
    • 



Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
required
boolean or "yes" (string)
 
 Example:  yes
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Claim victory of a game 
Claim victory when the opponent has left the game for a while.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Berserk a tournament game 
Go berserk on an arena tournament game. Halves the clock time, grants an extra point upon winning.
Only available in arena tournaments that allow berserk, and before each player has made a move.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Bot
Play on Lichess as a bot. Allows engine play.
  Read the blog post announcement of lichess bots.


  Only works with Bot accounts.


Features



Restrictions


    

  • Bots can only play challenge games:  pools and tournaments are off-limits
    • 

  • Bots cannot play UltraBullet (¼+0) because it requires making too many requests. But 0+1 and ½+0 are allowed.
    • 

  • Bots must follow Lichess TOS specifically Sandbagging, Constant Aborting, Boosting, etc
    • 

  • Bot devs are advised to make their Bots play casual only when testing their Bots logic and to avoid breaking Lichess TOS.
    • 



Integrations





Stream incoming events 
  Stream the events reaching a lichess user in real time as ndjson.


  An empty line is sent every 6 seconds for keep alive purposes.


  Each non-empty line is a JSON object containing a type field. Possible values are:


    

  • gameStart Start of a game
    • 

  • gameFinish Completion of a game
    • 

  • challenge A player sends you a challenge or you challenge someone
    • 

  • challengeCanceled A player cancels their challenge to you
    • 

  • challengeDeclined The opponent declines your challenge
    • 



  When the stream opens, all current challenges and games are sent.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
Example
{
  • "type": "gameStart",
  • "game": {
    }
}
Get online bots 
Stream the online bot users, as ndjson. Throttled to 50 bot users per second.


query Parameters
nb
integer  >= 1 
 
 Example:  nb=20
How many bot users to fetch


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
{
  • "id": "georges-bot",
  • "username": "Georges-bot",
  • "perfs": {
    },
  • "createdAt": 1290415680000,
  • "disabled": false,
  • "tosViolation": false,
  • "profile": {
    },
  • "seenAt": 1522636452014,
  • "patron": true,
  • "verified": true,
  • "playTime": {
    },
  • "title": "BOT"
}
Upgrade to Bot account 
Upgrade a lichess player account into a Bot account. Only Bot accounts can use the Bot API.
The account cannot have played any game before becoming a Bot account. The upgrade is irreversible. The account will only be able to play as a Bot.
To upgrade an account to Bot, use the official lichess-bot client, or follow these steps:


    

  • Create an API access token with "Play bot moves" permission.
    • 

  • curl -d '' https://lichess.org/api/bot/account/upgrade -H "Authorization: Bearer <yourTokenHere>"
To know if an account has already been upgraded, use the Get my profile API:
the title field should be set to BOT.
    • 



Authorizations:
OAuth2
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Stream Bot game state 
 Stream the state of a game being played with the Bot API, as ndjson.


Use this endpoint to get updates about the game in real-time, with a single request.


Each line is a JSON object containing a type field. Possible values are:


    

  • gameFull Full game data. All values are immutable, except for the state field.
    

    • 

  • gameState Current state of the game. Immutable values not included.
    

    • 

  • chatLine Chat message sent by a user (or the bot itself) in the room "player" or "spectator".
    

    • 

  • opponentGone Whether the opponent has left the game, and how long before you can claim a win or draw.
    

    • 



The first line is always of type gameFull.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
Example
{
  • "id": "QdzzBlzY",
  • "variant": {
    },
  • "speed": "blitz",
  • "perf": {
    },
  • "rated": true,
  • "createdAt": 1714920830966,
  • "white": {
    },
  • "black": {
    },
  • "initialFen": "startpos",
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "type": "gameFull",
  • "state": {
    }
}
Make a Bot move 
Make a move in a game being played with the Bot API.
The move can also contain a draw offer/agreement.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
move
required
string
 
 Example:  e2e4
The move to play, in UCI format


query Parameters
offeringDraw
boolean
 
Whether to offer (or agree to) a draw


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Write in the chat 
Post a message to the player or spectator chat, in a game being played with the Bot API.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
room
required
string
 Enum: "player" "spectator" 
 
text
required
string
 
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Fetch the game chat 
Get the messages posted in the game chat


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
[
  • {
    },
  • {
    },
  • {
    }
]
Abort a game 
Abort a game being played with the Bot API.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Resign a game 
Resign a game being played with the Bot API.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Handle draw offers 
Create/accept/decline draw offers with the Bot API.


    

  • yes: Offer a draw, or accept the opponent's draw offer.
    • 

  • no: Decline a draw offer from the opponent.
    • 



Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
required
boolean or "yes" (string)
 
 Example:  yes
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Handle takeback offers 
Create/accept/decline takebacks with the Bot API.


    

  • yes: Propose a takeback, or accept the opponent's takeback offer.
    • 

  • no: Decline a takeback offer from the opponent.
    • 



Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
required
boolean or "yes" (string)
 
 Example:  yes
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Challenges
Send and receive challenges to play.


To create a lot of challenges, consider bulk pairing instead.


List your challenges 
Get a list of challenges created by or targeted at you.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "in": [
    ],
  • "out": [
    ]
}
Create a challenge 
Challenge someone to play. The targeted player can choose to accept or decline.
If the challenge is accepted, you will be notified on the event stream
that a new game has started. The game ID will be the same as the challenge ID.
Challenges for realtime games (not correspondence) expire after 20s if not accepted.
To prevent that, use the keepAliveStream flag described below.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
username
required
string
 
 Example:  LeelaChess
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
Parameters of the challenge


rated
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Game is rated and impacts players ratings


clock.limit
number  [ 0 .. 10800 ] 
 
Clock initial time in seconds. If empty, a correspondence game is created. Valid values are 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and any multiple of 60 up to 10800 (3 hours).


clock.increment
integer  [ 0 .. 60 ] 
 
Clock increment in seconds. If empty, a correspondence game is created.


days
integer
 Enum: 1 2 3 5 7 10 14 
 
Days per move, for correspondence games. Clock settings must be omitted.


color
string
 Default:  "random"
 Enum: "random" "white" "black" 
 
Which color you get to play


variant
string (VariantKey) 
 Enum: "standard" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck" "fromPosition" 
 
fen
string (FromPositionFEN) 
 
Custom initial position (in FEN). Variant must be standard, fromPosition, or chess960 (if a valid 960 starting position), and the game cannot be rated.


keepAliveStream
boolean
 
If set, the response is streamed as ndjson.
The challenge is kept alive until the connection is closed by the client.
When the challenge is accepted, declined or canceled, a message of the form {"done":"accepted"} is sent,
then the connection is closed by the server.
If not set, the response is not streamed, and the challenge expires after 20s if not accepted.


rules
string
 Enum: "noAbort" "noRematch" "noGiveTime" "noClaimWin" "noEarlyDraw" 
 
Extra game rules separated by commas.
Example: noAbort,noRematch


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "H9fIRZUk",
  • "url": "https://lichess.org/H9fIRZUk",
  • "status": "created",
  • "challenger": {
    },
  • "destUser": {
    },
  • "variant": {
    },
  • "rated": true,
  • "speed": "rapid",
  • "timeControl": {
    },
  • "color": "random",
  • "finalColor": "black",
  • "perf": {
    },
  • "direction": "out"
}
Show one challenge 
Get details about a challenge, even if it has been recently accepted, canceled or declined.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
challengeId
required
string
 
The challenge ID


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "H9fIRZUk",
  • "url": "https://lichess.org/H9fIRZUk",
  • "status": "created",
  • "challenger": {
    },
  • "destUser": {
    },
  • "variant": {
    },
  • "rated": true,
  • "speed": "rapid",
  • "timeControl": {
    },
  • "color": "random",
  • "finalColor": "black",
  • "perf": {
    },
  • "direction": "out"
}
Accept a challenge 
Accept an incoming challenge.
You should receive a gameStart event on the incoming events stream.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
challengeId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Decline a challenge 
Decline an incoming challenge.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
challengeId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
optional
Details related to decline of challenge


reason
string
 Enum: "generic" "later" "tooFast" "tooSlow" "timeControl" "rated" "casual" "standard" "variant" "noBot" "onlyBot" 
 
Reason challenge was declined. It will be translated to the player's language. See the full list in the translation file.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Cancel a challenge 
Cancel a challenge you sent, or aborts the game if the challenge was accepted, but the game was not yet played.
Note that the ID of a game is the same as the ID of the challenge that created it.
Works for user challenges and open challenges alike.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
challengeId
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
query Parameters
opponentToken
string
 
Optional challenge:write token of the opponent. If set, the game can be canceled even if both players have moved.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Challenge the AI 
Start a game with Lichess AI.
You will be notified on the event stream that a new game has started.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
Parameters of the game


level
number  [ 1 .. 8 ] 
 
AI strength


clock.limit
number  [ 0 .. 10800 ] 
 
Clock initial time in seconds. If empty, a correspondence game is created.


clock.increment
integer  [ 0 .. 60 ] 
 
Clock increment in seconds. If empty, a correspondence game is created.


days
integer
 Enum: 1 2 3 5 7 10 14 
 
Days per move, for correspondence games. Clock settings must be omitted.


color
string
 Default:  "random"
 Enum: "random" "white" "black" 
 
Which color you get to play


variant
string (VariantKey) 
 Enum: "standard" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck" "fromPosition" 
 
fen
string (FromPositionFEN) 
 
Custom initial position (in FEN). Variant must be standard, fromPosition, or chess960 (if a valid 960 starting position), and the game cannot be rated.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "q7ZvsdUF",
  • "rated": true,
  • "variant": "standard",
  • "speed": "blitz",
  • "perf": "blitz",
  • "createdAt": 1514505150384,
  • "lastMoveAt": 1514505592843,
  • "status": "draw",
  • "players": {
    },
  • "opening": {
    },
  • "moves": "d4 d5 c4 c6 Nc3 e6 e4 Nd7 exd5 cxd5 cxd5 exd5 Nxd5 Nb6 Bb5+ Bd7 Qe2+ Ne7 Nxb6 Qxb6 Bxd7+ Kxd7 Nf3 Qa6 Ne5+ Ke8 Qf3 f6 Nd3 Qc6 Qe2 Kf7 O-O Kg8 Bd2 Re8 Rac1 Nf5 Be3 Qe6 Rfe1 g6 b3 Bd6 Qd2 Kf7 Bf4 Qd7 Bxd6 Nxd6 Nc5 Rxe1+ Rxe1 Qc6 f3 Re8 Rxe8 Nxe8 Kf2 Nc7 Qb4 b6 Qc4+ Nd5 Nd3 Qe6 Nb4 Ne7 Qxe6+ Kxe6 Ke3 Kd6 g3 h6 Kd3 h5 Nc2 Kd5 a3 Nc6 Ne3+ Kd6 h4 Nd8 g4 Ne6 Ke4 Ng7 Nc4+ Ke6 d5+ Kd7 a4 g5 gxh5 Nxh5 hxg5 fxg5 Kf5 Nf4 Ne3 Nh3 Kg4 Ng1 Nc4 Kc7 Nd2 Kd6 Kxg5 Kxd5 f4 Nh3+ Kg4 Nf2+ Kf3 Nd3 Ke3 Nc5 Kf3 Ke6 Ke3 Kf5 Kd4 Ne6+ Kc4",
  • "clock": {
    }
}
Open-ended challenge 
Create a challenge that any 2 players can join.
Share the URL of the challenge. the first 2 players to click it will be paired for a game.
The response body also contains whiteUrl and blackUrl.
You can control which color each player gets by giving them these URLs,
instead of the main challenge URL.
Open challenges expire after 24h.
If the challenge creation is authenticated with OAuth2,
then you can use the challenge cancel endpoint to cancel it.
To directly pair 2 known players, use this endpoint instead.


Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
Parameters of the game


rated
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Game is rated and impacts players ratings


clock.limit
number  [ 0 .. 10800 ] 
 
Clock initial time in seconds. If empty, a correspondence game is created.


clock.increment
integer  [ 0 .. 60 ] 
 
Clock increment in seconds. If empty, a correspondence game is created.


days
integer
 Enum: 1 2 3 5 7 10 14 
 
Days per turn. For correspondence challenges.


variant
string (VariantKey) 
 Enum: "standard" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck" "fromPosition" 
 
fen
string (FromPositionFEN) 
 
Custom initial position (in FEN). Variant must be standard, fromPosition, or chess960 (if a valid 960 starting position), and the game cannot be rated.


name
string
 
Optional name for the challenge, that players will see on the challenge page.


rules
string
 Enum: "noRematch" "noGiveTime" "noClaimWin" "noEarlyDraw" "noAbort" 
 
Extra game rules separated by commas.
Example: noRematch,noGiveTime
The noAbort rule is available for Lichess admins only


users
string
 
Optional pair of usernames, separated by a comma.
If set, only these users will be allowed to join the game.
The first username gets the white pieces.
Example: Username1,Username2


expiresAt
integer
 
Timestamp in milliseconds to expire the challenge. Defaults to 24h after creation. Can't be more than 2 weeks after creation.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{}
Start clocks of a game 
Start the clocks of a game immediately, even if a player has not yet made a move.
Requires the OAuth tokens of both players with challenge:write scope.
If the clocks have already started, the call will have no effect.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
ID of the game


query Parameters
token1
string
 
OAuth token of a player


token2
string
 
OAuth token of the other player


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Add time to the opponent clock 
Add seconds to the opponent's clock. Can be used to create games with time odds.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
ID of the game


seconds
required
string  [ 5 .. 60 ] 
 
How many seconds to give


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Admin challenge tokens 
This endpoint can only be used by Lichess administrators. It will not work if you do not have the appropriate permissions. Tournament organizers should instead use OAuth to obtain challenge:write tokens from users in order to perform bulk pairing.*
Create and obtain challenge:write tokens for multiple users.
If a similar token already exists for a user, it is reused. This endpoint is idempotent.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
users
required
string
 
Usernames separated with commas


description
required
string
 
User visible description of the token


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "thibault": "lLOEkpH58W599xH9",
  • "neio": "nAYTIJphwWFwKmKk",
  • "lizen2": "1cnHhuWKHROgiPC4",
  • "lizen3": "SszJ9Sj1bto0UQCK"
}
Bulk pairings
Create many games for other players.


These endpoints are intended for tournament organisers.


View your bulk pairings 
Get a list of bulk pairings you created.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
[
  • {
    }
]
Create a bulk pairing 
Schedule many games at once, up to 24h in advance.
OAuth tokens are required for all paired players, with the challenge:write scope.
You can schedule up to 500 games every 10 minutes. Contact us if you need higher limits.
If games have a real-time clock, each player must have only one pairing.
For correspondence games, players can have multiple pairings within the same bulk.


The entire bulk is rejected if:


    

  • a token is missing
    • 

  • a token is present more than once (except in correspondence)
    • 

  • a token lacks the challenge:write scope
    • 

  • a player account is closed
    • 

  • a player is paired more than once (except in correspondence)
    • 

  • a bulk is already scheduled to start at the same time with the same player
    • 

  • you have 20 scheduled bulks
    • 

  • you have 1000 scheduled games
    • 



Partial bulks are never created. Either it all fails, or it all succeeds.
When it fails, it does so with an error message explaining the issue.
Failed bulks are not counted in the rate limiting, they are free.
Fix the issues, manually or programmatically, then retry to schedule the bulk.
A successful bulk creation returns a JSON bulk document. Its ID can be used for further operations.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
Parameters of the pairings


players
string
 
OAuth tokens of all the players to pair, with the syntax tokenOfWhitePlayerInGame1:tokenOfBlackPlayerInGame1,tokenOfWhitePlayerInGame2:tokenOfBlackPlayerInGame2,....
The 2 tokens of the players of a game are separated with :. The first token gets the white pieces. Games are separated with ,.
Up to 1000 tokens can be sent, for a max of 500 games.
Each token must be included at most once.
Example: token1:token2,token3:token4,token5:token6


clock.limit
number  [ 0 .. 10800 ] 
 
Clock initial time in seconds. Example: 600


clock.increment
integer  [ 0 .. 60 ] 
 
Clock increment in seconds. Example: 2


days
integer
 Enum: 1 2 3 5 7 10 14 
 
Days per turn. For correspondence games only.


pairAt
integer
 
Date at which the games will be created as a Unix timestamp in milliseconds.
Up to 7 days in the future.
Omit, or set to current date and time, to start the games immediately.
Example: 1612289869919


startClocksAt
integer
 
Date at which the clocks will be automatically started as a Unix timestamp in milliseconds.
Up to 7 days in the future.
Note that the clocks can start earlier than specified, if players start making moves in the game.
If omitted, the clocks will not start automatically.
Example: 1612289869919


rated
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Game is rated and impacts players ratings


variant
string (VariantKey) 
 Enum: "standard" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck" "fromPosition" 
 
fen
string (FromPositionFEN) 
 
Custom initial position (in FEN). Variant must be standard, fromPosition, or chess960 (if a valid 960 starting position), and the game cannot be rated.


message
string
 Default:  "Your game with {opponent} is ready: {game}."
 
Message that will be sent to each player, when the game is created.  It is sent from your user account.
{opponent} and {game} are placeholders that will be replaced with the opponent and the game URLs.
You can omit this field to send the default message,
but if you set your own message, it must at least contain the {game} placeholder.


rules
string
 Enum: "noAbort" "noRematch" "noGiveTime" "noClaimWin" "noEarlyDraw" 
 
Extra game rules separated by commas.
Example: noAbort,noRematch


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "RVAcwgg7",
  • "games": [
    ],
  • "variant": "standard",
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "pairAt": 1612289869919,
  • "pairedAt": null,
  • "rated": false,
  • "startClocksAt": 1612200422971,
  • "scheduledAt": 1612203514628
}
Manually start clocks 
Immediately start all clocks of the games of a bulk pairing.
This overrides the startClocksAt value of an existing bulk pairing.
If the games have not yet been created (bulk.pairAt is in the future), then this does nothing.
If the clocks have already started (bulk.startClocksAt is in the past), then this does nothing.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
The ID of the bulk pairing


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Show a bulk pairing 
Get a single bulk pairing by its ID.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
The ID of the bulk pairing


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "RVAcwgg7",
  • "games": [
    ],
  • "variant": "standard",
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "pairAt": 1612289869919,
  • "pairedAt": null,
  • "rated": false,
  • "startClocksAt": 1612200422971,
  • "scheduledAt": 1612203514628
}
Cancel a bulk pairing 
Cancel and delete a bulk pairing that is scheduled in the future.
If the games have already been created, then this does nothing.
Canceling a bulk pairing does not refund the rate limit cost of that bulk pairing.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
The ID of the bulk pairing


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Export games of a bulk pairing 
Download games of a bulk in PGN or ndjson format, depending on the request Accept header.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  5IrD6Gzz
The ID of the bulk pairing


query Parameters
moves
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include the PGN moves.


pgnInJson
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include the full PGN within the JSON response, in a pgn field.


tags
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include the PGN tags.


clocks
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include clock status when available.
Either as PGN comments: 2. exd5 { [%clk 1:01:27] } e5 { [%clk 1:01:28] }
Or in a clocks JSON field, as centisecond integers, depending on the response type.


evals
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include analysis evaluations and comments, when available.
Either as PGN comments: 12. Bxf6 { [%eval 0.23] } a3 { [%eval -1.09] }
Or in an analysis JSON field, depending on the response type.


accuracy
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include accuracy percent of each player, when available.


opening
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include the opening name.
Example: [Opening "King's Gambit Accepted, King's Knight Gambit"]


division
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Plies which mark the beginning of the middlegame and endgame.
Only available in JSON


literate
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Insert textual annotations in the PGN about the opening, analysis variations, mistakes, and game termination.
Example: 5... g4? { (-0.98 → 0.60) Mistake. Best move was h6. } (5... h6 6. d4 Ne7 7. g3 d5 8. exd5 fxg3 9. hxg3 c6 10. dxc6)


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
No sample
Arena tournaments
Access Arena tournaments played on Lichess.
Official Arena tournaments are maintained by Lichess,
but you can create your own Arena tournaments as well.


Get current tournaments 
Get recently finished, ongoing, and upcoming tournaments.
This API is used to display the Lichess tournament schedule.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "created": [
    ],
  • "started": [
    ],
  • "finished": [
    ]
}
Create a new Arena tournament 
Create a public or private Arena tournament.
This endpoint mirrors the form on https://lichess.org/tournament/new.
You can create up to 12 public tournaments per day, or 24 private tournaments.
A team battle can be created by specifying the teamBattleByTeam argument.
Additional restrictions:


    

  • clockTime + clockIncrement > 0
    • 

  • 15s and 0+1 variant tournaments cannot be rated
    • 

  • Clock time in comparison to tournament length must be reasonable: 3 <= (minutes * 60) / (96 * clockTime + 48 * clockIncrement + 15) <= 150
    • 



Authorizations:
OAuth2
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
Parameters of the tournament


name
string  [ 2 .. 30 ] characters 
 
The tournament name. Leave empty to get a random Grandmaster name


clockTime
required
number
 Enum: 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.5 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 
 
Clock initial time in minutes


clockIncrement
required
integer
 Enum: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 
 
Clock increment in seconds


minutes
required
integer
 Enum: 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 420 480 540 600 720 
 
How long the tournament lasts, in minutes


waitMinutes
integer
 Default:  5
 Enum: 1 2 3 5 10 15 20 30 45 60 
 
How long to wait before starting the tournament, from now, in minutes


startDate
integer
 
Timestamp (in milliseconds) to start the tournament at a given date and time. Overrides the waitMinutes setting


variant
string (VariantKey) 
 Enum: "standard" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck" "fromPosition" 
 
rated
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Games are rated and impact players ratings


position
string (FromPositionFEN) 
 
Custom initial position (in FEN). Variant must be standard, fromPosition, or chess960 (if a valid 960 starting position), and the game cannot be rated.


berserkable
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Whether the players can use berserk. Only allowed if clockIncrement <= clockTime * 2


streakable
boolean
 Default:  true
 
After 2 wins, consecutive wins grant 4 points instead of 2.


hasChat
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Whether the players can discuss in a chat


description
string
 
Anything you want to tell players about the tournament


password
string
 
Make the tournament private, and restrict access with a password.
You can also generate user-specific entry codes
based on this password.


teamBattleByTeam
string
 
Set the ID of a team you lead to create a team battle.
The other teams can be added using the team battle edit endpoint.


conditions.teamMember.teamId
string
 
Restrict entry to members of a team.
The teamId is the last part of a team URL, e.g. https://lichess.org/team/coders has teamId = coders.
Leave empty to let everyone join the tournament.
Do not use this to create team battles, use teamBattleByTeam instead.


conditions.minRating.rating
integer
 Enum: 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 2600 
 
Minimum rating to join. Leave empty to let everyone join the tournament.


conditions.maxRating.rating
integer
 Enum: 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 
 
Maximum rating to join. Based on best rating reached in the last 7 days. Leave empty to let everyone join the tournament.


conditions.nbRatedGame.nb
integer
 Enum: 0 5 10 15 20 30 40 50 75 100 150 200 
 
Minimum number of rated games required to join.


conditions.allowList
string
 
Predefined list of usernames that are allowed to join, separated by commas.
If this list is non-empty, then usernames absent from this list will be forbidden to join.
Adding %titled to the list additionally allows any titled player to join.
Example: thibault,german11,%titled


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "may24lta",
  • "createdBy": "lichess",
  • "startsAt": "2024-05-25T18:00:00Z",
  • "system": "arena",
  • "fullName": "Titled Arena May 2024",
  • "minutes": 120,
  • "perf": {
    },
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "variant": "standard",
  • "rated": true,
  • "spotlight": {
    },
  • "berserkable": true,
  • "verdicts": {
    },
  • "schedule": {
    },
  • "description": "Prizes: $500/$250/$125/$75/$50\r\n\r\n[Warm-up event](https://lichess.org/tournament/may24wua)",
  • "onlyTitled": true,
  • "nbPlayers": 364,
  • "duels": [ ],
  • "isFinished": true,
  • "podium": [
    ],
  • "pairingsClosed": true,
  • "stats": {
    },
  • "standing": {
    }
}
Get info about an Arena tournament 
Get detailed info about recently finished, current, or upcoming tournament's duels, player standings, and other info.


path Parameters
id
required
string
 
The tournament ID.


query Parameters
page
number  [ 1 .. 200 ] 
 Default:  1
 
 Example:  page=1
Specify which page of player standings to view.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "may24lta",
  • "createdBy": "lichess",
  • "startsAt": "2024-05-25T18:00:00Z",
  • "system": "arena",
  • "fullName": "Titled Arena May 2024",
  • "minutes": 120,
  • "perf": {
    },
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "variant": "standard",
  • "rated": true,
  • "spotlight": {
    },
  • "berserkable": true,
  • "verdicts": {
    },
  • "schedule": {
    },
  • "description": "Prizes: $500/$250/$125/$75/$50\r\n\r\n[Warm-up event](https://lichess.org/tournament/may24wua)",
  • "onlyTitled": true,
  • "nbPlayers": 364,
  • "duels": [ ],
  • "isFinished": true,
  • "podium": [
    ],
  • "pairingsClosed": true,
  • "stats": {
    },
  • "standing": {
    }
}
Update an Arena tournament 
Update an Arena tournament.
Be mindful not to make important changes to ongoing tournaments.
Can be used to update a team battle.
Additional restrictions:


    

  • clockTime + clockIncrement > 0
    • 

  • 15s and 0+1 variant tournaments cannot be rated
    • 

  • Clock time in comparison to tournament length must be reasonable: 3 <= (minutes * 60) / (96 * clockTime + 48 * clockIncrement + 15) <= 150
    • 



Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
The tournament ID.


Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
Parameters of the tournament


name
string  [ 2 .. 30 ] characters 
 
The tournament name. Leave empty to get a random Grandmaster name


clockTime
required
number
 Enum: 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.5 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 
 
Clock initial time in minutes


clockIncrement
required
integer
 Enum: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 15 20 25 30 40 50 60 
 
Clock increment in seconds


minutes
required
integer
 Enum: 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 150 180 210 240 270 300 330 360 420 480 540 600 720 
 
How long the tournament lasts, in minutes


waitMinutes
integer
 Default:  5
 Enum: 1 2 3 5 10 15 20 30 45 60 
 
How long to wait before starting the tournament, from now, in minutes


startDate
integer
 
Timestamp (in milliseconds) to start the tournament at a given date and time. Overrides the waitMinutes setting


variant
string (VariantKey) 
 Enum: "standard" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck" "fromPosition" 
 
rated
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Games are rated and impact players ratings


position
string (FromPositionFEN) 
 
Custom initial position (in FEN). Variant must be standard, fromPosition, or chess960 (if a valid 960 starting position), and the game cannot be rated.


berserkable
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Whether the players can use berserk. Only allowed if clockIncrement <= clockTime * 2


streakable
boolean
 Default:  true
 
After 2 wins, consecutive wins grant 4 points instead of 2.


hasChat
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Whether the players can discuss in a chat


description
string
 
Anything you want to tell players about the tournament


password
string
 
Make the tournament private, and restrict access with a password


conditions.minRating.rating
integer
 Enum: 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 2600 
 
Minimum rating to join. Leave empty to let everyone join the tournament.


conditions.maxRating.rating
integer
 Enum: 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 
 
Maximum rating to join. Based on best rating reached in the last 7 days. Leave empty to let everyone join the tournament.


conditions.nbRatedGame.nb
integer
 Enum: 0 5 10 15 20 30 40 50 75 100 150 200 
 
Minimum number of rated games required to join.


conditions.allowList
string
 
Predefined list of usernames that are allowed to join, separated by commas.
If this list is non-empty, then usernames absent from this list will be forbidden to join.
Adding %titled to the list additionally allows any titled player to join.
Example: thibault,german11,%titled


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "may24lta",
  • "createdBy": "lichess",
  • "startsAt": "2024-05-25T18:00:00Z",
  • "system": "arena",
  • "fullName": "Titled Arena May 2024",
  • "minutes": 120,
  • "perf": {
    },
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "variant": "standard",
  • "rated": true,
  • "spotlight": {
    },
  • "berserkable": true,
  • "verdicts": {
    },
  • "schedule": {
    },
  • "description": "Prizes: $500/$250/$125/$75/$50\r\n\r\n[Warm-up event](https://lichess.org/tournament/may24wua)",
  • "onlyTitled": true,
  • "nbPlayers": 364,
  • "duels": [ ],
  • "isFinished": true,
  • "podium": [
    ],
  • "pairingsClosed": true,
  • "stats": {
    },
  • "standing": {
    }
}
Join an Arena tournament 
Join an Arena tournament, possibly with a password and/or a team.
Also unpauses if you had previously paused the tournament.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  hL7vMrFQ
The tournament ID.


Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
You may need these depending on the tournament to join


password
string
 
The tournament password, if one is required.
Can also be a user-specific entry code
generated and shared by the organizer.


team
string
 
The team to join the tournament with, for team battle tournaments


pairMeAsap
boolean
 Default:  false
 
If the tournament is started, attempt to pair the user,
even if they are not connected to the tournament page.
This expires after one minute, to avoid pairing a user who is long gone.
You may call "join" again to extend the waiting.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Pause or leave an Arena tournament 
Leave a future Arena tournament, or take a break on an ongoing Arena tournament.
It's possible to join again later. Points and streaks are preserved.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  hL7vMrFQ
The tournament ID.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Terminate an Arena tournament 
Terminate an Arena tournament


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  hL7vMrFQ
The tournament ID.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Update a team battle 
Set the teams and number of leaders of a team battle.
To update the other attributes of a team battle, use the tournament update endpoint.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
The tournament ID (8 characters)..


Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
teams
required
string
 
All team IDs of the team battle, separated by commas.
Make sure to always send the full list.
Teams that are not in the list will be removed from the team battle.
Example: coders,zhigalko_sergei-fan-club,hhSwTKZv


nbLeaders
required
integer
 
Number team leaders per team.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "may24lta",
  • "createdBy": "lichess",
  • "startsAt": "2024-05-25T18:00:00Z",
  • "system": "arena",
  • "fullName": "Titled Arena May 2024",
  • "minutes": 120,
  • "perf": {
    },
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "variant": "standard",
  • "rated": true,
  • "spotlight": {
    },
  • "berserkable": true,
  • "verdicts": {
    },
  • "schedule": {
    },
  • "description": "Prizes: $500/$250/$125/$75/$50\r\n\r\n[Warm-up event](https://lichess.org/tournament/may24wua)",
  • "onlyTitled": true,
  • "nbPlayers": 364,
  • "duels": [ ],
  • "isFinished": true,
  • "podium": [
    ],
  • "pairingsClosed": true,
  • "stats": {
    },
  • "standing": {
    }
}
Export games of an Arena tournament 
Download games of a tournament in PGN or ndjson format.
Games are sorted by reverse chronological order (most recent first).
The game stream is throttled, depending on who is making the request:



path Parameters
id
required
string
 
The tournament ID.


query Parameters
player
string
 
Only games of a particular player. Leave empty to fetch games of all players.


moves
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include the PGN moves.


pgnInJson
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include the full PGN within the JSON response, in a pgn field.


tags
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include the PGN tags.


clocks
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include clock status when available.
Either as PGN comments: 2. exd5 { [%clk 1:01:27] } e5 { [%clk 1:01:28] }
Or in a clocks JSON field, as centisecond integers, depending on the response type.


evals
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include analysis evaluations and comments, when available.
Either as PGN comments: 12. Bxf6 { [%eval 0.23] } a3 { [%eval -1.09] }
Or in an analysis JSON field, depending on the response type.


accuracy
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include accuracy percent of each player, when available.


opening
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include the opening name.
Example: [Opening "King's Gambit Accepted, King's Knight Gambit"]


division
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Plies which mark the beginning of the middlegame and endgame.
Only available in JSON


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
No sample
Get results of an Arena tournament 
Players of an Arena tournament, with their score and performance, sorted by rank (best first).
Players are streamed as ndjson, i.e. one JSON object per line.
If called on an ongoing tournament, results can be inconsistent
due to ranking changes while the players are being streamed.
Use on finished tournaments for guaranteed consistency.


path Parameters
id
required
string
 
The tournament ID.


query Parameters
nb
integer  >= 1 
 
Max number of players to fetch


sheet
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Add a sheet field to the player document.
It's an expensive server computation that slows down the stream.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
{
  • "rank": 4,
  • "score": 389,
  • "rating": 2618,
  • "username": "opperwezen",
  • "title": "IM",
  • "performance": 2423,
  • "team": "coders"
}
Get team standing of a team battle 
Teams of a team battle tournament, with top players, sorted by rank (best first).


path Parameters
id
required
string
 
The tournament ID.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "CdPg1ey4",
  • "teams": [
    ]
}
Get tournaments created by a user 
Get all tournaments created by a given user.
Tournaments are sorted by reverse chronological order of start date (last starting first).
Tournaments are streamed as ndjson.


path Parameters
username
required
string
 
The user whose created tournaments to fetch


query Parameters
status
integer
 Enum: 10 20 30 
 
Include tournaments in the given status: "Created" (10), "Started" (20), "Finished" (30)
You can add this parameter more than once to include tournaments in different statuses.
Example: ?status=10&status=20


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
{
  • "id": "XhfVxYPG",
  • "createdBy": "lichess",
  • "system": "arena",
  • "minutes": 27,
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "rated": true,
  • "fullName": "Hourly Bullet Arena",
  • "nbPlayers": 4,
  • "variant": {
    },
  • "startsAt": 1716930043067,
  • "finishesAt": 1716931663067,
  • "status": 10,
  • "perf": {
    },
  • "secondsToStart": 871,
  • "minRatedGames": {
    },
  • "schedule": {
    }
}
Get team Arena tournaments 
Get all Arena tournaments relevant to a team.
Tournaments are sorted by reverse chronological order of start date (last starting first).
Tournaments are streamed as ndjson.


path Parameters
teamId
required
string
 
ID of the team


query Parameters
max
integer  >= 1 
 Default:  100
 
How many tournaments to download.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
{
  • "id": "XhfVxYPG",
  • "createdBy": "lichess",
  • "system": "arena",
  • "minutes": 27,
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "rated": true,
  • "fullName": "Hourly Bullet Arena",
  • "nbPlayers": 4,
  • "variant": {
    },
  • "startsAt": 1716930043067,
  • "finishesAt": 1716931663067,
  • "status": 10,
  • "perf": {
    },
  • "secondsToStart": 871,
  • "minRatedGames": {
    },
  • "schedule": {
    }
}
Swiss tournaments
Access Swiss tournaments played on Lichess.
Read more about Swiss tournaments..


Create a new Swiss tournament 
Create a Swiss tournament for your team.
This endpoint mirrors the Swiss tournament form from your team pagee.
You can create up to 12 tournaments per day.
Additional restrictions:


    

  • clock.limit + clock.increment > 0
    • 

  • 15s and 0+1 variant tournaments cannot be rated
    • 



Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
teamId
required
string
 
ID of the team


Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
Parameters of the tournament


name
string  [ 2 .. 30 ] characters 
 
The tournament name. Leave empty to get a random Grandmaster name


clock.limit
required
number
 Enum: 0 15 30 45 60 90 120 180 240 300 360 420 480 600 900 1200 1500 1800 2400 3000 3600 4200 4800 5400 6000 6600 7200 7800 8400 9000 9600 10200 10800 
 
Clock initial time in seconds


clock.increment
required
integer  [ 0 .. 120 ] 
 
Clock increment in seconds


nbRounds
required
integer  [ 3 .. 100 ] 
 
Maximum number of rounds to play


startsAt
integer
 
Timestamp in milliseconds to start the tournament at a given date and time. By default, it starts 10 minutes after creation.


roundInterval
integer
 Enum: -1 5 10 20 30 45 60 120 180 300 600 900 1200 1800 2700 3600 86400 172800 604800 99999999 
 
How long to wait between each round, in seconds.
Set to 99999999 to manually schedule each round from the tournament UI.
If empty or -1, a sensible value is picked automatically.


variant
string (VariantKey) 
 Enum: "standard" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck" "fromPosition" 
 
position
string (SwissFromPositionFEN) 
 
Custom initial position (in FEN). Variant must be standard and the game cannot be rated.


description
string
 
Anything you want to tell players about the tournament


rated
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Games are rated and impact players ratings


password
string
 
Make the tournament private and restrict access with a password.


forbiddenPairings
string
 
Usernames of players that must not play together.
Two usernames per line, separated by a space.


manualPairings
string
 
Manual pairings for the next round.
Two usernames per line, separated by a space. Example:


PlayerA PlayerB
PlayerC PlayerD



To give a bye (1 point) to a player instead of a pairing, add a line like so:


PlayerE 1



Missing players will be considered absent and get zero points.


chatFor
number
 Default:  20
 
Who can read and write in the chat.


    

  • 0  = No-one
    • 

  • 10 = Only team leaders
    • 

  • 20 = Only team members
    • 

  • 30 = All Lichess players
    • 



conditions.minRating.rating
integer
 Enum: 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 2600 
 
Minimum rating to join. Leave empty to let everyone join the tournament.


conditions.maxRating.rating
integer
 Enum: 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 
 
Maximum rating to join. Based on best rating reached in the last 7 days. Leave empty to let everyone join the tournament.


conditions.nbRatedGame.nb
integer  [ 0 .. 200 ] 
 
Minimum number of rated games required to join.


conditions.playYourGames
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Only let players join if they have played their last swiss game.
If they failed to show up in a recent swiss event, they won't be able to enter yours.
This results in a better swiss experience for the players who actually show up.


conditions.allowList
string
 
Predefined list of usernames that are allowed to join, separated by commas.
If this list is non-empty, then usernames absent from this list will be forbidden to join.
Adding %titled to the list additionally allows any titled player to join.
Example: thibault,german11,%titled


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "createdBy": "lichess",
  • "id": "SuwsOIhE",
  • "name": "Rapid",
  • "nbOngoing": 0,
  • "nbPlayers": 37,
  • "nbRounds": 7,
  • "rated": true,
  • "round": 7,
  • "startsAt": "2024-06-11T02:00:00Z",
  • "stats": {
    },
  • "status": "finished",
  • "variant": "standard",
  • "verdicts": {
    }
}
Get info about a Swiss tournament 
Get detailed info about a Swiss tournament.


path Parameters
id
required
string
 
The Swiss tournament ID.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "createdBy": "lichess",
  • "id": "SuwsOIhE",
  • "name": "Rapid",
  • "nbOngoing": 0,
  • "nbPlayers": 37,
  • "nbRounds": 7,
  • "rated": true,
  • "round": 7,
  • "startsAt": "2024-06-11T02:00:00Z",
  • "stats": {
    },
  • "status": "finished",
  • "variant": "standard",
  • "verdicts": {
    }
}
Update a Swiss tournament 
Update a Swiss tournament.
Be mindful not to make important changes to ongoing tournaments.
Additional restrictions:


    

  • clock.limit + clock.increment > 0
    • 

  • 15s and 0+1 variant tournaments cannot be rated
    • 



Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  hL7vMrFQ
The tournament ID.


Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
Parameters of the tournament


name
string  [ 2 .. 30 ] characters 
 
The tournament name. Leave empty to get a random Grandmaster name


clock.limit
required
number
 Enum: 0 15 30 45 60 90 120 180 240 300 360 420 480 600 900 1200 1500 1800 2400 3000 3600 4200 4800 5400 6000 6600 7200 7800 8400 9000 9600 10200 10800 
 
Clock initial time in seconds


clock.increment
required
integer  [ 0 .. 120 ] 
 
Clock increment in seconds


nbRounds
required
integer  [ 3 .. 100 ] 
 
Maximum number of rounds to play


startsAt
integer
 
Timestamp in milliseconds to start the tournament at a given date and time. By default, it starts 10 minutes after creation.


roundInterval
integer
 Enum: -1 5 10 20 30 45 60 120 180 300 600 900 1200 1800 2700 3600 86400 172800 604800 99999999 
 
How long to wait between each round, in seconds.
Set to 99999999 to manually schedule each round from the tournament UI, or with the API.
If empty or -1, a sensible value is picked automatically.


variant
string (VariantKey) 
 Enum: "standard" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck" "fromPosition" 
 
position
string (SwissFromPositionFEN) 
 
Custom initial position (in FEN). Variant must be standard and the game cannot be rated.


description
string
 
Anything you want to tell players about the tournament


rated
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Games are rated and impact players ratings


password
string
 
Make the tournament private and restrict access with a password.


forbiddenPairings
string
 
Usernames of players that must not play together.
Two usernames per line, separated by a space.


manualPairings
string
 
Manual pairings for the next round.
Two usernames per line, separated by a space.
Present players without a valid pairing will be given a bye, which is worth 1 point.
Forfeited players will get 0 points.


chatFor
number
 Default:  20
 
Who can read and write in the chat.


    

  • 0  = No-one
    • 

  • 10 = Only team leaders
    • 

  • 20 = Only team members
    • 

  • 30 = All Lichess players
    • 



conditions.minRating.rating
integer
 Enum: 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 2600 
 
Minimum rating to join. Leave empty to let everyone join the tournament.


conditions.maxRating.rating
integer
 Enum: 2200 2100 2000 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 
 
Maximum rating to join. Based on best rating reached in the last 7 days. Leave empty to let everyone join the tournament.


conditions.nbRatedGame.nb
integer  [ 0 .. 200 ] 
 
Minimum number of rated games required to join.


conditions.playYourGames
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Only let players join if they have played their last swiss game.
If they failed to show up in a recent swiss event, they won't be able to enter yours.
This results in a better swiss experience for the players who actually show up.


conditions.allowList
string
 
Predefined list of usernames that are allowed to join, separated by commas.
If this list is non-empty, then usernames absent from this list will be forbidden to join.
Adding %titled to the list additionally allows any titled player to join.
Example: thibault,german11,%titled


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "createdBy": "lichess",
  • "id": "SuwsOIhE",
  • "name": "Rapid",
  • "nbOngoing": 0,
  • "nbPlayers": 37,
  • "nbRounds": 7,
  • "rated": true,
  • "round": 7,
  • "startsAt": "2024-06-11T02:00:00Z",
  • "stats": {
    },
  • "status": "finished",
  • "variant": "standard",
  • "verdicts": {
    }
}
Manually schedule the next round 
Manually schedule the next round date and time of a Swiss tournament.
This sets the roundInterval field to 99999999, i.e. manual scheduling.
All further rounds will need to be manually scheduled, unless the roundInterval field is changed back to automatic scheduling.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  hL7vMrFQ
The tournament ID.


Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
Parameters of the tournament


date
integer
 
Timestamp in milliseconds to start the next round at a given date and time.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "error": "This request is invalid because [...]"
}
Join a Swiss tournament 
Join a Swiss tournament, possibly with a password.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  hL7vMrFQ
The tournament ID.


Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
You may need these depending on the tournament to join


password
string
 
The tournament password, if one is required


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Pause or leave a swiss tournament 
Leave a future Swiss tournament, or take a break on an ongoing Swiss tournament.
It's possible to join again later. Points are preserved.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  hL7vMrFQ
The tournament ID.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Terminate a Swiss tournament 
Terminate a Swiss tournament


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  W5FrxusN
The Swiss tournament ID.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Export TRF of a Swiss tournament 
Download a tournament in the Tournament Report File format, the FIDE standard.
Documentation: https://www.fide.com/FIDE/handbook/C04Annex2_TRF16.pdf
Example: https://lichess.org/swiss/j8rtJ5GL.trf


path Parameters
id
required
string
 
The tournament ID.


Responses
Export games of a Swiss tournament 
Download games of a swiss tournament in PGN or ndjson format.
Games are sorted by reverse chronological order (last round first).
The game stream is throttled, depending on who is making the request:



path Parameters
id
required
string
 
The tournament ID.


query Parameters
player
string
 
Only the games played by a given player


moves
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include the PGN moves.


pgnInJson
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include the full PGN within the JSON response, in a pgn field.


tags
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include the PGN tags.


clocks
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include clock status when available.
Either as PGN comments: 2. exd5 { [%clk 1:01:27] } e5 { [%clk 1:01:28] }
Or in a clocks JSON field, as centisecond integers, depending on the response type.


evals
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include analysis evaluations and comments, when available.
Either as PGN comments: 12. Bxf6 { [%eval 0.23] } a3 { [%eval -1.09] }
Or in an analysis JSON field, depending on the response type.


accuracy
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include accuracy percent of each player, when available.


opening
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Include the opening name.
Example: [Opening "King's Gambit Accepted, King's Knight Gambit"]


division
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Plies which mark the beginning of the middlegame and endgame.
Only available in JSON


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
No sample
Get results of a swiss tournament 
Players of a swiss tournament, with their score and performance, sorted by rank (best first).
Players are streamed as ndjson.
If called on an ongoing tournament, results can be inconsistent
due to ranking changes while the players are being streamed.
Use on finished tournaments for guaranteed consistency.


path Parameters
id
required
string
 
The tournament ID.


query Parameters
nb
integer  >= 1 
 
Max number of players to fetch


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
{
  • "rank": 4,
  • "points": 8.5,
  • "tieBreak": 77,
  • "rating": 2618,
  • "username": "opperwezen",
  • "title": "IM",
  • "performance": 2423
}
Get team swiss tournaments 
Get all swiss tournaments of a team.
Tournaments are sorted by reverse chronological order of start date (last starting first).
Tournaments are streamed as ndjson.


path Parameters
teamId
required
string
 
 Example:  coders
query Parameters
max
integer  >= 1 
 Default:  100
 
How many tournaments to download.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/nd-json
{
  • "clock": {
    },
  • "createdBy": "lichess",
  • "id": "SuwsOIhE",
  • "name": "Rapid",
  • "nbOngoing": 0,
  • "nbPlayers": 37,
  • "nbRounds": 7,
  • "rated": true,
  • "round": 7,
  • "startsAt": "2024-06-11T02:00:00Z",
  • "stats": {
    },
  • "status": "finished",
  • "variant": "standard",
  • "verdicts": {
    }
}
Simuls
Access simuls played on Lichess.
https://lichess.org/simul


Get current simuls 
Get recently created, started, finished, simuls.
Created and finished simul lists are not exhaustives, only those with
strong enough host will be listed, the same filter is used to display simuls on https://lichess.org/simul.
When authenticated with OAuth2, the pending list will be populated with your created, but unstarted simuls.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "pending": [
    ],
  • "created": [
    ],
  • "started": [
    ],
  • "finished": [
    ]
}
Studies
Access Lichess studies.
https://lichess.org/study


Export one study chapter 
Download one study chapter in PGN format.


path Parameters
studyId
required
string
 
The study ID (8 characters).


chapterId
required
string
 
The chapter ID (8 characters).


query Parameters
clocks
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include clock comments in the PGN moves, when available.
Example: 2. exd5 { [%clk 1:01:27] } e5 { [%clk 1:01:28] }


comments
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include analysis and annotator comments in the PGN moves, when available.
Example: 12. Bxf6 { [%eval 0.23] } a3 { White is in a pickle. }


variations
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include non-mainline moves, when available.
Example: 4. d4 Bb4+ (4... Nc6 5. Nf3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 (6. Nbd2 O-O 7. O-O) 6... Bd6) 5. Nd2


source
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Add a Source PGN tag with the study chapter URL.
Example: [Source "https://lichess.org/study/4NBHImfM/1Tk4IyTz"]


orientation
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Add a Orientation PGN tag with the chapter predefined orientation.
Example: [Orientation "white"]


Responses
Export all chapters 
Download all chapters of a study in PGN format.


path Parameters
studyId
required
string
 
The study ID (8 characters).


query Parameters
clocks
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include clock comments in the PGN moves, when available.
Example: 2. exd5 { [%clk 1:01:27] } e5 { [%clk 1:01:28] }


comments
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include analysis and annotator comments in the PGN moves, when available.
Example: 12. Bxf6 { [%eval 0.23] } a3 { White is in a pickle. }


variations
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include non-mainline moves, when available.
Example: 4. d4 Bb4+ (4... Nc6 5. Nf3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 (6. Nbd2 O-O 7. O-O) 6... Bd6) 5. Nd2


source
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Add a Source PGN tag with the study chapter URL.
Example: [Source "https://lichess.org/study/4NBHImfM/1Tk4IyTz"]


orientation
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Add a Orientation PGN tag with the chapter predefined orientation.
Example: [Orientation "white"]


Responses
Study metadata 
Only get the study headers, including Last-Modified.


path Parameters
studyId
required
string
 
The study ID (8 characters).


Responses
Import PGN into a study 
Imports arbitrary PGN into an existing study. Creates a new chapter in the study.
If the PGN contains multiple games (separated by 2 or more newlines)
then multiple chapters will be created within the study.
Note that a study can contain at most 64 chapters.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
studyId
required
string
 
ID of the study


Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
Parameters of the import


name
required
string  [ 1 .. 100 ] characters 
 
Name of the new chapter.
If multiple chapters are created, the names will be infered from the PGN tags.


pgn
required
string
 
PGN to import. Can contain multiple games separated by 2 or more newlines.


orientation
string
 Default:  "white"
 Enum: "white" "black" 
 
Default board orientation.


variant
string (VariantKey) 
 Enum: "standard" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck" "fromPosition" 
 
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "chapters": [
    ]
}
Export all studies of a user 
Download all chapters of all studies of a user in PGN format.
If authenticated, then all public, unlisted, and private studies are included.
If not, only public (non-unlisted) studies are included.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
username
required
string
 
The user whose studies we export


query Parameters
clocks
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include clock comments in the PGN moves, when available.
Example: 2. exd5 { [%clk 1:01:27] } e5 { [%clk 1:01:28] }


comments
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include analysis and annotator comments in the PGN moves, when available.
Example: 12. Bxf6 { [%eval 0.23] } a3 { White is in a pickle. }


variations
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Include non-mainline moves, when available.
Example: 4. d4 Bb4+ (4... Nc6 5. Nf3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 (6. Nbd2 O-O 7. O-O) 6... Bd6) 5. Nd2


source
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Add a Source PGN tag with the study chapter URL.
Example: [Source "https://lichess.org/study/4NBHImfM/1Tk4IyTz"]


orientation
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Add a Orientation PGN tag with the chapter predefined orientation.
Example: [Orientation "white"]


Responses
List studies of a user 
Get metadata (name and dates) of all studies of a user.
If authenticated, then all public, unlisted, and private studies are included.
If not, only public (non-unlisted) studies are included.
Studies are streamed as ndjson.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
username
required
string
 
The user whose studies we list


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
[
  • {
    }
]
Delete a study chapter 
Delete a chapter of a study you own. This is definitive.
A study must have at least one chapter; so if you delete the last chapter,
an empty one will be automatically created to replace it.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
studyId
required
string
 
The study ID (8 characters).


chapterId
required
string
 
The chapter ID (8 characters).


Responses
Messaging
Private messages with other players.
https://lichess.org/inbox


Send a private message 
Send a private message to another player.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
username
required
string
 
 Example:  someplayer
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
text
required
string
 
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Broadcasts
Relay chess events on Lichess.
Official broadcasts are maintained by Lichess,
but you can create your own broadcasts to cover any live game or chess event.
You will need to publish PGN on a public URL so that Lichess can pull updates from it.
Alternatively, you can push PGN updates to Lichess using this API endpoint.


Broadcasts are organized in tournaments, which have several rounds, which have several games.
You must first create a tournament, then you can add rounds to them.


Get official broadcasts 
Get all incoming, ongoing, and finished official broadcasts.
The broadcasts are sorted by start date, most recent first.
Broadcasts are streamed as ndjson.


query Parameters
nb
integer  >= 1 
 Default:  20
 
Max number of broadcasts to fetch


html
boolean
 
 Example:  html=true
Convert the "description" field from markdown to HTML


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
{}
Get paginated top broadcast previews 
The same data, in the same order, as can be seen on https://lichess.org/broadcast.


query Parameters
page
integer  [ 1 .. 20 ] 
 Default:  1
 
Which page to fetch. Only page 1 has "active" and "upcoming" broadcasts.


html
boolean
 
 Example:  html=true
Convert the "description" field from markdown to HTML


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
{
  • "active": [
    ],
  • "upcoming": [
    ],
  • "past": {
    }
}
Get broadcasts created by a user 
Get all incoming, ongoing, and finished official broadcasts.
The broadcasts are sorted by created date, most recent first.


path Parameters
username
required
string
 
query Parameters
page
number
 Default:  1
 
 Example:  page=1
html
boolean
 
 Example:  html=true
Convert the "description" field from markdown to HTML


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "currentPage": 1,
  • "currentPageResults": [
    ],
  • "maxPerPage": 20,
  • "nbPages": 2,
  • "nbResults": 34,
  • "nextPage": 2,
  • "previousPage": null
}
Create a broadcast tournament 
Create a new broadcast tournament to relay external games.
This endpoint accepts the same form data as the web form.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
name
required
string  [ 3 .. 80 ] characters 
 
Name of the broadcast tournament.


Example: Sinquefield Cup


info.format
string  <= 80 characters 
 
Tournament format.
Example: "8-player round-robin" or "5-round Swiss"


info.tc
string  <= 80 characters 
 
Time control.
Example: "Classical" or "Rapid" or "Rapid & Blitz"


info.fideTc
string
 Enum: "standard" "rapid" "blitz" 
 
FIDE rating category. Which FIDE ratings to use


info.players
string  <= 120 characters 
 
Mention up to 4 of the best players participating.


markdown
string  <= 20000 characters 
 
Optional long description of the broadcast. Markdown is supported.


showScores
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Show players scores based on game results


showRatingDiffs
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Show player's rating diffs


teamTable
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Show a team leaderboard. Requires WhiteTeam and BlackTeam PGN tags.


players
string
 
Optional replace player names, ratings and titles.


One line per player, formatted as such:


player name = FIDE ID



Example:


Magnus Carlsen = 1503014



Player names ignore case and punctuation, and match all possible combinations of 2 words: "Jorge Rick Vito" will match "Jorge Rick", "jorge vito", "Rick, Vito", etc.


If the player is NM or WNM, you can:


Player Name = FIDE ID / Title



Alternatively, you may set tags manually, like so:


player name / rating / title / new name



All values are optional. Example:


Magnus Carlsen / 2863 / GM
YouGotLittUp / 1890 / / Louis Litt



teams
string
 
Optional: assign players to teams


One line per player, formatted as such:


Team name; Fide Id or Player name



Example:


Team Cats ; 3408230
Team Dogs ; Scooby Doo



By default the PGN tags WhiteTeam and BlackTeam are used.


tier
integer
 Enum: 3 4 5 -1 
 
Optional, for Lichess admins only, used to feature on /broadcast.


    

  • 3 for Official: normal tier
    • 

  • 4 for Official: high tier
    • 

  • 5 for Official: best tier
    • 

  • -1 for Private
    • 



Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{}
Get a broadcast tournament 
Get information about a broadcast tournament.


path Parameters
broadcastTournamentId
required
string
 
The broadcast tournament ID (8 characters).


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "tour": {
    },
  • "group": {
    },
  • "rounds": [
    ]
}
Get a broadcast leaderboard 
Get the leaderboard of a broadcast tournament, if available.


path Parameters
broadcastTournamentId
required
string
 
The broadcast tournament ID (8 characters).


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
[
  • {
    }
]
Update your broadcast tournament 
Update information about a broadcast tournament that you created.
This endpoint accepts the same form data as the web form.
All fields must be populated with data. Missing fields will override the broadcast with empty data.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
broadcastTournamentId
required
string
 
The broadcast ID (8 characters).


Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
name
required
string  [ 3 .. 80 ] characters 
 
Name of the broadcast tournament.


Example: Sinquefield Cup


info.format
string  <= 80 characters 
 
Tournament format.
Example: "8-player round-robin" or "5-round Swiss"


info.tc
string  <= 80 characters 
 
Time control.
Example: "Classical" or "Rapid" or "Rapid & Blitz"


info.fideTc
string
 Enum: "standard" "rapid" "blitz" 
 
FIDE rating category. Which FIDE ratings to use


info.players
string  <= 120 characters 
 
Mention up to 4 of the best players participating.


markdown
string  <= 20000 characters 
 
Optional long description of the broadcast. Markdown is supported.


showScores
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Show players scores based on game results


showRatingDiffs
boolean
 Default:  true
 
Show player's rating diffs


teamTable
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Show a team leaderboard. Requires WhiteTeam and BlackTeam PGN tags.


players
string
 
Optional replace player names, ratings and titles.


One line per player, formatted as such:


player name = FIDE ID



Example:


Magnus Carlsen = 1503014



Player names ignore case and punctuation, and match all possible combinations of 2 words: "Jorge Rick Vito" will match "Jorge Rick", "jorge vito", "Rick, Vito", etc.


If the player is NM or WNM, you can:


Player Name = FIDE ID / Title



Alternatively, you may set tags manually, like so:


player name / rating / title / new name



All values are optional. Example:


Magnus Carlsen / 2863 / GM
YouGotLittUp / 1890 / / Louis Litt



teams
string
 
Optional: assign players to teams


One line per player, formatted as such:


Team name; Fide Id or Player name



Example:


Team Cats ; 3408230
Team Dogs ; Scooby Doo



By default the PGN tags WhiteTeam and BlackTeam are used.


tier
integer
 Enum: 3 4 5 -1 
 
Optional, for Lichess admins only, used to feature on /broadcast.


    

  • 3 for Official: normal tier
    • 

  • 4 for Official: high tier
    • 

  • 5 for Official: best tier
    • 

  • -1 for Private
    • 



Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Create a broadcast round 
Create a new broadcast round to relay external games.
This endpoint accepts the same form data as the web form.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
broadcastTournamentId
required
string
 
The broadcast tournament ID (8 characters).


Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
name
required
string  [ 3 .. 80 ] characters 
 
Name of the broadcast round.
Example: Round 1


syncUrl
string
 
URL that Lichess will poll to get updates about the games. It must be publicly accessible from the Internet.


Example: 


https://myserver.org/myevent/round-10/games.pgn



Choose one between syncUrl, syncUrls and syncIds, if it is missing, the broadcast needs to be fed by pushing PGN to it


syncUrls
string
 
URLs that Lichess will poll to get updates about the games. It must be publicly accessible from the Internet.


Example: 


https://myserver.org/myevent/round-10/game-1.pgn
https://myserver.org/myevent/round-10/game-2.pgn



Choose one between syncUrl, syncUrls and syncIds, if it is missing, the broadcast needs to be fed by pushing PGN to it


syncIds
string
 
Lichess game IDs - Up to 64 Lichess game IDs, separated by spaces.


Choose one between syncUrl, syncUrls and syncIds, if it is missing, the broadcast needs to be fed by pushing PGN to it


onlyRound
integer  [ 1 .. 999 ] 
 
Filter games by round number


Optional, only keep games from the source that match a round number.
It uses the PGN Round tag. These would match round 3:


[Round "3"]
[Round "3.1"]



If you set a round number, then games without a Round tag are dropped.


It only works if you chose syncUrl or syncUrls as the source.


slices
string
 
Select slices of the games


Optional. Select games based on their position in the source.


1           only select the first board
1-4         only select the first 4 boards
1,2,3,4     same as above, first 4 boards
11-15,21-25 boards 11 to 15, and boards 21 to 25
2,3,7-9     boards 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9



Slicing is done after filtering by round number.


It only works if you chose syncUrl or syncUrls as the source.


startsAt
integer  >= 1356998400070 
 
Timestamp in milliseconds of broadcast round start. Leave empty to manually start the broadcast round.
Example: 1356998400070


startsAfterPrevious
boolean
 Default:  false
 
The start date is unknown, and the round will start automatically when the previous round completes.


delay
integer  [ 0 .. 3600 ] 
 
Delay in seconds for movements to appear on the broadcast. Leave it empty if you don't need it.
Example: 900 (15 min)


finished
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Mark whether the round has been completed.


period
integer  [ 2 .. 60 ] 
 
(Only for Admins) Waiting time for each poll.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{}
Get a broadcast round 
Get information about a broadcast round.


path Parameters
broadcastTournamentSlug
required
string
 
The broadcast tournament slug. Only used for SEO, the slug can be safely replaced by -. Only the broadcastRoundId is actually used.


broadcastRoundSlug
required
string
 
The broadcast round slug. Only used for SEO, the slug can be safely replaced by -. Only the broadcastRoundId is actually used.


broadcastRoundId
required
string
 
The broadcast Round ID (8 characters).


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "round": {},
  • "tour": {},
  • "study": {
    },
  • "games": [
    ],
  • "group": {
    }
}
Update a broadcast round 
Update information about a broadcast round.
This endpoint accepts the same form data as the web form.
All fields must be populated with data. Missing fields will override the broadcast with empty data.
For instance, if you omit startDate, then any pre-existing start date will be removed.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
broadcastRoundId
required
string
 
The broadcast round ID (8 characters).


Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
name
required
string  [ 3 .. 80 ] characters 
 
Name of the broadcast round.
Example: Round 1


syncUrl
string
 
URL that Lichess will poll to get updates about the games. It must be publicly accessible from the Internet.


Example: 


https://myserver.org/myevent/round-10/games.pgn



Choose one between syncUrl, syncUrls and syncIds, if it is missing, the broadcast needs to be fed by pushing PGN to it


syncUrls
string
 
URLs that Lichess will poll to get updates about the games. It must be publicly accessible from the Internet.


Example: 


https://myserver.org/myevent/round-10/game-1.pgn
https://myserver.org/myevent/round-10/game-2.pgn



Choose one between syncUrl, syncUrls and syncIds, if it is missing, the broadcast needs to be fed by pushing PGN to it


syncIds
string
 
Lichess game IDs - Up to 64 Lichess game IDs, separated by spaces.


Choose one between syncUrl, syncUrls and syncIds, if it is missing, the broadcast needs to be fed by pushing PGN to it


onlyRound
integer  [ 1 .. 999 ] 
 
Filter games by round number


Optional, only keep games from the source that match a round number.
It uses the PGN Round tag. These would match round 3:


[Round "3"]
[Round "3.1"]



If you set a round number, then games without a Round tag are dropped.


It only works if you chose syncUrl or syncUrls as the source.


slices
string
 
Select slices of the games


Optional. Select games based on their position in the source.


1           only select the first board
1-4         only select the first 4 boards
1,2,3,4     same as above, first 4 boards
11-15,21-25 boards 11 to 15, and boards 21 to 25
2,3,7-9     boards 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9



Slicing is done after filtering by round number.


It only works if you chose syncUrl or syncUrls as the source.


startsAt
integer  >= 1356998400070 
 
Timestamp in milliseconds of broadcast round start. Leave empty to manually start the broadcast round.
Example: 1356998400070


startsAfterPrevious
boolean
 Default:  false
 
The start date is unknown, and the round will start automatically when the previous round completes.


delay
integer  [ 0 .. 3600 ] 
 
Delay in seconds for movements to appear on the broadcast. Leave it empty if you don't need it.
Example: 900 (15 min)


finished
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Mark whether the round has been completed.


period
integer  [ 2 .. 60 ] 
 
(Only for Admins) Waiting time for each poll.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Reset a broadcast round 
Remove any games from the broadcast round and reset it to its initial state.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
broadcastRoundId
required
string
 
The broadcast round ID (8 characters).


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Push PGN to a broadcast round 
Update a broadcast with new PGN.
Only for broadcasts without a source URL.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
broadcastRoundId
required
string
 
The broadcast round ID (8 characters).


Request Body schema: text/plain
required
The PGN. It can contain up to 64 games, separated by a double new line.


string
 
Responses
 Request samples 
Content type
text/plain
[White "Rasmus Svane"]
[Black "Rajat Makkar"]
[BlackElo "2453"]
[BlackTeam "France"]
[BlackTitle "FM"]
[WhiteTeam "Germany"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2632"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]

1. d4 d5

[White "Joseph Girel"]
[Black "Matthias Bluebaum"]
[BlackElo "2658"]
[BlackTeam "Germany"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[WhiteTeam "France"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2484"]
[WhiteTitle "IM"]

1. a8

 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "games": [
    ]
}
Stream an ongoing broadcast tournament as PGN 
This streaming endpoint first sends all games of a broadcast tournament in PGN format.
Then, it waits for new moves to be played. As soon as it happens, the entire PGN of the game is sent to the stream.
The stream will also send PGNs when games are added to the tournament.
This is the best way to get updates about an ongoing tournament. Streaming means no polling,
and no pollings means no latency, and minimum impact on the server.


path Parameters
broadcastRoundId
required
string
 
The broadcast round ID (8 characters).


Responses
Export one round as PGN 
Download all games of a single round of a broadcast tournament in PGN format.
You could poll this endpoint to get updates about a tournament, but it would be slow,
and very inefficient.
Instead, consider streaming the tournament to get
a new PGN every time a game is updated, in real-time.


path Parameters
broadcastRoundId
required
string
 
The round ID (8 characters).


Responses
Export all rounds as PGN 
Download all games of all rounds of a broadcast in PGN format.
If a study:read OAuth token is provided,
the private rounds where the user is a contributor will be available.
You may want to download only the games of a single round instead.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
broadcastTournamentId
required
string
 
The broadcast tournament ID (8 characters).


Responses
Get your broadcast rounds 
Stream all broadcast rounds you are a member of.
Also includes broadcasts rounds you did not create, but were invited to.
Also includes broadcasts rounds where you're a non-writing member. See the writeable flag in the response.
Rounds are ordered by rank, which is roughly chronological, most recent first, slightly pondered with popularity.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
query Parameters
nb
integer  >= 1 
 
 Example:  nb=20
How many rounds to get


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
{}
Analysis
Access Lichess cloud evaluations database.
https://lichess.org/analysis


Get cloud evaluation of a position. 
Get the cached evaluation of a position, if available.
Opening positions have more chances of being available. There are about 15 million positions in the database.
Up to 5 variations may be available. Variants are supported.
Use this endpoint to fetch a few positions here and there.
If you want to download a lot of positions, get the full list from our exported database.


query Parameters
fen
required
string
 
 Example:  fen=rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/3pP3/8/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2
FEN of the position


multiPv
number
 Default:  1
 
Number of variations


variant
string (VariantKey) 
 Default:  "standard"
 Enum: "standard" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck" "fromPosition" 
 
 Example:  variant=standard
Variant


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "fen": "rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/3pP3/8/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2",
  • "knodes": 13683,
  • "depth": 22,
  • "pvs": [
    ]
}
External engine
This API is in alpha and subject to change.


Use or provide external engine analysis.


External engines can provide analysis on pages like the
analysis board, running as a service
outside of the browser, or even on a different machine.


List external engines 
Lists all external engines that have been registered for the user,
and the credentials required to use them.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
[
  • {
    }
]
Create external engine 
Registers a new external engine for the user. It can then be selected
and used on the analysis board.
After registering, the provider should start waiting for analyis requests.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
Request Body schema: application/json
required
A new external engine registration.


name
required
string  [ 3 .. 200 ] characters 
 
Display name of the engine.


maxThreads
required
integer  [ 1 .. 65536 ] 
 
Maximum number of available threads.


maxHash
required
integer  [ 1 .. 1048576 ] 
 
Maximum available hash table size, in MiB.


variants
Array of strings (UciVariant) 
Items Enum: "chess" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingofthehill" "racingkings" "3check" 
 
Optional list of supported chess variants.


providerSecret
required
string  [ 16 .. 1024 ] characters 
 
A random token that can be used to
wait for analysis requests
and provide analysis.


The engine provider should securely generate a random string.


The token will not be readable again, even by the user.


The analysis provider can register multiple engines with the same
token, even for different users, and wait for analysis requests
from any of them. In this case, the request must not be made via
CORS, so that the token is not revealed to any of the users.


providerData
string
 
Arbitrary data that the engine provider can use for identification
or bookkeeping.


Users can read this information, but updating it requires knowing
or changing the providerSecret.


Responses
 Request samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "name": "Stockfish 15",
  • "maxThreads": 8,
  • "maxHash": 2048,
  • "variants": [
    ],
  • "providerSecret": "Dee3uwieZei9ahpaici9bee2yahsai0K",
  • "providerData": "string"
}
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "eei_aTKImBJOnv6j",
  • "name": "Stockfish 15",
  • "clientSecret": "ees_mdF2hK0hlKGSPeC6",
  • "userId": "thibault",
  • "maxThreads": 8,
  • "maxHash": 2048,
  • "variants": [
    ],
  • "providerData": "string"
}
Get external engine 
Get properties and credentials of an external engine.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  eei_aTKImBJOnv6j
The external engine id.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "eei_aTKImBJOnv6j",
  • "name": "Stockfish 15",
  • "clientSecret": "ees_mdF2hK0hlKGSPeC6",
  • "userId": "thibault",
  • "maxThreads": 8,
  • "maxHash": 2048,
  • "variants": [
    ],
  • "providerData": "string"
}
Update external engine 
Updates the properties of an external engine.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  eei_aTKImBJOnv6j
The external engine id.


Request Body schema: application/json
required
A modified engine registration.


name
required
string  [ 3 .. 200 ] characters 
 
Display name of the engine.


maxThreads
required
integer  [ 1 .. 65536 ] 
 
Maximum number of available threads.


maxHash
required
integer  [ 1 .. 1048576 ] 
 
Maximum available hash table size, in MiB.


variants
Array of strings (UciVariant) 
Items Enum: "chess" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingofthehill" "racingkings" "3check" 
 
Optional list of supported chess variants.


providerSecret
required
string  [ 16 .. 1024 ] characters 
 
A random token that can be used to
wait for analysis requests
and provide analysis.


The engine provider should securely generate a random string.


The token will not be readable again, even by the user.


The analysis provider can register multiple engines with the same
token, even for different users, and wait for analysis requests
from any of them. In this case, the request must not be made via
CORS, so that the token is not revealed to any of the users.


providerData
string
 
Arbitrary data that the engine provider can use for identification
or bookkeeping.


Users can read this information, but updating it requires knowing
or changing the providerSecret.


Responses
 Request samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "name": "Stockfish 15",
  • "maxThreads": 8,
  • "maxHash": 2048,
  • "variants": [
    ],
  • "providerSecret": "Dee3uwieZei9ahpaici9bee2yahsai0K",
  • "providerData": "string"
}
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "eei_aTKImBJOnv6j",
  • "name": "Stockfish 15",
  • "clientSecret": "ees_mdF2hK0hlKGSPeC6",
  • "userId": "thibault",
  • "maxThreads": 8,
  • "maxHash": 2048,
  • "variants": [
    ],
  • "providerData": "string"
}
Delete external engine 
Unregisters an external engine.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  eei_aTKImBJOnv6j
The external engine id.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "ok": true
}
Analyse with external engine 
Endpoint: https://engine.lichess.ovh/api/external-engine/{id}/analyse
Request analysis from an external engine.
Response content is streamed as newline delimited JSON.
The properties are based on the UCI specification.
Analysis stops when the client goes away, the requested limit
is reached, or the provider goes away.


path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  eei_aTKImBJOnv6j
The external engine id.


Request Body schema: application/json
required
Engine credentials and analysis request.


clientSecret
required
string
 
required
object (ExternalEngineWork) 
 
Responses
 Request samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "clientSecret": "ees_mdF2hK0hlKGSPeC6",
  • "work": {
    }
}
 Response samples 
Content type
application/x-ndjson
{
  • "time": 6880,
  • "depth": 25,
  • "nodes": 7230340,
  • "pvs": [
    ]
}
Acquire analysis request 
Endpoint: https://engine.lichess.ovh/api/external-engine/work
Wait for an analysis requests to any of the external engines that
have been registered with the given secret.
Uses long polling.
After acquiring a request, the provider should immediately
start streaming the results.


Request Body schema: application/json
required
Provider credentials.


providerSecret
string
 
Responses
 Request samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "providerSecret": "Dee3uwieZei9ahpaici9bee2yahsai0K"
}
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "id": "aingoohiJee2sius",
  • "work": {
    },
  • "engine": {
    }
}
Answer analysis request 
Endpoint: https://engine.lichess.ovh/api/external-engine/work/{id}
Submit a stream of analysis as UCI output.


    

  • The engine should always be in UCI_Chess960 mode.
    • 

  • UCI_AnalyseMode enabled if available.
    • 

  • It produces info with at least:
      

    • depth
      • 

    • multipv (between 1 and 5)
      • 

    • score
      • 

    • nodes
      • 

    • time
      • 

    • pv
The server may close the connection at any time, indicating that
the requester has gone away and analysis should be stopped.
      • 

    

    • 



path Parameters
id
required
string
 
 Example:  aingoohiJee2sius
Request Body schema: text/plain
required
Analysis results


string
 
Responses
 Request samples 
Content type
text/plain
info multipv 1 depth 20 seldepth 30 time 1373 nodes 1494341 score cp 47 hashfull 594 nps 1088376 tbhits 0 pv d2d4 d7d5 c2c4 e7e6 b1c3 f8b4 c4d5 e6d5 g1f3 g8f6 c1g5 h7h6 g5f6 d8f6 d1b3 c7c5 e2e3 b8c6 d4c5 e8g8 f1d3
Opening Explorer
Lookup positions from the Lichess opening explorer.


Runs https://github.com/niklasf/lila-openingexplorer.


The endpoint hostname is not lichess.org but explorer.lichess.ovh.


Masters database 
Endpoint: https://explorer.lichess.ovh/masters
Example: curl https://explorer.lichess.ovh/masters?play=d2d4,d7d5,c2c4,c7c6,c4d5


query Parameters
fen
string
 
 Example:  fen=rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
FEN of the root position


play
string
 Default:  ""
 
 Example:  play=e2e4,e7e5,c2c4,c7c6,c4e5
Comma separated sequence of legal moves in UCI notation.
Play additional moves starting from fen.
Required to find an opening name, if fen is not an exact match
for a named position.


since
number
 Default:  1952
 
Include only games from this year or later


until
number
 
Include only games from this year or earlier


moves
number
 Default:  12
 
Number of most common moves to display


topGames
number  <= 15 
 Default:  15
 
Number of top games to display


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "opening": {
    },
  • "white": 1443,
  • "draws": 3787,
  • "black": 1156,
  • "moves": [
    ],
  • "topGames": [
    ],
  • "recentGames": [ ],
  • "history": [
    ]
}
Lichess games 
Endpoint: https://explorer.lichess.ovh/lichess
Games sampled from all Lichess players.
Example: curl https://explorer.lichess.ovh/lichess?variant=standard&speeds=blitz,rapid,classical&ratings=2200,2500&fen=rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR%20w%20KQkq%20-%200%201


query Parameters
variant
string (VariantKey) 
 Default:  "standard"
 Enum: "standard" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck" "fromPosition" 
 
 Example:  variant=standard
Variant


fen
string
 
 Example:  fen=rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/3pP3/8/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2
FEN or EPD of the root position


play
string
 Default:  ""
 
 Example:  play=e2e4,e7e5,c2c4,c7c6,c4e5
Comma separated sequence of legal moves in UCI notation.
Play additional moves starting from fen.
Required to find an opening name, if fen is not an exact match
for a named position.


speeds
Array of strings (Speed) 
Items Enum: "ultraBullet" "bullet" "blitz" "rapid" "classical" "correspondence" 
 
Comma separated list of game speeds to filter by


ratings
Array of numbers
Items Enum: 0 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2500 
 
Comma separated list of ratings groups to filter by.
Each group ranges from its value to the next higher
group in the enum (0 from 0 to 999, 1000 from 1000 to 1199,
..., 2500 from 2500 to any rating above).


since
string
 Default:  "1952-01"
 
Include only games from this month or later


until
string
 Default:  "3000-12"
 
Include only games from this month or earlier


moves
number
 Default:  12
 
Number of most common moves to display


topGames
number  <= 4 
 Default:  4
 
Number of top games to display


recentGames
number  <= 4 
 Default:  4
 
Number of recent games to display


history
boolean
 Default:  false
 
Optionally retrieve history


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "opening": {
    },
  • "white": 1443,
  • "draws": 3787,
  • "black": 1156,
  • "moves": [
    ],
  • "topGames": [
    ],
  • "recentGames": [ ],
  • "history": [
    ]
}
Player games 
Endpoint: https://explorer.lichess.ovh/player
Games of a Lichess player.
Responds with a stream of newline delimited JSON. Will start indexing
on demand, immediately respond with the current results, and stream
more updates until indexing is complete. The stream is throttled
and deduplicated. Empty lines may be sent to avoid timeouts.
Will index new games at most once per minute, and revisit previously
ongoing games at most once every day.
Example: curl https://explorer.lichess.ovh/player?player=revoof&color=white&play=d2d4,d7d5&recentGames=1


query Parameters
player
string
 
 Example:  player=revoof
Username or ID of the player


variant
string (VariantKey) 
 Default:  "standard"
 Enum: "standard" "chess960" "crazyhouse" "antichess" "atomic" "horde" "kingOfTheHill" "racingKings" "threeCheck" "fromPosition" 
 
 Example:  variant=standard
Variant


fen
string
 
 Example:  fen=rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1
FEN of the root position


play
string
 Default:  ""
 
 Example:  play=d2d4,d7d5
Comma separated sequence of legal moves in UCI notation.
Play additional moves starting from fen.
Required to find an opening name, if fen is not an exact match
for a named position.


speeds
Array of strings (Speed) 
Items Enum: "ultraBullet" "bullet" "blitz" "rapid" "classical" "correspondence" 
 
Comma separated list of game speeds to look for


modes
Array of strings
Items Enum: "casual" "rated" 
 
Comma separated list of modes


since
string
 Default:  "1952-01"
 
Include only games from this month or later


until
string
 Default:  "3000-12"
 
Include only games from this month or earlier


moves
number
 
Number of most common moves to display


recentGames
number  <= 8 
 Default:  8
 
Number of recent games to display


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/nd-json
{
  • "white": 359,
  • "draws": 23,
  • "black": 273,
  • "moves": [
    ],
  • "recentGames": [
    ],
  • "opening": {
    },
  • "queuePosition": 0
}
OTB master game 
Endpoint: https://explorer.lichess.ovh/masters/pgn/{gameId}
Example: curl https://explorer.lichess.ovh/masters/pgn/aAbqI4ey


path Parameters
gameId
required
string
 
Responses
Tablebase
Lookup positions from the Lichess tablebase server.


The endpoint hostname is not lichess.org but tablebase.lichess.ovh.


Tablebase lookup 
Endpoint: https://tablebase.lichess.ovh
Example: curl http://tablebase.lichess.ovh/standard?fen=4k3/6KP/8/8/8/8/7p/8_w_-_-_0_1


query Parameters
fen
required
string
 
FEN of the position. Underscores allowed.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "dtz": 1,
  • "precise_dtz": 1,
  • "dtm": 17,
  • "dtw": null,
  • "checkmate": false,
  • "stalemate": false,
  • "variant_win": false,
  • "variant_loss": false,
  • "insufficient_material": false,
  • "category": "win",
  • "moves": [
    ]
}
Tablebase lookup for Atomic chess 
Endpoint: https://tablebase.lichess.ovh


Responses
Tablebase lookup for Antichess 
Endpoint: https://tablebase.lichess.ovh


Responses
Request authorization code 
OAuth2 authorization endpoint.
Start the OAuth2 Authorization Code Flow with PKCE by securely
generating two random strings unique to each authorization
request:


    

  • code_verifier
    • 

  • state
Store these in session storage. Make sure not to reveal code_verifier
to eavesdroppers. Do not show it in URLs, do not abuse state to store
it, do not send it over insecure connections. However it is fine if
the user themselves can extract code_verifier, which will always be
possible for fully client-side apps.
Then send the user to this endpoint. They will be prompted to grant
authorization and then be redirected back to the given redirect_uri.
If the authorization failed, the following query string parameters will
be appended to the redirection:
    • 

  • error, in particular with value access_denied if the user
 cancelled authorization
    • 

  • error_description to aid debugging
    • 

  • state, exactly as passed in the state parameter
If the authorization succeeded, the following query string parameters
will be appended to the redirection:
    • 

  • code, containing a fresh short-lived authorization code
    • 

  • state, exactly as passed in the state parameter
Next, to defend against cross site request forgery, check that the
returned state matches the state you originally generated.
Finally, continue by using the authorization code to
obtain an access token.
    • 



query Parameters
response_type
required
string
 
Must be code.


client_id
required
string
 
 Example:  client_id=example.com
Arbitrary identifier that uniquely identifies your application.


redirect_uri
required
string
 
The absolute URL that the user should be redirected to with the authorization result.


code_challenge_method
required
string
 
Must be S256.


code_challenge
required
string
 
Compute BASE64URL(SHA256(code_verifier)).


scope
string
 
Space separated list of requested OAuth scopes, if any.


username
string
 
Hint that you want the user to log in with a specific Lichess username.


state
string
 
Arbitrary state that will be returned verbatim with the authorization result.


Responses
Obtain access token 
OAuth2 token endpoint. Exchanges an authorization code for an access token.


Request Body schema: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
required
grant_type
string
 
Must be authorization_code.


code
string
 
The authorization code that was sent in the code parameter to your redirect_uri.


code_verifier
string
 
A code_challenge was used to request the authorization code. This must be the code_verifier it was derived from.


redirect_uri
string
 
Must match the redirect_uri used to request the authorization code.


client_id
string
 
Must match the client_id used to request the authorization code.


Responses
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "token_type": "Bearer",
  • "access_token": "lio_pLwAbN7lFPklzY2m8lTOI1DGApS84u57",
  • "expires_in": 31536000
}
Revoke access token 
Revokes the access token sent as Bearer for this request.


Authorizations:
OAuth2
Responses
Test multiple OAuth tokens 
For up to 1000 OAuth tokens,
returns their associated user ID and scopes,
or null if the token is invalid.
The method is POST so a longer list of tokens can be sent in the request body.


Request Body schema: text/plain
required
OAuth tokens separated by commas. Up to 1000.


string
 
Responses
 Request samples 
Content type
text/plain
lip_AvsS88TozFeSMEaoLN5c,lip_badToken
 Response samples 
Content type
application/json
{
  • "lip_AvsS88TozFeSnZa1LN5c": {
    },
  • "lip_badToken": null
}