API Reference

LicenseDock provides a REST API for license management, update checks, and secure downloads. Use it to integrate license activation into your software.

Base URL

https://yoursite.com/api/index.php/v1/licensedock/

Authentication

License-key based. Pass license_key in the request body (or query string for GET endpoints). Joomla token auth is not used – the routes are public and authenticated by the license key itself.

For compatibility with Joomla's update system, the dlid parameter is accepted as an alias for license_key on every endpoint.

Response Format

Success

{
  "data": {
    "key": "value"
  }
}

HTTP 200. Always JSON, Content-Type: application/json.

Error

{
  "error": {
    "code": "ERROR_CODE",
    "message": "Human-readable description"
  }
}

The HTTP status reflects the error class (see the table below).

Error Codes

Code	HTTP	When
INVALID_REQUEST	400	Missing or malformed parameters
LICENSE_NOT_FOUND	403	The supplied key doesn't exist
LICENSE_INACTIVE	403	License exists but its status isn't active
LICENSE_EXPIRED	403	License expires_at is in the past
ACTIVATION_LIMIT_REACHED	403	License has no free activation slots
ACTIVATION_NOT_FOUND	404	No activation matches the supplied identifier
PRODUCT_MISMATCH	403	License doesn't match the requested product
DOWNLOAD_NOT_FOUND	404	Product has no published download
FILE_NOT_FOUND	404	Download record exists but the file is missing on disk
RATE_LIMITED	429	Too many requests (60/minute per IP)
INTERNAL_ERROR	500	Unhandled server exception – check Joomla error log

The validate endpoint is special: it never returns LICENSE_INACTIVE or LICENSE_EXPIRED errors. It always returns 200 with valid: false instead, so a caller can read the status without exception handling.

Rate Limiting

All endpoints are rate-limited to 60 requests per 60 seconds per IP. When exceeded, the response is 429 RATE_LIMITED.

Identifier Normalisation

Endpoints that take an identifier parameter normalise it based on the plan's activation type:

Type	Input	Stored as
domain	https://www.Example.com/path	example.com
seat	User@Example.com	user@example.com
device	MacBook-Pro-ABC123	unchanged
instance	prod-api-01	unchanged

Conventions

• Dates are ISO 8601 in UTC: 2026-03-20T03:21:26Z
• Absent values are null, not empty strings
• JSON is encoded with JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES
• License keys are case-sensitive

Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Purpose
POST	/licenses/activate	Register an activation
POST	/licenses/deactivate	Remove an activation
POST	/licenses/validate	Check license status
GET	/updates/:product_id	Check for a newer version
GET	/downloads/:product_id	Download the latest published file