> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.awardforce.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Retrieve a category > Retrieves the category identified by the specified slug. The response includes all category fields. Images include a download link. ## OpenAPI ````yaml /api-reference/openapi-v2_3.yaml get /category/{category_slug} openapi: 3.1.0 info: title: Award Force API version: '2.3' description: > The Award Force API enables you to programmatically manage awards, competitions, scholarships, and recognition programs. Use this API to: - Create and manage entries and submissions - Automate judging workflows and assignments - Process entry fees and payments - Generate reports and analytics - Integrate with external systems via webhooks All API requests require authentication using an API key provided in the `X-Api-Key` header. license: name: Creative Force Client Subscription Terms url: https://creativeforce.team/agreement/ servers: - url: https://api.us.cr4ce.com description: US regional endpoint - url: https://api.eu.cr4ce.com description: EU regional endpoint - url: https://api.au.cr4ce.com description: Australasia regional endpoint - url: https://api.ca.cr4ce.com description: Canada regional endpoint - url: https://api.hk.cr4ce.com description: Hong Kong regional endpoint security: - ApiKeyAuth: [] tags: - name: Account description: >- Use this operation to retrieve information about your organization account. The account resource provides metadata about the tenant associated with your API key. Note: Account information is read-only and contains organization-level settings and identifiers. - name: Assignments description: >- Use these operations to manage judging assignments for evaluating entries. Assignments connect judges (or roles) with entries and score sets to facilitate the review process. Assignments can be created individually or in bulk (asynchronous operations). Each assignment tracks completion status, scores, and panel membership. Assignments enable structured evaluation workflows with configurable score sets. - name: Attachments description: >- Use these operations to manage files uploaded to entries through attachment tabs. Attachments are distinct from field-based file uploads and allow for supplementary materials. Each attachment can have its own metadata and custom fields for categorization. Attachments remain associated with their entry throughout the entry lifecycle. - name: Categories description: >- Use these operations to manage competition categories or award divisions. Categories organize entries into logical groups and can be hierarchical with parent-child relationships. Each category can have its own entry form, chapter availability, entry limits, and custom labels. Categories support translated names and descriptions for multi-language programs. - name: Chapters description: >- Use these operations to manage geographic or organizational divisions within your programs. Chapters enable you to run regional competitions, manage local awards, or organize by business units. Entries can be assigned to chapters, and chapters can have their own administrators and configurations. Chapters support translated names and custom images for branding. - name: Contributors description: >- Use these operations to manage additional people associated with entries beyond the primary entrant. Contributors represent team members, collaborators, or co-authors on a submission. Each contributor can have their own custom fields and data collection requirements. Contributors are organized by tabs and can be managed independently from the main entry. - name: Documents description: >- Use these operations to generate and retrieve PDF documents and data exports. Documents can be created based on entry data, user data, or other program information. Document generation is asynchronous - after creating a document, poll the endpoint to check when generation is complete. Generated documents are available for download and can be associated with specific entrants or entries. - name: Entries description: >- Use these operations to manage entries (submissions) to your awards, competitions, or recognition programs. Entries are the core entity that flows through the entire lifecycle from submission to judging to winner selection. Entries can contain custom form fields, file uploads, contributors, and be organized by categories and chapters. Each entry goes through various statuses including draft, submitted, under review, and finalist stages. - name: Entries (realtime) description: >- Use these operations to perform granular updates on entries without replacing the entire resource. These endpoints enable real-time updates to specific entry properties such as: title, category assignment, chapter assignment, individual field values, file uploads, tags, and recusal status. These operations are optimized for interactive programs that need to update entries incrementally. - name: Fields description: >- Use these operations to manage custom form fields used to collect data throughout your programs. Fields can be attached to entries, users, contributors, attachments, and other resources. Supported field types include text, textarea, select, multi-select, date, file upload, table, and more. Fields support conditional logic, validation rules, and different protection levels. Note: Field deletion and updates are managed through the Award Force interface. - name: Files description: >- Use these operations to retrieve information about uploaded files. Files provide metadata and download links for content uploaded throughout the system. Access files using their secure token identifiers. Note: Files are read-only via this endpoint - file uploads are handled through resource-specific upload endpoints. - name: Leaderboard description: >- Use these operations to retrieve ranking results and scores for entries. The leaderboard shows how entries rank based on score sets, with support for filtering by category, chapter, and tags. Results can be filtered to show specific subsets of the competition. Note: The leaderboard is read-only and reflects calculated results from the judging process. - name: Orders description: >- Use these operations to manage payment transactions for entry fees and other charges. Orders represent financial transactions processed through your program. Each order contains line items, tracks payment status, and can operate in test or live mode. Orders are associated with seasons and can be queried for financial reporting. - name: Review tasks description: >- Use these operations to manage individual review and evaluation activities. Review tasks represent specific actions that judges or administrators need to complete during the evaluation process. Tasks track timestamps, decisions, and judge associations. Review tasks integrate with the broader judging workflow and status tracking. - name: Rounds description: >- Use these operations to retrieve round information for your programs. Rounds represent phases within a season, such as entry rounds, judging rounds, or finalist rounds. Each round has specific start and end dates, associated forms, and can be scoped to specific chapters. Note: Rounds are read-only via the API and must be managed through the Award Force interface. - name: Score sets description: >- Use these operations to retrieve score set configurations and evaluation criteria. Score sets define the questions, scales, and calculation methods used to evaluate entries. Score sets can operate in different modes including judging, ranking, and decision-making. Note: Score sets are read-only via the API and must be configured through the Award Force interface. - name: Seasons description: >- Use these operations to retrieve information about seasons (program cycles). A season represents a time-bound program instance, such as "2026 Awards" or "Q1 2026 Scholarship Round". Seasons contain forms, rounds, categories, and chapters. Seasons progress through statuses: draft, active, archived, and destroyed. Note: Seasons are read-only via the API and must be managed through the Award Force interface. - name: Taxes description: >- Use these operations to retrieve tax configurations for financial transactions. Tax settings define how taxes are calculated and applied to orders and payments. Note: Tax configurations are read-only via the API and must be managed through the Award Force interface. - name: Users description: >- Use these operations to manage user accounts in your organization. Users represent people who interact with your programs, including entrants, judges, administrators, and other roles. Users can be assigned roles, have custom profile fields, receive notifications, and authenticate via API tokens. Each user has a unique slug identifier and can participate across multiple seasons. - name: Webhooks description: >- Use these operations to manage webhook subscriptions for real-time event notifications. Webhooks notify your external systems when events occur in Award Force, such as entry submissions, status changes, or payment completions. Available events include: entry created, entry submitted, entry status changed, payment success, user confirmed, and 20+ more. Configure webhooks to send HTTP POST requests to your specified URLs with event payloads. paths: /category/{category_slug}: parameters: - $ref: '#/components/parameters/categorySlug' get: tags: - Categories summary: Retrieve a category description: Retrieves the category identified by the specified slug. operationId: GetCategoryV23 parameters: - $ref: '#/components/parameters/Accept' - $ref: '#/components/parameters/X-Api-Language' responses: '200': description: Category retrieved. headers: ETag: $ref: '#/components/headers/ETag' X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Limit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Remaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Reset' content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Category' application/xml: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Category' '400': $ref: '#/components/responses/BadRequest' '401': $ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized' '403': $ref: '#/components/responses/Forbidden' '404': $ref: '#/components/responses/NotFound' '429': $ref: '#/components/responses/TooManyRequests' '503': $ref: '#/components/responses/ServiceUnavailable' components: parameters: categorySlug: name: category_slug in: path required: true description: Slug of the category. schema: type: string pattern: ^[A-Za-z]{8}$ Accept: name: Accept in: header required: true description: Defines the response type. schema: type: string enum: - application/vnd.Creative Force.v2.3+json - application/vnd.Creative Force.v2.3+xml X-Api-Language: name: x-api-language in: header required: false description: >- Defines the languages included in the response. If non are provided, the account default language is returned. Value `all` overrides any other values present. You can request multiple languages using a comma-separated string of languages. The selected language must be supported by your account or a `400` error is returned. style: simple explode: false schema: type: array items: type: string enum: - all - ar_AR - bg_BG - bn_IN - ca_ES - cs_CZ - cy_GB - da_DK - de_DE - en_GB - en_US - el_GR - es_NN - es_LA - et_EE - fa_NN - fi_FI - fr_FR - fr_CA - he_IL - hi_IN - hr_HR - hu_HU - hy_AM - it_IT - ja_JP - ko_KR - lt_LT - ms_MY - nl_NL - nb_NO - pl_PL - pt_BR - ro_RO - ru_RU - sk_SK - sl_SI - sq_AL - sr_RS - sv_SE - sw_NN - th_TH - tr_TR - uk_UA - vi_VN - zh_CN - zh_HK example: - en_GB - fr_FR headers: ETag: description: Entity tag for the selected representation. schema: type: string X-RateLimit-Limit: description: Maximum number of requests allowed per minute. schema: type: integer example: 60 X-RateLimit-Remaining: description: Number of requests remaining in the current rate limit window. schema: type: integer example: 58 X-RateLimit-Reset: description: Unix timestamp when the rate limit window resets. schema: type: integer example: 1783470988 Retry-After: description: Number of seconds the client should wait before retrying. schema: type: integer example: 60 schemas: Category: title: Category description: >- Competition category that entries are submitted to. Includes the entry form used for submissions, its translated name and description, the season it belongs to, and the rules that govern entries within it. Categories can be nested under a parent category and made available across one or more chapters. allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/CategoryBase' - type: object properties: chapters: type: array description: Chapters the category is available in. items: type: object properties: slug: type: string description: Short URL-safe identifier for the chapter. link: type: string format: uri description: Canonical URL for the chapter resource. name: type: object description: >- Map keyed by locale code (for example, `en_GB` or `fr_FR`). Keys are drawn from the languages enabled on the account. Values are the translated string. additionalProperties: type: string entrant_max_entries: type: - integer - 'null' description: >- Maximum number of entries a single entrant may submit to this category. `null` when the number of entries is not capped. entry_name_label: type: object description: >- Custom label for the entry-name field shown to entrants. Map keyed by locale code (for example, `en_GB` or `fr_FR`). Keys are drawn from the languages enabled on the account. Values are the translated string. additionalProperties: type: string fill_entry_name: type: boolean description: >- Specifies whether entrants are asked to name their entry when submitting to this category. image_heading: type: object description: >- Heading shown above the category images. Map keyed by locale code (for example, `en_GB` or `fr_FR`). Keys are drawn from the languages enabled on the account. Values are the translated string. additionalProperties: type: string images: type: array description: Images attached to the category. items: type: object properties: token: type: string description: Token identifying the image file. link: type: string format: uri description: Canonical URL for the file resource. filename: type: string description: Original filename as uploaded. download: type: string format: uri description: Time-limited download URL for the image. max_image_width: type: integer description: Maximum display width for the category images, in pixels. packing_slip_instructions: type: object description: >- Instructions shown on the packing slip for the category. Map keyed by locale code (for example, `en_GB` or `fr_FR`). Keys are drawn from the languages enabled on the account. Values are the translated string. additionalProperties: type: string pdf_packing_slip: type: boolean description: >- Specifies whether a PDF packing slip is enabled for the category. example: created: '2025-01-15T09:00:00Z' description: en_GB: >- Submit your documentary films exploring real-world subjects and stories. divisions: 1 form: slug: GhIjKlMn link: https://api.au.cr4ce.com/form/GhIjKlMn name: en_GB: Entry form name: en_GB: Documentary parent: slug: KlMnOpQr link: https://api.au.cr4ce.com/category/KlMnOpQr name: en_GB: Film promoted: null season: slug: QrStUvWx link: https://api.au.cr4ce.com/season/QrStUvWx name: en_GB: '2025' shortcode: en_GB: '01' slug: AbCdEfGh status: active updated: '2025-06-20T14:30:00Z' chapters: - slug: MnOpQrSt link: https://api.au.cr4ce.com/chapter/MnOpQrSt name: en_GB: Film entrant_max_entries: null entry_name_label: en_GB: Entry title fill_entry_name: false image_heading: en_GB: Category image images: - token: AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOp link: https://api.au.cr4ce.com/file/AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOp filename: example.png download: >- https://files.au.cr4ce.com/file/AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOp/example.png?Expires=1781657570&Signature=REDACTED&Key-Pair-Id=REDACTED max_image_width: 300 packing_slip_instructions: en_GB: Attach this slip to each physical submission. pdf_packing_slip: false CategoryBase: type: object properties: created: type: string format: date-time description: Date and time when the category was created. description: type: object description: >- Description shown to entrants on the category, as an HTML fragment. Map keyed by locale code (for example, `en_GB` or `fr_FR`). Keys are drawn from the languages enabled on the account. Values are the translated string. additionalProperties: type: string divisions: type: integer minimum: 1 description: >- Number of divisions configured for the category. Always at least `1`. form: type: object description: Entry form attached to the category. properties: slug: type: string description: Short URL-safe identifier for the form. link: type: string format: uri description: Canonical URL for the form resource. name: type: object description: >- Map keyed by locale code (for example, `en_GB` or `fr_FR`). Keys are drawn from the languages enabled on the account. Values are the translated string. additionalProperties: type: string name: type: object description: >- Display name of the category. Map keyed by locale code (for example, `en_GB` or `fr_FR`). Keys are drawn from the languages enabled on the account. Values are the translated string. additionalProperties: type: string parent: type: - object - 'null' description: |- Parent category this category sits under. `null` for a top-level category. properties: slug: type: string description: Short URL-safe identifier for the parent category. link: type: string format: uri description: Canonical URL for the parent category resource. name: type: object description: >- Map keyed by locale code (for example, `en_GB` or `fr_FR`). Keys are drawn from the languages enabled on the account. Values are the translated string. additionalProperties: type: string promoted: type: - integer - 'null' enum: - 0 - 1 - null description: >- Promotion state of the category. `1` when promoted, `0` when not, and `null` when no preference has been set. season: type: object description: Season the category belongs to. properties: slug: type: string description: Short URL-safe identifier for the season. link: type: string format: uri description: Canonical URL for the season resource. name: type: object description: >- Map keyed by locale code (for example, `en_GB` or `fr_FR`). Keys are drawn from the languages enabled on the account. Values are the translated string. additionalProperties: type: string shortcode: type: object description: >- Short code used to reference the category. Map keyed by locale code (for example, `en_GB` or `fr_FR`). Keys are drawn from the languages enabled on the account. Values are the translated string. additionalProperties: type: string slug: type: string description: Short URL-safe identifier for the category. status: type: string enum: - active - inactive description: Current state of the category. updated: type: string format: date-time description: Date and time when the category was last updated. BadRequest: allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/BaseProblem' - type: object properties: status_code: type: integer minimum: 400 maximum: 400 Unauthorized: allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/BaseProblem' - type: object properties: status_code: type: integer minimum: 401 maximum: 401 Forbidden: allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/BaseProblem' - type: object properties: status_code: type: integer minimum: 403 maximum: 403 NotFound: allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/BaseProblem' - type: object properties: status_code: type: integer minimum: 404 maximum: 404 TooManyRequests: allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/BaseProblem' - type: object properties: status_code: type: integer minimum: 429 maximum: 429 BaseProblem: description: Standard error envelope shared by every error response on this API. type: object properties: message: type: string status_code: type: integer minimum: 400 maximum: 599 responses: BadRequest: description: >- Request was rejected before the endpoint could process it. Common causes: invalid `Accept` header, unsupported `x-api-language` code, empty request body on `POST` / `PUT`, invalid JSON in the request body, or an invalid slug format in a path parameter. headers: X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Limit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Remaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Reset' content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/BadRequest' application/xml: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/BadRequest' Unauthorized: description: Missing `x-api-key` header. headers: X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Limit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Remaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Reset' content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Unauthorized' application/xml: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Unauthorized' Forbidden: description: |- Authenticated request denied. Common causes: invalid or unknown API key, suspended account, or `api` feature not enabled for the account. headers: X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Limit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Remaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Reset' content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Forbidden' application/xml: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/Forbidden' NotFound: description: >- Resource identified by the path slug does not exist. Returned when the slug is well-formed but no record matches it. headers: X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Limit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Remaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/X-RateLimit-Reset' content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/NotFound' application/xml: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/NotFound' TooManyRequests: description: Rate limit of 60 requests per minute exceeded. headers: Retry-After: $ref: '#/components/headers/Retry-After' content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/TooManyRequests' application/xml: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/TooManyRequests' ServiceUnavailable: description: Service is temporarily unavailable due to regional maintenance. content: application/json: schema: type: object properties: status: type: string description: Human-readable maintenance status. example: status: Maintenance in progress application/xml: schema: type: object properties: status: type: string description: Human-readable maintenance status. example: status: Maintenance in progress securitySchemes: ApiKeyAuth: type: apiKey in: header name: x-api-key description: |- API key used to authenticate and authorise every request. Include it in the `x-api-key` header. ````