curl -X POST 'https://api.openai.com/v1/moderations' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "input": "...text to classify goes here..."
}'

# POST /moderations (OpenAI API)
Base URL: https://api.openai.com/v1
Auth: Authorization; OpenAI API key; required.
Request formats: application/json.
Last verified: 2026-10-20

> Create moderation

## Critical Gotchas
* The Responses API is the primary interface for new text and tool workflows; Chat Completions remains a separate compatibility API.
* Audio transcription uploads use multipart form data rather than a JSON request body.

## cURL
curl -X POST 'https://api.openai.com/v1/moderations' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "input": "...text to classify goes here..."
}'

## Parameters
| Name | In | Type | Required | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| input | body | string | Yes | Input (or inputs) to classify. Can be a single string, an array of strings, o... |
| model | body | string | No | The content moderation model you would like to use. Learn more in [the modera... |

## Response example
{"id":"string","model":"string"}

---
Need an API key? Get one at https://platform.openai.com/api-keys

POST

POST /moderations — OpenAI API

OpenAI API key (required); https://api.openai.com/v1

OpenAI API

Create moderation

Base URL: https://api.openai.com/v1
Auth: Authorization: Bearer <OPENAI_API_KEY>
Last verified: 2026-10-20 · upstream hash matched

Actions Try in browser→

Agents: curl -H "Accept: text/markdown" this URL
→ 224 tokens · Vary: Accept

Critical gotchas

The Responses API is the primary interface for new text and tool workflows; Chat Completions remains a separate compatibility API.

Audio transcription uploads use multipart form data rather than a JSON request body.

cURL

curl -X POST 'https://api.openai.com/v1/moderations' \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY" \  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \  -d '{  "input": "...text to classify goes here..."}'

Parameters

Name	In	Type	Required	Description
input	body	string	Yes	Input (or inputs) to classify. Can be a single string, an array of strings, or an array of multi-modal input objects similar to other models.
model	body	string	No	The content moderation model you would like to use. Learn more in [the moderation guide](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/moderation), and learn about available models [here](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/moderation).

Response 200 OK

{
  "id": "string",
  "model": "string",
  "results": [
    {
      "flagged": true,
      "categories": {
        "hate": true,
        "hate/threatening": true,
        "harassment": true,
        "harassment/threatening": true,
        "illicit": true,
        "illicit/violent": true,
        "self-harm": true,
        "self-harm/intent": true,
        "self-harm/instructions": true,
        "sexual": true,
        "sexual/minors": true,
        "violence": true,
        "violence/graphic": true
      },
      "category_scores": {
        "hate": 0,
        "hate/threatening": 0,
        "harassment": 0,
        "harassment/threatening": 0,
        "illicit": 0,
        "illicit/violent": 0,
        "self-harm": 0,
        "self-harm/intent": 0,
        "self-harm/instructions": 0,
        "sexual": 0,
        "sexual/minors": 0,
        "violence": 0,
        "violence/graphic": 0
      },
      "category_applied_input_types": {
        "hate": [
          "text"
        ],
        "hate/threatening": [
          "text"
        ],
        "harassment": [
          "text"
        ],
        "harassment/threatening": [
          "text"
        ],
        "illicit": [
          "text"
        ],
        "illicit/violent": [
          "text"
        ],
        "self-harm": [
          "text"
        ],
        "self-harm/intent": [
          "text"
        ],
        "self-harm/instructions": [
          "text"
        ],
        "sexual": [
          "text"
        ],
        "sexual/minors": [
          "text"
        ],
        "violence": [
          "text"
        ],
        "violence/graphic": [
          "text"
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

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