Create a collection

How do you create collections in Tallyfy Answers?

Before adding objects to Tallyfy Answers, you must first create a collection.

Each collection requires a unique name, and Tallyfy Answers automatically detects the data types of your objects as you index them.

API endpoint

POST /v1/collections

Request body

The request body should contain a JSON object with the following collection properties:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	Yes	Unique name for the collection (can include letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores)
description	string	No	Optional description explaining the collection’s purpose

Example request body:

{
  "name": "products",
  "description": "Collection of product information including names, descriptions, and pricing"
}

Response

A successful collection creation request returns a 201 Created[^1] status code and a JSON response containing:

{
  "name": "products",
  "description": "Collection of product information including names, descriptions, and pricing",
  "created_at": "2023-08-15T14:32:21Z"
}

Error scenarios

Status	Description
400	Invalid request format or collection name
409	Collection name already exists

Example request

curl -X POST https://go.tallyfy.com/api/collections \
  -H "X-Answers-API-Key: <your_api_key>" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "products",
    "description": "Collection of product information"
  }'

What data types does Tallyfy Answers support?

Tallyfy Answers automatically detects these data types when you index objects:

Data Type	Example	Description
string	”Wireless Headphones”	Text values that can be searched and filtered
list of strings	[“electronics”, “audio”]	Arrays of text values for multi-value fields

What are collection naming best practices?

• Use lowercase letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores
• Choose descriptive names that reflect the content (e.g., “products”, “users”, “articles”)
• Avoid spaces and special characters
• Keep collection names concise but meaningful
• Use consistent naming conventions across all collections

Related articles

Answers > Collections

Collections in Tallyfy Answers are organizational structures that group similar objects together like database tables and provide features for searching filtering and managing data with automatic schema detection and complete CRUD operations.

Collections > Update a collection

The PATCH endpoint allows modifying existing collection properties like descriptions in Tallyfy Answers while maintaining limitations such as unchangeable collection names and automatic schema detection.

Collections > Get a collection

The Tallyfy Answers API provides a GET endpoint to retrieve detailed information about specific collections including metadata schema information and object counts using the collection’s unique name.

Objects > Index a single object

The Tallyfy Answers API endpoint enables adding single objects to collections in real-time through POST requests with JSON data ideal for individual record creation and testing while bulk operations should use the import endpoint for better performance.