create – Create Meeting

The create endpoint provisions a new meeting on the BigBlueButton server. If a meeting with the same meetingID already exists, the server returns the existing meeting data instead of creating a duplicate (idempotent behaviour).

Endpoint

POST GET

https://api-guide.bbbserver.com/bigbluebutton/api/create?<parameters>&checksum=replace-with-checksum

Required Parameters

Optional Parameters

General

Layout & Appearance

Permissions & Lock Settings

Webcam

Disabling Features

Available values for disabledFeatures:

Meeting Lifecycle

Presentation

Recording

Whiteboard

Plugins

Breakout Rooms

These parameters are relevant when creating a meeting as a breakout room:

Format for groups:

[
  {"id": "1", "name": "Group A", "roster": ["userId1", "userId2"]},
  {"id": "2", "name": "Group B", "roster": ["userId3"]},
  {"id": "3", "roster": []}
]

Client Settings Override

Example as XML in the POST body:

<modules>
  <module name="clientSettingsOverride">
    <![CDATA[
    {
      "public": {
        "app": {
          "appName": "My Conference",
                    "helpLink": "https://api-guide.bbbserver.com/help"
        }
      }
    }
    ]]>
  </module>
</modules>

Bridges

Meta Parameters

Arbitrary metadata can be passed as meta_<key>=<value>. Some meta parameters have special meanings:

Example Request

GET https://api-guide.bbbserver.com/bigbluebutton/api/create?name=Demo&meetingID=replace-with-meeting-id&attendeePW=replace-with-password&moderatorPW=replace-with-password&checksum=replace-with-checksum

Example Response

<response>
  <returncode>SUCCESS</returncode>
        <meetingID>replace-with-meeting-id</meetingID>
    <internalMeetingID>replace-with-internal-meeting-id</internalMeetingID>
  <parentMeetingID>bbb-none</parentMeetingID>
        <attendeePW>replace-with-password</attendeePW>
        <moderatorPW>replace-with-password</moderatorPW>
  <createTime>1715261728123</createTime>
  <voiceBridge>70066</voiceBridge>
  <dialNumber>613-555-1234</dialNumber>
  <createDate>Thu May 09 13:35:28 UTC 2024</createDate>
  <hasUserJoined>false</hasUserJoined>
  <duration>0</duration>
  <hasBeenForciblyEnded>false</hasBeenForciblyEnded>
</response>

If a meeting with the same ID already exists, the response includes a duplicate warning:

<response>
  <returncode>SUCCESS</returncode>
    <meetingID>replace-with-meeting-id</meetingID>
  <!-- ... same fields ... -->
  <messageKey>duplicateWarning</messageKey>
  <message>This conference was already in existence...</message>
</response>

Uploading Presentations via POST Body

Presentations can be submitted as an XML body with the POST request:

<modules>
  <module name="presentation">
        <document url="https://api-guide.bbbserver.com/files/slides.pdf" filename="slides.pdf"
              downloadable="true" removable="false" current="true"/>
        <document url="https://api-guide.bbbserver.com/files/extras.pdf" filename="extras.pdf"/>
    <document name="inline.pdf">
      JVBERi0xLjQK... (Base64-encoded content)
    </document>
  </module>
</modules>

Attributes per <document> element:

bbbserver.de Notes

Additional Parameter

Capacity Reservation

When creating a meeting, bbbserver.de reserves hardware capacity:

• The specified number of participants is guaranteed and reserved on a server for the specified duration.
• The reserved capacity is deducted from your booked quota of simultaneous connections.
• If not specified, defaults apply: 5 participants and 60 minutes (configurable in the admin panel under "Customer Settings → IntegrationAPI").
• After the duration expires, the meeting continues to run, but capacity is no longer reserved. bbbserver.de may end the meeting automatically if a new meeting requires the capacity.
• The duration parameter does not terminate meetings. Unlike standard BBB, you must send an end API call to end a meeting after a certain time.