Group Cart Init

Starts a group order. The signed-in customer who calls this becomes the host: they pick the store and order type, and everyone who joins orders into the same session.

Group ordering is off by default. It has to be enabled on both the brand and the store for the chosen order type — read is_group_ordering_enabled on the order type before offering it, or you will get a 1214.

A customer can only have one active group order per brand at a time. If they already have one, this returns 1201; use Group Cart Active to resume it instead.

Keep two things from the response: participant_access_token, which is the host's own participant credential, and share_url (or invite_token), which is what you give to the people you are inviting.

Headers

Application
Type: string
required

White Label Application Key
Api-Version
Type: string
required

Version of the API that the client app expects
Device-UUID
Type: string
required

The identifier of the device and/or client app that sent the request
Content-Type
Type: string
required

Required even on requests with no body
Authorization
Type: string
required

Bearer token of the signed-in customer

Body

required

application/json

order_type
Type: object
required
Properties: 3
venue_id
Type: stringFormat: uuid
required

UUID of the store the group is ordering from. It cannot be changed later.
display_name
Type: string
max length:
100

How the host appears in the roster. Defaults to their account name.
max_amount_per_participant
Type: integer
min:
1

Optional spending cap per guest, in minor units. Applies to guests, not to the host.
modifications_deadline_at
Type: stringFormat: date-time

Optional soft deadline shown to participants. Must be in the future and before the session expires.

Responses

application/json
400

1201 the customer already has an active group order · 1204 the caller is a guest account and cannot host · 1214 group ordering is not enabled for this brand, store or order type
401

Missing or invalid customer token.
404

Unknown venue.
422

Validation failed.
429

Too many group orders started. Five per minute per host.

post/group-cart/init

curl https://api-public-demo.menu.app/api/group-cart/init \
  --request POST \
  --header 'Application: ' \
  --header 'Api-Version: 4.78.0' \
  --header 'Device-UUID: ' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --header 'Authorization: ' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_SECRET_TOKEN' \
  --data '{
  "venue_id": "8d2f2c42-2f1e-4a3c-9a1e-2c4c9f0d7f11",
  "order_type": {
    "id": 6,
    "properties": {
      "pickup_asap": true
    }
  },
  "max_amount_per_participant": 5000,
  "display_name": "Alex"
}'

Show Schema

{
  "status": "OK",
  "code": 200,
  "data": {
    "group_cart": {
      "id": "7c9e6679-f1e4-40b3-a2c5-e8f1a0b9d4c3",
      "status": "open",
      "venue_id": "8d2f2c42-2f1e-4a3c-9a1e-2c4c9f0d7f11",
      "order_type": 6,
      "order_type_properties": {
        "pickup_asap": true
      },
      "max_amount_per_participant": 5000,
      "invite_token": "4f1c0f3a2b7c4a669f1e2c9a1c9a1c9a4f1c0f3a2b7c4a669f1e2c9a1c9a1c9a",
      "share_url": "https://order.example.com/group/join?token=4f1c0f3a2b7c4a669f1e2c9a1c9a1c9a4f1c0f3a2b7c4a669f1e2c9a1c9a1c9a",
      "is_reorder": false,
      "is_edit": false,
      "poll_interval_seconds": 10,
      "modifications_deadline_at": null,
      "expires_at": "2026-10-05T17:00:00.000000Z",
      "locked_at": null,
      "participants": [
        {
          "id": "1f2d3c4b-5a60-4b91-8a0e-b1c5f0a377a2",
          "cart_id": "032878b199f90e13e1bdce036e00f157",
          "customer_account_id": "6735e303-50a1-4887-9b11-915a6919cc66",
          "role": "host",
          "display_name": "Alex",
          "is_anonymous": false,
          "status": "editing",
          "joined_at": "2026-09-20T17:00:00.000000Z",
          "left_at": null
        }
      ]
    },
    "participant": {
      "id": "1f2d3c4b-5a60-4b91-8a0e-b1c5f0a377a2",
      "cart_id": "032878b199f90e13e1bdce036e00f157",
      "customer_account_id": "6735e303-50a1-4887-9b11-915a6919cc66",
      "role": "host",
      "display_name": "Alex",
      "is_anonymous": false,
      "status": "editing",
      "joined_at": "2026-09-20T17:00:00.000000Z",
      "left_at": null
    },
    "participant_access_token": "9b2f4e7c1a3d5f8091b2c3d4e5f60718293a4b5c6d7e8f9012a3b4c5d6e7f801"
  }
}

The group order has been created and the host is its first participant.