buddyboss/list-groups searches and pages the group directory, returning each group’s ID, name, privacy status, member count and parent.
Hidden groups are included by default, and the response reports how many.
At a glance
| Ability | buddyboss/list-groups |
| Toolset | BuddyBoss — toolset/buddyboss |
| Group | BuddyBoss › Groups |
| Requires | AcrossAI Pro, plus BuddyBoss Platform active on the site |
| Capability | manage_options |
| Safety | Read-only — changes nothing |
| Repeatable | Idempotent — running it twice leaves the same result |
| Ships in | AcrossAI Pro 0.9.16 and later |
How it works
Hidden means hidden from members rather than from administrators. A listing that excluded them would describe a community that does not exist, and would make it possible to delete a parent group without knowing a hidden child was under it.
So they are in, and counted separately so their presence is visible rather than merely permitted.
The parent field matters more on BuddyBoss than it first appears. Groups nest, and BuddyBoss does not delete children with a parent — it re-parents them — so a group that looks small can be holding a hierarchy together.
The ordering default is alphabetical rather than by activity, for the same reason as the member directory: activity-based scopes can return nothing on a quiet community even when groups exist, which reads as an empty community.
Filter by status, by group_type, or by user_id to get the groups one member belongs to.
Input
| Name | Type | Required | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
search | string | No | Search on the group name. |
status | string | No | public, private or hidden. |
group_type | string | No | Restrict to one group type. |
user_id | integer | No | Only groups this member belongs to. |
per_page | integer | No | Rows per page. |
page | integer | No | Page number. |
What comes back
| Name | Type | What it is |
|---|---|---|
groups | array | Each group with its ID, name, status, member count and parent. |
hidden_included | integer | How many hidden groups are in the result. |
total | integer | How many matched. |
success | boolean | Whether the call completed. |
message | string | A one-line summary of what happened, suitable for showing a human. |
error_code | string | Present only on failure — a stable machine-readable reason, such as a missing field, a wrong field type or an unmet confirmation. |
Example
Ask your assistant:
What groups does this community have?
It resolves to one call:
{
"ability": "buddyboss/list-groups",
"parameters": {}
}Worth knowing
- Hidden groups are included and counted.
- The parent field reveals hierarchies that deletion behaves oddly around.
- Alphabetical by default, because activity scopes can return nothing.
- Read-only.
Related abilities
- BuddyBoss Get Group — one group with its children
- BuddyBoss List Group Members — who is in one
- BuddyBoss Manage Group — create or change one
Get the plugins:
AcrossAI Abilities Manager · AcrossAI MCP Manager
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