# Create a plant

> Adds a plant to the workspace, recorded as created by the key's owner, and starts it in initial_stage.

Source: https://docs.xplantpro.com/docs/api/plants/create-plant

`POST https://app.xplantpro.com/api/v1/plants`

- Required scope: `write:plants`
- Credentials: workspace API key (`xpk_`)
- Idempotency-Key: honoured (24 hours)

Give it your own identifier in `external_id` to find it again with `GET /api/v1/plants?externalId=`. Fill in the lab's own fields with `custom_fields`: each value is checked against its field, and the whole request is refused if one does not fit.

Send an `Idempotency-Key` header to make retries safe: a repeat with the same key within 24 hours returns the first response instead of writing twice. See [Idempotency](https://docs.xplantpro.com/docs/idempotency.md).

## Headers

| Name | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `Idempotency-Key` | string | No | Any unique string you choose per logical write. A retry carrying the same key within 24 hours returns the first result instead of writing again. Scoped to your API key and this operation. 8–255 characters. Must match `^[A-Za-z0-9._:~-]+$`. |

## Request body

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `species` | string | Yes | The plant's species, for example `Alocasia zebrina`. 1–200 characters. |
| `common_name` | string \| null | No | The name the lab calls the plant. Without one, the plant is shown by its species. Up to 200 characters. |
| `genus` | string \| null | No | Up to 100 characters. |
| `family` | string \| null | No | Up to 100 characters. |
| `cultivar` | string \| null | No | Up to 200 characters. |
| `source` | string \| null | No | Where the plant came from — a supplier, a nursery or another collection. Up to 200 characters. |
| `notes` | string \| null | No | Up to 5000 characters. |
| `status` | `"active"` \| `"dormant"` \| `"harvested"` \| `"contaminated"` \| `"failed"` \| `"in_culture"` \| `"ready_for_transfer"` \| `"quarantined"` \| `"archived"` | No | Where the plant stands in the lab. New plants default to `active`. |
| `initial_stage` | `"Mother Block"` \| `"Acclimation"` \| `"Production"` \| `"Cold Storage"` \| `"Quarantine"` \| `"Propagation"` \| `"Hardening Off"` \| `"Greenhouse"` \| `"Field"` \| `"Discarded"` | No | The stage the plant starts in. Defaults to `Mother Block`. |
| `external_id` | string \| null | No | Your own identifier for the plant, such as a line or accession code from your own records. It must be unique in the workspace, ignoring case, and it is how `GET /api/v1/plants?externalId=` finds the plant again. Send `null` to clear it. 1–100 characters. |
| `custom_fields` | object | No | Values for the lab's own fields, keyed by each field's key as set up in the lab's settings. Each value must fit its field: text, a number, `true` or `false`, a date, or one of a pick-list's options (a date is stored as `YYYY-MM-DD`). A key the lab has not set up is refused, and the values may total at most 10,000 bytes. Send `null` as a value to leave a field empty. |

## Example

**curl**

```bash
curl -X POST https://app.xplantpro.com/api/v1/plants \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $XPLANT_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: import-2026-09-25-row-0412" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "species": "Alocasia zebrina",
    "common_name": "Zebra Alocasia",
    "genus": "Alocasia",
    "source": "Stock line from the lab'\''s own collection",
    "initial_stage": "Mother Block",
    "external_id": "LINE-0412",
    "custom_fields": {
      "mother_stock_tray": "B4",
      "weeks_in_culture": 12
    }
  }'
```

**JavaScript**

```js
import { XPlantClient } from "@shmaplex/xplant-sdk";

const client = new XPlantClient({ apiKey: process.env.XPLANT_API_KEY });

const { plant, warning } = await client.plants.create(
  {
    species: "Alocasia zebrina",
    common_name: "Zebra Alocasia",
    genus: "Alocasia",
    source: "Stock line from the lab's own collection",
    initial_stage: "Mother Block",
    external_id: "LINE-0412",
    custom_fields: { mother_stock_tray: "B4", weeks_in_culture: 12 },
  },
  { idempotencyKey: "import-2026-09-25-row-0412" },
);
if (warning) console.warn(warning); // the first stage couldn't be recorded
```

**Python**

```python
import os
import requests

resp = requests.post(
    "https://app.xplantpro.com/api/v1/plants",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['XPLANT_API_KEY']}",
        "Idempotency-Key": "import-2026-09-25-row-0412",
    },
    json={
        "species": "Alocasia zebrina",
        "common_name": "Zebra Alocasia",
        "genus": "Alocasia",
        "source": "Stock line from the lab's own collection",
        "initial_stage": "Mother Block",
        "external_id": "LINE-0412",
        "custom_fields": {"mother_stock_tray": "B4", "weeks_in_culture": 12},
    },
    timeout=10,
)
body = resp.json()
if not body["ok"]:
    raise RuntimeError(f"{resp.status_code} {body['code']}: {body['error']}")
plant = body["data"]
```

## Response

`201` with `{ "ok": true, "data": … }`. `data` holds the result.

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `id` | string (uuid) | Yes | — |
| `name` | string | Yes | What the lab calls the plant: its common name, or its species when it has none. |
| `species` | string | Yes | — |
| `status` | string | Yes | Where the plant stands in the lab, usually one of `active`, `dormant`, `harvested`, `contaminated`, `failed`, `in_culture`, `ready_for_transfer`, `quarantined`, `archived`. |
| `workspace_id` | string \| null | Yes | The workspace the plant belongs to. |
| `created_at` | string \| null | Yes | ISO 8601 timestamp. |
| `external_id` | string \| null | Yes | Your own identifier for the plant, exactly as it was given, or null when it has none. |
| `custom_fields` | object | Yes | The lab's own fields for this record, keyed by each field's key as set up in the lab's settings. Values are text, numbers, `true` or `false`, or dates written as `YYYY-MM-DD`; a field left blank is absent or `null`. Empty when the lab has set up no fields. |

```json title="Response"
{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "id": "8c3f2d1a-6b4e-4f7a-9d2c-1e5b7a9c3f60",
    "name": "Zebra Alocasia",
    "species": "Alocasia zebrina",
    "status": "active",
    "workspace_id": "3a9e7c21-5d4b-4c8f-a1e6-9b2d0f4c7e13",
    "created_at": "2026-09-25T09:30:00.000Z",
    "external_id": "LINE-0412",
    "custom_fields": {
      "mother_stock_tray": "B4",
      "weeks_in_culture": 12
    }
  }
}
```

The envelope can also carry `meta`:

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `warning` | string | Yes | Sent only when the plant was saved but its first stage could not be set. Record one with `POST /api/v1/stages`. |

| Response header | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `Idempotent-Replay` | `true` when this response is a replay of an earlier request with the same `Idempotency-Key`. |
| `X-Request-Id` | Identifies this request. Include it when you contact support. |

## Errors

| Status | Code | When |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `400` | `VALIDATION_ERROR` | The request body is not valid JSON. |
| `401` | `UNAUTHORIZED` | The key is missing, malformed or revoked, or its owner is no longer a member of the workspace. |
| `402` | `PAID_PLAN_REQUIRED` | The workspace's plan does not include the API. The full API is included with xPlant+ Teams and Enterprise; on Hobby and Pro Lab, keys can connect devices only. |
| `402` | `PLAN_LIMIT_REACHED` | The workspace holds as many plants as its plan includes, or the key's owner is on the Free allowance and has used it. `error` says which limit. |
| `403` | `FORBIDDEN` | The key lacks a scope this operation requires, or its owner's current role in the workspace cannot use it — a key never does more than its owner can in xPlant. `error` names the scope, and for a role, the role it needs. |
| `403` | `DEVICE_TOKEN_NOT_ACCEPTED` | A device token was sent; this operation needs a workspace API key. |
| `409` | `IDEMPOTENCY_IN_FLIGHT` | A request with this `Idempotency-Key` is still being processed; retry after `Retry-After` seconds. |
| `409` | `DUPLICATE_ENTRY` | Another plant in the workspace already uses this `external_id`, including one that has been deleted. |
| `422` | `VALIDATION_ERROR` | The `Idempotency-Key` header is malformed. |
| `422` | `VALIDATION_ERROR` | A field failed validation. `error` names the first one, for example `title: title is required`. |
| `422` | `VALIDATION_ERROR` | `custom_fields` names a field the lab has not set up, gives a field a value that does not fit it, or totals more than 10,000 bytes. `error` names the field. |
| `429` | `RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED` | Too many requests for this key, device token or workspace. Wait `Retry-After` seconds. |
| `500` | `PLANT_CREATE_FAILED` | The plant could not be saved. Retry with the same `Idempotency-Key`. |

Branch on `code`, never on the `error` text. See [Errors](https://docs.xplantpro.com/docs/errors.md).