Archetypes

An archetype is the exact device, iOS, and Safari combination used to create a session or persistent profile. Do not hard-code a copied catalog: use this endpoint to populate selectors and validate configuration. The response is generated from the same canonical registry used by the server, desktop app, dashboard, and OpenAPI code generator.

List available archetypes

GET /v1/archetypes

No API key is required. Responses are cacheable for five minutes: Cache-Control: public, max-age=300.

curl https://api.driftstack.dev/v1/archetypes

Response (200):

{
  "default_archetype_id": "iphone17_ios18_7_safari26_4",
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "iphone17_ios18_7_safari26_4",
      "display_label": "iPhone 17 / iOS 18.7 / Safari 26.4",
      "device": "iPhone 17",
      "ios_version": "18.7",
      "safari_version": "26.4",
      "canvas_family": "B",
      "status": "launch",
      "is_default": true
    }
  ]
}

Only customer-selectable entries are returned:

• launch — selectable and used when a request omits archetype
• available — selectable, but not the default

Internal fingerprint-reference baselines and other non-selectable entries are never included. default_archetype_id is the value the platform currently chooses when POST /v1/sessions or POST /v1/profiles omits an archetype.

Direct session creation, profile creation, and profile import accept only an id present in the current response. Any other id returns 400 ValidationFailed on the archetype field before a browser, profile row, or driver allocation is attempted.

Generate a create payload from the live catalog

Resolve capabilities to an id at runtime instead of constructing or guessing a slug. This helper can generate the body for either POST /v1/sessions or POST /v1/profiles:

type ArchetypeFilter = {
  device?: string;
  ios_version?: string;
  safari_version?: string;
};

async function archetypeCreatePayload(filter: ArchetypeFilter = {}) {
  const response = await fetch('https://api.driftstack.dev/v1/archetypes');
  if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Catalog request failed: ${response.status}`);

  const catalog = (await response.json()) as {
    default_archetype_id: string;
    data: Array<{
      id: string;
      device: string;
      ios_version: string;
      safari_version: string;
    }>;
  };
  const match = catalog.data.find(
    (entry) =>
      (filter.device === undefined || entry.device === filter.device) &&
      (filter.ios_version === undefined || entry.ios_version === filter.ios_version) &&
      (filter.safari_version === undefined || entry.safari_version === filter.safari_version),
  );

  if (match === undefined) {
    throw new Error('No currently selectable archetype matches those capabilities.');
  }
  return { archetype: match.id };
}

const sessionBody = await archetypeCreatePayload({
  device: 'iPhone 17',
  ios_version: '18.7',
});

If no capability filter is needed, omit archetype and let the server use default_archetype_id. Existing stored profiles keep their pinned archetype even if it later leaves the selectable catalog; compatibility operations on those profiles remain available, but new direct creates and imports must choose from the live response.

The same response schema is published in /openapi.json, so generated clients can expose it without maintaining a separate hand-written model.

SDKs

All official SDKs read the same live catalog:

const catalog = await client.archetypes.list();

catalog = client.archetypes.list()

catalog, err := client.Archetypes.List(ctx)

Use catalog.default_archetype_id (Go: DefaultArchetypeID) when presenting a recommended choice. Do not copy the returned IDs into a separate application constant; refresh the cache after its five-minute response lifetime.