Comments and suggestions

How people who use a KDB server send comments, suggestions and problem reports, and how its admins read them.

Category: Web console
Keywords: feedback, comment, comments, suggestion, suggestions, problem report, bug report, send feedback, contact, POST /api/feedback, GET /api/feedback, POST /api/feedback/<id>, _feedback
See also: Web console, Logins, tokens and roles over HTTP, Users and roles, About KDB

Anyone who may use a KDB server can send its admins a comment, a suggestion or a problem report. The message is saved on that server, in the table _feedback, so it survives restarts and is part of every backup.

Who	What they can do	Where
anyone who can open the console (logged in, or with the token)	send a message	Help > Comments and suggestions
a server admin (the user's own `ROLE admin`, or the token)	read every message and mark it read or done	the same page, under Received
a program	the same, over HTTP	POST /api/feedback, GET /api/feedback, POST /api/feedback/<id>

Messages go to the admins of this server, not to the makers of KDB.
A message can be up to 4,000 characters. A name or email for an answer is optional.
One user can send at most 10 messages in 10 minutes (without a user name: one client address), so a script cannot fill the table.
Messages are kept in the hidden _system database when the server has a data folder, or in the served database when kdb serve runs on one folder.

The page in the console

Open Help > Comments and suggestions.

Pick what it is: Comment, Suggestion or Problem.
Write the message. Ctrl+Enter sends it too.
Optionally add a name or email, if you would like an answer.
Press Send. The page says which number the message was saved as.

A server admin also sees Received: every message, newest first, with its kind, time, sender and state. New, Read, Done and All filter the list; Mark read, Mark done and Mark new change a message's state.

POST /api/feedback

Syntax:

POST /api/feedback
Content-Type: application/json

{"kind": "comment | suggestion | problem", "message": "...", "contact": "...", "page": "..."}

Saves one message. Needs a login or the token, like every /api route; no role is needed.

Field	Needed	Rule
`kind`	no (default `comment`)	`comment`, `suggestion` or `problem`
`message`	yes	1 to 4,000 characters, no control characters except line breaks and tabs
`contact`	no	up to 200 characters
`page`	no	where it was sent from, up to 200 characters

Returns: {"id": 12, "saved": true}.
Errors: 400 with a message that says which field is wrong; 401 without a login; 429 after 10 messages in 10 minutes from one user (or one address, for the token).
The server adds the time, the user name and the client address itself.

curl -s -X POST "$KDB_URL/api/feedback" -H "Authorization: Bearer $KDB_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data-binary '{"kind":"suggestion","message":"Please add a CSV export to dashboards.","contact":"ram@example.com"}'

{"id":1,"saved":true}

GET /api/feedback

Syntax:

GET /api/feedback[?status=new|read|done][&limit=N]

Reads the messages, newest first, as columns and rows like /exec. Needs a server admin: the user's own ROLE admin or the token, because messages can hold names and email addresses.

Parameter	Meaning	Default
`status`	only messages in this state: `new`, `read` or `done`	all
`limit`	at most this many rows; more than 1,000 counts as 1,000	`100`

Column	Type	Meaning
`id`	`LONG`	the message number
`time`	`TIMESTAMP`	when it was sent (UTC)
`kind`	`STRING`	`comment`, `suggestion` or `problem`
`status`	`STRING`	`new`, `read` or `done`
`message`	`STRING`	the text
`contact`	`STRING`	the name or email given, or `NULL`
`page`	`STRING`	where it was sent from
`user`	`STRING`	the logged-in user, or `NULL` for the token
`client`	`STRING`	the client address

Returns: {"columns": [...], "dataset": [[...], ...], "count": N}. A server where nobody has sent anything yet answers with no rows.
Errors: 400 for an unknown status; 401 without a login; 403 for a user who is not a server admin.

POST /api/feedback/<id>

Syntax:

POST /api/feedback/<id>
Content-Type: application/json

{"status": "new | read | done"}

Changes the state of one message. status can also be a query or form field (?status=done). Needs a server admin, like reading.

Returns: {"id": 12, "status": "done"}.
Errors: 400 when <id> is not a whole number above 0, or status is not new, read or done; 403 for a user who is not a server admin; 404 there is no message #<id>.

HTTP: Send a suggestion, read the new ones, mark it done

POST /api/feedback
Content-Type: application/json

{"kind":"suggestion","message":"Please add a CSV export to dashboards.","contact":"ram@example.com","page":"console"}
###
GET /api/feedback?status=new
###
POST /api/feedback/{{id}}
Content-Type: application/json

{"status":"done"}

Response:

POST /api/feedback

HTTP 200 (application/json)

{"id": 1, "saved": true}

GET /api/feedback?status=new

HTTP 200 (application/json)

{
  "columns": [
    {"name": "id", "type": "LONG"},
    {"name": "time", "type": "TIMESTAMP"},
    {"name": "kind", "type": "STRING"},
    {"name": "status", "type": "STRING"},
    {"name": "message", "type": "STRING"},
    {"name": "contact", "type": "STRING"},
    {"name": "page", "type": "STRING"},
    {"name": "user", "type": "STRING"},
    {"name": "client", "type": "STRING"}
  ],
  "dataset": [
    [
      1,
      "2026-10-22T05:43:41.888Z",
      "suggestion",
      "new",
      "Please add a CSV export to dashboards.",
      "ram@example.com",
      "console",
      null,
      "127.0.0.1 (http)"
    ]
  ],
  "count": 1
}

POST /api/feedback/{{id}}

HTTP 200 (application/json)

{"id": 1, "status": "done"}

HTTP: A message number that does not exist

POST /api/feedback/999
Content-Type: application/json

{"status":"read"}

Response:

HTTP 404 (application/json)

{"error": "there is no message #999"}