---
title: "Service: /members/{member}/visiblegroups [GET]"
source: https://dev.pageseeder.com/api/services/list-visible-groups-GET.html
description: "Returns a list of groups visible to a specified member. Visible groups are those the member doesn't belong to with public visibility or visibility restricted to a group the member belongs to."
last_updated: 2026-09-02T11:36:17+10:00
document_type: api_endpoint
operation_id: group-GET
resource_id: group
path_template: /members/{member}/visiblegroups
http_method: GET
api_category: group
implementation_version: 6.2004
api_since: 5.2301
deprecated_since: null
obsolete_since: null
api_support: supported
cache_control: null
generated_at: 2026-09-02
tokens: ~777
---

# /members/\{member\}/visiblegroups \[GET\]

## Description

Returns the list of [groups](../../reference/glossary/group.md) visible to the specified member.

A visible group is one that the member does not belong to and has the Group Setting **Group Visible to:** equal to `"public"` or to the name of a group the member belongs to.

## Parameters

No parameters required.

## Permission

The member or an administrator can invoke this service.

## Response

When there are groups visible to the user, the returned response lists the groups (in no particular order) using the [extended representation of each group](../elements/element_group.md):

```xml
<groups>
  <group id="[id]" name="[name]" description="[description]" ... />
  ...
</groups>
```

When there aren’t any visible groups, the returned XML is:

```xml
<groups/>
```

## XML example

```xml
<groups>
  <group id="123"
         name="acme-forum"
         description="Public forum of ACME Group"
         owner="ACME"
         access="member"
         common="false" 
         visibility="public"
         template="acme"
         editurls="false"
         commenting="contributor"
         moderation="email"
         registration="moderated"
         defaultrole="reviewer"
         defaultnotify="immediate"
         indexversion="9203">
    <message>You have been added to ACME's public forum.</message>
  </group>

  <group id="777"
         name="test-public"
         description="For testing"
         owner="PageSeeder"
         access="member"
         common="false"
         visibility="public"
         template="test"
         editurls="false"
         commenting="reviewer"
         moderation="email"
         registration="moderated"
         defaultrole="reviewer"
         defaultnotify="immediate" 
         indexversion="9203">
    <message>Welcome to the testing group!</message>
  </group>
</groups>
```

## JSON example

```json
{
  "groups": [
    {
      "id": 123,
      "name": "acme-forum",
      "type": "group",
      "description": "Public forum of ACME Group",
      "owner": "ACME",
      "access": "member",
      "common": false,
      "visibility": "public",
      "template": "acme",
      "editurls": false,
      "commenting": "contributor",
      "moderation": "email",
      "registration": "moderated",
      "defaultrole": "reviewer",
      "defaultnotify": "immediate",
      "indexversion": 9203,
      "message": "You have been added to ACME's public forum."
    },
    {
      "id": 777,
      "name": "test-public",
      "type": "group",
      "description": "For testing",
      "owner":"PageSeeder",
      "access":"member",
      "common": false,
      "visibility": "public",
      "template": "test",
      "editurls": false,
      "commenting": "reviewer",
      "moderation": "email",
      "registration": "moderated",
      "defaultrole": "reviewer",
      "defaultnotify": "immediate",
      "indexversion": 9203,
      "message": "Welcome to the testing group!"
    }
  ]
}
```

## Error Handling

| Code | Cause / Description |
| --- | --- |
| 0x102A | The member not found |