Using the Evolution API in a PHP AJAX Endpoint That Returns JSON

One practical AJAX pattern in older Evolution projects is to place a lightweight PHP endpoint in the web root, bootstrap the API, and return JSON for a specific UI component. This works well when the frontend needs structured data rather than a full HTML fragment.

Typical bootstrap flow

define('MODX_API_MODE', true);
include_once dirname(__FILE__) . '/index.php';
$modx->db->connect();
if (empty($modx->config)) {
    $modx->getSettings();
}
header('Content-Type: application/json');

Important detail

If the endpoint depends on the current document context, do not assume $modx->documentIdentifier will always be populated the same way it is during a normal page render. Pass the required document or gallery ID explicitly when the AJAX request is made.

That keeps the endpoint deterministic and avoids subtle bugs where a snippet works inside a page call but fails when executed from a direct AJAX script.