# Taxonomies

A taxonomy contains a list of terms that you can associate with content items, making it easier to find those items because of their common properties. For example, a taxonomy for a sporting goods site could be used to classify sportswear into running clothes, running shoes, and accessories.

## Delete a taxonomy

 - [DELETE /api/v2/cm/branches/{branchId}/taxonomies/{taxonomyId}](https://api-docs.sitecore.com/sai/xm-cloud-content/content-management-api/taxonomies/deletetaxonomy.md): Deletes a taxonomy with a specific ID. You cannot delete a taxonomy if it is being used by a content type.

## Retrieve a taxonomy

 - [GET /api/v2/cm/branches/{branchId}/taxonomies/{taxonomyId}](https://api-docs.sitecore.com/sai/xm-cloud-content/content-management-api/taxonomies/taxonomybyid.md): Retrieves a taxonomy with a specific ID for example color.

## Create a new version of a taxonomy

 - [POST /api/v2/cm/branches/{branchId}/taxonomies/{taxonomyId}](https://api-docs.sitecore.com/sai/xm-cloud-content/content-management-api/taxonomies/addnewversiontaxonomy.md): Creates a copy of a taxonomy with the same ID as the original, but the version number is updated (for example, from 1 to 2). You can work on the versions independently.

## Update a taxonomy

 - [PUT /api/v2/cm/branches/{branchId}/taxonomies/{taxonomyId}](https://api-docs.sitecore.com/sai/xm-cloud-content/content-management-api/taxonomies/updatetaxonomy.md): Updates a taxonomy. You can, for example, add new taxonomy terms, delete existing terms, or change properties associated with the taxonomy or its terms.

## Retrieve the versions and statuses of a taxonomy

 - [GET /api/v2/cm/branches/{branchId}/taxonomies/{taxonomyId}/versions](https://api-docs.sitecore.com/sai/xm-cloud-content/content-management-api/taxonomies/taxonomyversionsstatusesbyid.md): Lists the versions and statuses of a specific taxonomy, in a specific branch.

## Retrieve a list of taxonomies

 - [GET /api/v2/cm/branches/{branchId}/taxonomies](https://api-docs.sitecore.com/sai/xm-cloud-content/content-management-api/taxonomies/gettaxonomies.md): Lists all defined taxonomies. If you don't specify  any filtering parameters, you will retrieve all available taxonomies.

## Create a taxonomy

 - [POST /api/v2/cm/branches/{branchId}/taxonomies](https://api-docs.sitecore.com/sai/xm-cloud-content/content-management-api/taxonomies/addtaxonomy.md): Creates a taxonomy. A taxonomy contains a list of terms that you can associate with content items, making it easier to find those items because of their common properties. For example, a taxonomy for a sporting goods  site can classify items into running clothes, running shoes, and accessories. As part of the taxonomy creation process, you create the associated taxonomy terms. You can add additional terms later if required.

## Copy a taxonomy

 - [POST /api/v2/cm/branches/{branchId}/taxonomies/{taxonomyId}/copy](https://api-docs.sitecore.com/sai/xm-cloud-content/content-management-api/taxonomies/copytaxonomy.md): Creates a copy of a taxonomy with the same ID as the original, but the version number is updated (for example, from 1 to 2). You can work on the versions independently.