[role="xpack"]
[[watcher-api-stop]]
=== Stop API
++++
<titleabbrev>Stop</titleabbrev>
++++

The `stop` API stops the {watcher} service if the service is running.

[float]
==== Request

`POST _watcher/_stop`

[float]
==== Authorization

You must have `manage_watcher` cluster privileges to use this API. For more
information, see {xpack-ref}/security-privileges.html[Security Privileges].

[float]
==== Examples

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
POST _watcher/_stop
--------------------------------------------------
// CONSOLE

{watcher} returns the following response if the request is successful:

[source,js]
--------------------------------------------------
{
   "acknowledged": true
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TESTRESPONSE