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Getting Started

The Photobucket API consists of a set of callable methods. The HTTP method, REST path, parameters, example requests and responses, and error codes are listed for each method, a list of which can be found in the Methods book in the Table of Contents. Methods are also listed for each Example topic. See the Examples book in the Table of Contents.

Note: The Photobucket API exposes identifiers for users, albums, media, and other uniquely identifiable objects. The format of the IDs can change over time, so relying on the current format may cause problems in the future.

Requirements

Before using the API, you must:

1. Go to the Photobucket developer web site at developer.photobucket.com, agree to the terms of service, sign up, and get the API key.
2. Understand the code sample conventions. See Conventions.
3. Understand the REST request and response format. See Request Format and Response Formats.
4. Implement OAuth request signing. See Consumer Authentication for details.
5. Determine which requests you want to send. Occasionally, a request requires data from a previous response.
6. Understand the error codes that may be sent in a response. See Error Codes for a list of error codes.
7. Review the throttle limits and if necessary, request a commercial key.

Important! For more information about the documentation, see Using the Help.

Gotchas!

Request Throttling

Each method is given a predetermined number of uses per time period. After this number of uses is used up for the time period, access may be disallowed to that method until the time period expires. Throttling is evaluated per method, per consumer key.

Deauthorized Access Tokens

At any time, a user can turn off your API's access their user account, or a token can expire. The result is an invalid access token. Responses to requests you send with an invalid access token receive a "401: Authorization required" error. You must have the user reauthenticate before you can send requests.

General Service Outages

At times, there may be services outages and methods may not work. To check for a service outage, use the Ping method and review the error code you receive.

Redirections

Photobucket separates user data into "silos", and you may be required to access a specific host for user-based operations. This affects the way OAuth base strings are generated: all URLs will have the hostname 'api.photobucket.com'. See Consumer Authentication for details. To allow access to the host information, Consumers should follow 30x "Location:" headers (redirects) for all methods (GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE) and understand the "redirection exception" sent in the body of 30x messages.

API Changes

As needed, changes and updates may be made to the API and the documentation. Remember to check back to ensure you are using the latest version. Note that changes will be tracked in some manner on the developer site.

Options

You can use Photobucket branding and logos when you use the API, if you choose. See Using Photobucket Branding & Logos for details and images.

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