Amazon Product API for Affiliates: How the Creators API Works

In short: Amazon's product API for affiliates is now the Creators API. It's a REST API with four operations, it signs in with a short-lived token, and it returns product data for up to 10 items per request. It's free, but your Associates account needs 10 qualifying sales in the past 30 days to use it.

What the Creators API is

The Creators API is Amazon's official way for Associates to fetch product data: titles, images, features, prices, availability, variations and categories. It replaced the Product Advertising API 5.0 (PA-API), which Amazon marked for deprecation on 30 April 2026. If you have old PA-API code, it needs rewriting: the sign-in, the endpoint and the request format all changed, and old PA-API keys don't work.

It isn't for every kind of Amazon project. Sellers managing their own listings use the Selling Partner API, and advertisers use the Amazon Ads API. If you earn commission by recommending products, the Creators API is yours.

Who can use it

An Amazon Associates account with final acceptance in the marketplace you want data for.
10 qualifying sales in the past 30 days. Fall below that and calls fail until your sales ship again.
The primary account owner registers, under Tools → Creators API in Associates Central.

The full rules, costs and rate limits are in Is the Amazon Product API Free?

The four operations

Operation	What it does	Typical use on an affiliate site
`getItems`	Returns details for up to 10 ASINs	Refreshing the price, image and stock in your product boxes
`searchItems`	Searches by keyword, filters and category	Finding candidate products while you research a roundup
`getVariations`	Lists the variations of a parent product	Showing sizes or colours of the same model
`getBrowseNodes`	Returns category information and hierarchy	Organising products by Amazon category

How a request works

Every call is two steps: get an access token, then call the operation with it.

1. Get a token

Send your Credential ID and Secret to the token endpoint for your credential version. North America uses version 3.1 and api.amazon.com/auth/o2/token; Europe uses 3.2 with api.amazon.co.uk; the Far East uses 3.3 with api.amazon.co.jp. The version only picks the token endpoint: your credentials can call other marketplaces if you have a partner tag and access there.

POST https://api.amazon.com/auth/o2/token
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "grant_type": "client_credentials",
  "client_id": "YOUR_CREDENTIAL_ID",
  "client_secret": "YOUR_SECRET",
  "scope": "creatorsapi::default"
}

The token lasts one hour (expires_in: 3600). Cache it and reuse it. Amazon rate-limits the token endpoint too, and asking for a fresh token on every request is the usual cause of token errors.

2. Call the operation

All regions use one endpoint, https://creatorsapi.amazon, with the operation in the path. Here's a getItems call:

POST https://creatorsapi.amazon/catalog/v1/getItems
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN
Content-Type: application/json
x-marketplace: www.amazon.com

{
  "partnerTag": "yourstore-20",
  "marketplace": "www.amazon.com",
  "itemIds": ["B0BPTGCNFK", "B0CNQP369H"],
  "itemIdType": "ASIN",
  "resources": [
    "images.primary.large",
    "itemInfo.title",
    "itemInfo.features",
    "offersV2.listings.price",
    "offersV2.listings.availability"
  ]
}

The resources list decides what comes back. Ask only for what you display: smaller responses are faster. For prices, use the offersV2 resources, which Amazon recommends over the older offers format.

The response includes a link for each item with your partner tag already in it. Use that link for your buttons, so every click is credited to you.

Limits and errors you'll meet

What you see	What it means	What to do
403 `AccessDeniedException`	Your account isn't eligible, usually fewer than 10 sales in 30 days	Keep earning with tagged links; access returns within two days after referred sales ship
429 `ThrottleException`	Too many requests per second	Back off and retry; spread calls out and batch 10 ASINs per request
404 `ResourceNotFoundException`	That item isn't available through the API	Check the ASIN; the product may be discontinued or not sold in that marketplace
Token-endpoint rate limit	Too many token requests	Cache the token for its full hour

New credentials start at 1 request per second and 8,640 per day for the first 30 days, then scale with the shipped revenue you earn through the API.

Using the data on your site

The API is the only legal source of Amazon prices and availability for an Associates site. Amazon's program policies also set how you show them:

Show prices and availability only if they came from the Creators API (or PA-API), or from a link Amazon serves.
If you refresh that data less often than hourly, put a date and time stamp next to it.
Use product images from the API's image URLs. Don't download and re-host Amazon's photos.
Never type a price by hand, even one you just copied from Amazon.

Building it into a Next.js site

A few habits keep an API-driven affiliate site fast, cheap on quota and inside the rules:

Call the API on the server only. Your Secret must never reach the browser.
Cache product data and refresh it on a schedule (hourly works well) instead of calling Amazon on every page view.
Batch ASINs 10 at a time with getItems.
Plan for no access. New sites don't qualify, and established sites can drop below 10 sales. Render a product box that still works without live data, and switch back automatically.

Skip the plumbing

Affilicraft is a Next.js review-site kit with a production Creators API client: token caching, 10-ASIN batching, rate limiting, back-off, every documented error mapped to a fix, and a No-API mode that takes over by itself when access drops.

See Affilicraft

FAQ

Does Amazon have a product API?

Yes. For affiliates it's the Creators API, which replaced the Product Advertising API 5.0. It returns product titles, images, prices, availability and variations, and lets you search the catalog. Sellers use a different one, the Selling Partner API.

How do I get an Amazon product API key?

Sign in to Associates Central, open Tools → Creators API and create a credential. You get a Credential ID, a Secret and a Version. Your account needs final acceptance and 10 qualifying sales in the past 30 days.

How many products can I look up in one request?

Up to 10. GetItems takes up to 10 item IDs and GetBrowseNodes up to 10 browse node IDs per request.

Can I get Amazon product details without the API?

You can link to products with SiteStripe and write your own descriptions, but Amazon's rules only allow prices and availability on your site if they come from the API or a link Amazon serves.

Does the Creators API work in other countries?

Yes. One API endpoint serves all regions. You need a partner tag and Creators API access for each marketplace you call, and your credential version decides which token endpoint you use.

Where these facts come from

Not legal advice. Amazon changes these rules from time to time; check Associates Central for the current terms.