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Common Request Parameters

The following table describes the request parameters that all Product Advertising API operations can use.

Parameter Definition Req'd?

AssociateTag

An alphanumeric token that uniquely identifies an Associate. This token is the means by which Amazon identifies the Associate to credit for a sale. If a request is made without identifying an Associate, Associate fees are not paid by Amazon. If the AssociateTag is included in the CartCreate request, the value for AssociateTag is automatically included in the PurchaseURL, which is returned by CartCreate. To obtain an Associate Tag, go to https://affiliate-program.amazon.com. For more information, see Associate Tag.

Valid Values: An alphanumeric token distributed by Amazon that uniquely identifies an Associate. Use this value in all requests to receive credit for the customer's purchase.

Yes

AWSAccessKeyId

An alphanumeric token that uniquely identifies a seller. For information about getting an AWS access key ID, see Becoming an Associate.

Valid Value: Access Key ID distributed by Amazon.

Yes

ContentType

Specifies the format of the content in the response. Generally, ContentType should only be changed for REST requests when the Style parameter is set to an XSLT stylesheet. For example, to transform your Product Advertising API response into HTML, set ContentType to text/html. See Style.

Default: text/xml

Valid Value: text/xml, text html

MarketplaceDomain

Specifies the Marketplace Domain where the request will be directed. For more information, see MarketplaceDomain Parameter.

MerchantId

An optional parameter that can be used to filter search results and offer listings to only include items sold by Amazon. By default, the API will return items sold by various merchants including Amazon. Valid values:

Amazon‐Only items sold by Amazon are included in the response.

Operation

Specifies the Product Advertising API operation to execute.

Valid Value: An Product Advertising API operation, for example, ItemLookup

Yes

Service

Specifies the Product Advertising API service. There is only one value for all Product Advertising API operations.

Valid Value: AWSECommerceService

Yes

Style

Controls the format of the data returned in Product Advertising API responses. Style only pertains to REST requests. Set this parameter to "XML," the default, to generate a pure XML response. Set this parameter to the URL of an XSLT stylesheet to have Product Advertising API transform the XML response. See ContentType

Default: XML

Valid Values: URL of an XSLT stylesheet

Validate

Prevents an operation from executing. Set the Validate parameter to True to test your request without actually executing it. When present, Validate must equal True; the default value is False. If a request is not actually executed (Validate=True), only a subset of the errors for a request may be returned because some errors (for example, no_exact_matches) are only generated during the execution of a request.

Default: False

Valid Values: True, False

Version

The version of the Product Advertising API software and WSDL to use. By default, the 2005-10-05 version is used. Alternately, specify a software version, such as 2011-08-01. For a list of valid version numbers, refer to the Product Advertising API Release Notes. Note that the latest version of Product Advertising API is not used by default.

Default: 2005-10-05

Valid Values: Valid WSDL version date, for example, 2011-08-01.

	Note
	Effective February 21, 2012, the default version will be 2011-08-01.

XMLEscaping

Specifies whether responses are XML-encoded in a single pass or a double pass. By default, XMLEscaping is Single, and Product Advertising API responses are encoded only once in XML. For example, if the response data includes an ampersand character (&), the character is returned in its regular XML encoding (&). If XMLEscaping is Double, the same ampersand character is XML-encoded twice (&). The Double value for XMLEscaping is useful in some clients, such as PHP, that do not decode text within XML elements.

Default: Single

Valid Values: Single, Double

AssociateTag

The AssociateTag parameter is a required parameter in Product Advertising API requests. When you register as an Amazon Associate, an Associate tag is sent to you by return email. An Associate tag, also known as an Associate ID, is an automatically generated unique identifier that you will need to make requests through the Product Advertising API. When you log in to the Amazon Associates website for your locale, the page that you are directed to includes a message that says "Signed in as" followed by your Associate tag.

Once a cart is associated with an Associate Tag, you must use it in every other cart operation related to that shopping cart. Otherwise, you will receive an error.

If you do not include an Associate Tag in the CartCreate request, your request will fail.

AssociateTag is locale-specific, that is, for each locale in which you want to earn Associate revenue, you must get an Associate Tag. If you try to use a US-locale Associate Tag, for example, in the JP locale, you will not earn Associate revenue.

Be careful when specifying an AssociateTag because errors are not returned for incorrect values.

Document Conventions
Terms of Use

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