QUERY Request Format

The Base URL

Every QUERY request to Alexa Site Thumbnail web service begins with the following:

Base URL

http://ast.amazonaws.com/Xino

Request Parameters

The base URL is followed by a series of parameters that define the request. Parameters are separated from the base URL by a question mark ( ? ) and each other by an ampersand ( & ) character. Each parameter consists of a key and a value, separated from each other by an equals sign ( = ). Note that parameters and their values are case-sensitive; for example, Action=Thumbnail works correctly, but Action=thumbnail produces an error. Also note that all HTTP parameters must be UrlEncoded.

The following example shows a simple QUERY request that returns a thumbnail for a given URL.

Sample Request

http://ast.amazonaws.com/Xino?

                    AWSAccessKeyId=
                    [your AWSAccessKeyId]
                    &Timestamp=
                    [timestamp now, format as described in http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-2/#dateTime]
                    &Signature=
                    [signature calculated from request]
                    &Action=
                    [desired action, such as Thumbnail]
                    &Url=
                    [URL of website to get thumbnail for]

Parameter Details

The parameters in the example are described in the following table:

Parameter Required Description

AWSAccessKeyId yes This is your Amazon Web Services Access Key ID. This parameter is used to identify the sender of the request.

Note:

To obtain an AWS Access Key ID, you must sign up for an Amazon Web Services Account. To sign up, please use the sign in page.

Action yes This parameter tells the service what action it should perform. See the Actions section for the list of all supported actions for AST.

Signature yes This parameter holds the computed signature for this request. Request signatures are used to authenticate requests, and assure that the request contents were not altered between the sender and AWS. For more information about request signatures, please see the Request Authentication section.

Url required for Action=Thumbnail This parameter is required when the action is Thumbnail, and tells the service what website to retrieve a thumbnail for. See the Thumbnail Action section for more information.

Size optional for Action=Thumbnail This parameter specifies the size of the thumbnail to be returned. Possible values are "Large" and "Small". When this parameter is not specified, defaults to "Large". See the Thumbnail Action section for more information.

Parameter	Required	Description
AWSAccessKeyId	yes	This is your Amazon Web Services Access Key ID. This parameter is used to identify the sender of the request. Note: To obtain an AWS Access Key ID, you must sign up for an Amazon Web Services Account. To sign up, please use the sign in page.
Action	yes	This parameter tells the service what action it should perform. See the Actions section for the list of all supported actions for AST.
Signature	yes	This parameter holds the computed signature for this request. Request signatures are used to authenticate requests, and assure that the request contents were not altered between the sender and AWS. For more information about request signatures, please see the Request Authentication section.
Url	required for Action=Thumbnail	This parameter is required when the action is Thumbnail, and tells the service what website to retrieve a thumbnail for. See the Thumbnail Action section for more information.
Size	optional for Action=Thumbnail	This parameter specifies the size of the thumbnail to be returned. Possible values are "Large" and "Small". When this parameter is not specified, defaults to "Large". See the Thumbnail Action section for more information.