generated: '2026-07-21'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://developers.skimlinks.com/merchant.html,
  https://developers.skimlinks.com/reporting.html,
  https://developers.skimlinks.com/product-key.html
description: >-
  Cross-cutting request/response conventions that apply across the Skimlinks
  Merchant, Reporting and Product Key APIs: authentication style, pagination,
  streaming, rate-limit signaling, versioning and the response envelope.
base_urls:
  merchant: https://merchants.skimapis.com
  reporting: https://reporting.skimapis.com
  products: https://products.skimapis.com
  authentication: https://authentication.skimapis.com
api_style: REST over HTTPS, JSON responses (NDJSON for streamed multi-aggregated reports)
authentication:
  scheme: Timestamp-based access_token passed as a query parameter
  token_flow: client_credentials against https://authentication.skimapis.com/access_token
  detail: authentication/skimbit-authentication.yml
idempotency:
  supported: false
  note: >-
    No idempotency-key mechanism is documented. The read APIs are inherently
    idempotent GETs; the one write-style call (Product Key getMultiProducts) is
    a POST used for batch retrieval, not resource mutation, and documents no
    idempotency key.
pagination:
  style: offset
  request_params:
    limit: Number of rows to return (per-endpoint defaults and maxima)
    offset: Zero-based row offset to start results from
  response_fields:
    standard_json:
    - has_more / has_next (boolean, whether more results exist)
    - num_returned / total_count
    - next_val / last_val (cursor hints on some Merchant endpoints)
    - pagination (object wrapping has_next/total_count/offset/limit on Reporting endpoints)
  streaming:
    formats: [application/x-ndjson]
    endpoints:
    - reporting getLinkReport
    - reporting getPageReport
    headers:
      X-Count: Number of rows retrieved per query
      X-Has-Next: Whether there is more data to retrieve (True/False)
rate_limiting:
  signal: HTTP 429 Too Many Requests
  scope: per API key, with additional per-IP ceilings on Reporting endpoints
  detail: rate-limits/skimbit-rate-limits.yml
versioning:
  scheme: uri-path
  current:
    merchant: v4
    reporting: aggregation/v1 (unversioned base path for other reporting endpoints)
    products: v2 (single) / v1 (multi)
  deprecated:
    merchant: v3 (labelled "OLD version", apikey/account_type/account_id auth)
  detail: lifecycle/skimbit-lifecycle.yml
error_envelope:
  format: plain JSON / HTTP status codes (not RFC 9457 problem+json)
  detail: errors/skimbit-problem-types.yml
custom_tracking:
  xcust: >-
    An optional publisher-specified parameter (also called user_custom / custom_id)
    passed through the Skimlinks monetisation engine and surfaced back in clicks,
    commissions and product-purchase data for your own internal attribution.
currency:
  note: >-
    Revenue figures are converted to the publisher's preferred currency using
    OpenExchangeRates daily rates; a currency query parameter overrides the
    default on several Reporting endpoints. Data Pipe revenue amounts are in
    minor currency units.