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Getting Started with the API

From zero to your first authenticated request in five minutes.

1. Create an API key

Sign in, then visit /user/api-keys and click Create key. The raw key is displayed once — copy it somewhere safe (a password manager or your shell's env-var store). The site only stores a SHA-256 hash, so a lost key cannot be recovered; you'll have to revoke it and create a new one.

Free tier gives you 100 requests/day with a 60/minute burst. Need more? See API pricing.

2. Authenticate

Send your key on every request as a Bearer token:

curl https://iwantmymtg.net/api/v1/sets \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer iwm_live_..."

The X-API-Key header is also accepted if a Bearer token is awkward in your client.

3. Make your first call

Look up a card by name:

curl "https://iwantmymtg.net/api/v1/cards?q=lightning+bolt&limit=1" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer iwm_live_..."

Every response is wrapped in a standard envelope: { "data": ..., "meta": ... }. The full schema for each endpoint is in the API reference.

4. Watch your rate-limit headers

Every response includes:

  • X-RateLimit-Limit — your daily quota
  • X-RateLimit-Remaining — calls left today
  • X-RateLimit-Reset — Unix timestamp of the next reset (UTC midnight)

When you hit the limit you'll get a 429 with an upgrade-prompt message. The per-minute burst limit is enforced separately and resets every 60 seconds.

5. Where to next?