Getting started

The Constructor REST API provides a full-featured mechanism to send product data, retrieve results, and control configurations such as synonyms, redirects, and searchandising.

The full REST API docs can be found within the API Reference. This guide aims to provide high-level information to get started working with the API.

Client libraries

Constructor has client libraries in many programming languages to abstract the capabilities of the API. We highly recommend you use one of these libraries so that new features and interface changes will be transparent to your use. Please work with your solutions engineer to determine the best library for your needs, and refer to the following guides for more information:

API key

Every account within Constructor will have one or more API keys. Each key represents a different index of product data. It's common to set up different keys for development, staging, and production environments. In addition, some customers maintain multiple sites, and each site can have its own API key.

API token

When utilizing the Constructor API to send product data or control configurations such as synonyms, redirects, and searchandising, it is required to authenticate your requests with an API token. The same token is used for all API keys within an account, and should be treated with the same security as an important password.

Admin level access permissions are required on an account to create an API token. To do so, navigate to the Integration tab and then to the API Integration page. From here, it is possible to generate an API token.

API tokens are not required to retrieve search, autosuggest, browse, or recommendation results.

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Important

Generating a new API token will invalidate the current token. It is not possible for Constructor staff members to retrieve API tokens - please be sure to store them in a secure location.

First steps

Once an API key and token have been created, a good first step is to try a simple authentication procedure to verify everything is set up correctly.

Next, you can work with your Constructor Integration Engineer to populate a key with data and try a search request to retrieve results.

From there, you can peruse the full REST API documentation to implement the necessary website capabilities.