API documentation is terrible

API Discussion
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I’ve been studying the API documentation, trying to implement some ideas I’ve had about dealing with auctions and other things.

Sadly, the API documentation is awful. No explanation is given about what kind of information is going to be returned, except by clicking the “Try it” button, which returns a sample response. And even so, that response is not documented, so I’m left to myself to figure out what each field actually represents. When it comes to more complicated data structures, it’s terrible to decipher it.

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Yes, the documentation could be better. Most endpoints are easy to understand by actual players of the game but some are indeed more complex.

Well, that is why we have an API community. Do you have any particular question about the endpoints you would like to ask ?

You can also try the Blizzard API Community Discord Server there is always someone willing to help.

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Just knowing that there is a discord is already great help, thanks.

At the time I posted the previous message I was frustrated from dealing with the auction data. I’m working on an app to run some statistics on auction prices and I was having a hard time getting the data to actually show up - crafting materials in particular.

I was trying to get the buyout price for some items without realizing that for certain items ‘buyout’ doesn’ t apply - instead the field that contains the price is ‘unit_price’.

Now, knowing items from the game helps to a certain extent. But it is hardly a proper way to actually understand what is going on with the responses the API gives - especially when they are as complex as the auction data. There is no schema for the data, and no explanation as to what the entries look like for the different item types.

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Some related threads which might help: