UDP API Definition

General Information

Author: Exp & Epoximator & Ommina
Version: 0.03.126 (2009-03-07)
Version number used for protover parameter: "3"

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL INTERESTED:

If you are mainly interested in notifications and private messaging, check out our Jabber and RSSRDF support first.
The UDP API is not an appropriate choice if you desire to download a local copy of the AniDb database.
If you want to create a client you have to register it here and here.
- Check out the clients that are being developed. There exists usable code in many different languages already.
If you have suggestions for improvements or new features use the development page.
Please also take a look at the API page.

Formats used in this Spec

{vartype varname} - Specifies what shall be inserted at this point and its type.
[...] - Everything between [ and ] is optional.

Used types

int2 - 2 byte Integer (in string representation)
int4 - 4 byte Integer (in string representation)
boolean - true or false - use '1' for true, '0' for false
str - String (UDP packet length restricts string size to 1400 bytes)
hexstr -- a hex representation of a decimal value, two characters per byte. If multiple bytes are represented, byte one is the first two characters of the string, byte two the next two, and so on.

Content Encoding

Default character encoding: ASCII
Escape scheme for option values (to server): html form encoding + newline
- This means you have to encode at least & in your option values in html form encoding style (&) before sending them to the api server. All other html form encodings are optional.
- All newlines should be replaced by <br />
Escape scheme for returned data fields (from server): ', | and newline
- Content newlines are encoded as <br />, ' is encoded as ` and | is not allowed in data fields.

Basics

General

The network communication is packet and line based. Each ANIDB API command is exactly one UDP packet containing one line. Results are sent as one packet but may consist out of multiple lines. A return value always starts with a 3 byte result code followed by a human redable version of the result code. Be aware that important data fields may be returned directly after the return code (see: 200,201,271,272,504). The meaning for all result codes can be found in this document. If there is more than one entry returned, it's one entry per line. Lines are terminated by a \n (no dos linefeed \r). The elements of a format string are seperated by a "|" character.

{three digit return code} {str return string}\n
{data field 0}|{data field 1}|...|{data field n}

IMPORTANT:

All commands except PING, ENCRYPT, ENCODING, AUTH and VERSION requires login, meaning that the session tag must be set (s=xxxxx).
A client should ignore any additional trailing data fields it doesn't expect. Additional fields are going to be added to the output of some commands from time to time. Those additional fields will simply be appended to the end of the existing output. A client should be written in a way so that it is not affected by such new fields.
Due to the length constraints of an UDP package (over PPPoE) the replies from the server will never exceed 1400 bytes. String fields will be truncated if necessary to ensure this. No warnings are given when this happens.
A client should handle all possible return codes for each command.
- Possible return codes for all commands:
  - 505 ILLEGAL INPUT OR ACCESS DENIED
  - 555 BANNED
    {str reason}
  - 598 UNKNOWN COMMAND
  - 600 INTERNAL SERVER ERROR
  - 601 ANIDB OUT OF SERVICE - TRY AGAIN LATER
  - 602 SERVER BUSY - TRY AGAIN LATER
- Additional return codes for all commands that require login:
  - 501 LOGIN FIRST
  - 502 ACCESS DENIED
  - 506 INVALID SESSION

NOTE:

The '555 BANNED' message should not be expected by the client. This message is only enabled temporary to help developers understand what they are doing wrong.

NOTE:

While in daily maintenance the AniDB API will reply with

601 ANIDB OUT OF SERVICE - TRY AGAIN LATER

to all commands. If a client recieves such a return value it should wait at least 30 minutes before trying again.

Server / UDP Connection

The Client has to send data packets to:

Server: api.anidb.info
Port: 9000/UDP

The servername and port should not be hardcoded into a frontend but should be read from a configuration file.

Server Errors

At any time the API might return a fatal error of the form:

6xx ERROR DESCRIPTION

Possible codes are 600-699.
Occurrences of these errors (except 601) should be reported to Ommina.

NOTE:

6XX messages do not always return the tags given with the command which caused the error!

Connection Problems

There are many ways for a client to end up banned or the API might currently be handling too many concurrent connections. If a client does not get any reply to an AUTH command it should start to increase the retry delay exponentially with every failed login attempt. (i.e. try again after 30 seconds if the first login attempt failed, if the second fails too retry after 2 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 30 minutes, ... until you reach a retry delay of ~2-4h.)

Local Port

A client should select a fixed local port >1024 at install time and reuse it for local UDP Sockets. If the API sees too many different UDP Ports from one IP within ~1 hour it will ban the IP. (So make sure you're reusing your UDP ports also for testing/debuging!)

The local port may be hardcoded, however, an option to manually specify another port should be offered.

Note when behind a NAT/masquerading router:
A session between the server and a client is identified by the ip and port used by the client. So when the port (or ip) changes within a session the client has to authenticate again. If a client is behind a nat router it can’t actually control the local port used for the connection. The router will normally translate the port to support several computers on a lan to share the internet connection. The public port (as determined by the router and seen by the server) which has been assigned to the connection will only be reserved for as long as it is in use. This means that the router will usually deallocate the port after a fixed timeout period (i.e. 5, 10 or 15 minutes). Once that happens the client will no longer be able to receive UDP messages from the server (the messages will be discarded as undeliverable by the router) and a new port will be selected once the client tries to send a message to the server (which will result in a new connection session - NOTE: this could get you banned!, see above). So in order to keep a session over a NAT router alive, the client has to ping the server within this period to prevent a timeout.

The client can decide whether it is behind a NAT router or not by adding nat=1 to the AUTH command. This will cause the response to include the ip and port as seen by the server. If the port differs from the port reported by the local socket, the connection subject to NAT and the client should issue PING commands in regular intervals. Please do not send pings more often then once every 5 minutes and only on connections via NAT routers or if the user has explicitly enabled regular keepalive pings via a configuration setting (default setting should be OFF).

Flood Protection

To prevent high server load the UDP API server enforces a strict flood protection policy.

Short Term:
- A Client MUST NOT send more than 0.5 packets per second.
- The server will start to enforce the limit after the first 5 packets have been recieved.
Long Term:
- A Client MUST NOT send more than one packet every 30 seconds over an extended amount of time.
- An extended amount of time is not defined. Use common sense.

Once a client exceeds a rate limit all further UDP packets from that client will be dropped without feedback until the client's packet rate is back down to acceptable levels.

NOTE:

Dropped packets are still taken into account for the packet rate. Meaning if you continuously send packets your client will be banned forever.

Generally clients should be written in a way to minimize server and network load. You should always keep that in mind.

Abusive clients may be banned completly.

NOTE:

If you suddenly stop getting replies from the AniDB API or you normally don't have a noteable packetloss and from one point on you suddenly note a high packetloss percentage you have most likely entered a critical flood ratio.

If the AniDB API isn't answering at all it might either be down or you have been banned, this is normally caused by vialoating the API specs (i.e. too many connections using different ports from one ip, too many auth failures, ...) (usually lasts 30 minutes). If you're experiencing packet loss you have probably reached the rate limit and the API starts to randomly drop incoming packets from your IP. (can be solved by enforcing a delay between multiple commands when you're sending a batch)

Anti Leech Protection

The API should not be used to "download" AniDB. If such attempts are detected you will get banned.

Caching

To minimize server and network load a client should use local caching in order to prevent repeated API requests for the same data.

A client should locally cache FILE/EP/ANIME/GROUP/... info wherever possible for extended amounts of time. (I.e. if a client is used to scan a local folder with anime files and add them via API to a users mylist then it shall only ask for all files in the first run and cache the info for all files known to AniDB. If run again over the same folder it shall only check those files which were unknown to anidb at the time of the last check.)

Later versions of the API might enforce this by banning clients which ask for the same information more than once every week/month.

Tag option

The api will add a user defined string at the beginning of each reply line seperated with a space, if desired.

To enable add the tag={str usertag} option to a command.
A tag is only valid for the command it was send with, meaning it is not persistent. If you want to have tags in front of all reply lines you will have to append the tag option to each command you send to the server.
Tags are ment to enable a client to handle more than one request/reply at a time.

Usage example:

 AUTH user=baka&pass=baka&protover=25&client=someclient&clientver=1&tag=abc123
 abc123 200 Jxqxb LOGIN ACCEPTED

or

 LOGOUT s=Jxqxb&tag=byebye
 byebye 203 LOGGED OUT

NOTE:

The tag option is valid for all api commands and is thus not explicitly listed in the description of each command.

Data Indexes (fid,aid,eid,gid,lid)

All indexes start at 1 (not 0).
It is possible for table entries to have id fields with a value of 0 (i.e. gid). Those are to be interpreted as "NONE" or "NULL".
An ID is never reused. That means after an entry is deleted no new entry will ever have that ID again.
Mylist IDs (lid) are globally unique, not per-user unique.

Authing Commands

NOTE:

_ANY_ command which requires parameters may return: 505 ILLEGAL INPUT OR ACCESS DENIED

AUTH: Authing to the AnimeDB

Command String:

AUTH user={str username}&pass={str password}&protover={int4 apiversion}&client={str clientname}&clientver={int4 clientversion}[&nat=1&comp=1&enc={str encoding}&mtu{int4 mtu value}]

Possible Replies:

200 {str session_key} LOGIN ACCEPTED
201 {str session_key} LOGIN ACCEPTED - NEW VERSION AVAILABLE
500 LOGIN FAILED
503 CLIENT VERSION OUTDATED
504 CLIENT BANNED - {str reason}
505 ILLEGAL INPUT OR ACCESS DENIED
601 ANIDB OUT OF SERVICE - TRY AGAIN LATER

when nat=1

200 {str session_key} {str ip}:{int2 port} LOGIN ACCEPTED
201 {str session_key} {str ip}:{int2 port} LOGIN ACCEPTED - NEW VERSION AVAILABLE

Info:

NOTE:

The password is the normal AniDB website password! The password listed in the profile as API Password in only used for the optional encryption feature.

The session_key is a String containing only a-z,A-Z,0-9 chars of a length of 4-8 characters.

It has to be stored by the client and needs to be sent as parameter with every command which requires the user to logged in.

The session_key String is appended as parameter "s", i.e. "PUSH notify=1&msg=1&s={str session_key}".
On a 500 LOGIN FAILED message the client should request the user to enter username and password again.
In case of a 501 LOGIN FIRST message the client should silently resend an auth command and send the failed command again.
A 502 ACCESS DENIED message should abort the current action on the client side and display a message to the user.
A 503 CLIENT VERSION OUTDATED message states that the udp server has been updated and does not support your client any longer. (protover is too low). A 201 message referes to a new version of the client software.
A 506 INVALID SESSION means that either the session key parameter "s" was not provided with a command that requires it or the session key is no longer valid. The client should reissue an AUTH command.

NOTE:

A frontend shall expect 501 and 502 messages to be returned on ANY command.

NOTE:

Anidb usernames are always lowercase and may only contain characters (a-z) and numbers (0-9).

The client should silently convert all entered usernames to lowercase before sending them to the API.
The client should send the apiversion of the AnimeDB API version it supports as value of the protover parameter.
The client MAY NOT send anything but the version of the API Specs the author used to write the client! (as it is stated at the top of this file @ "Version number used for protover parameter")

The API will compare that value to it's own version of the API and if the version of the client is older the API will decide wheter the changes were significant enough to deny the old client access to the DB.

The clientname shall be a lowercase string containing only the chars a-z of 4-16 chars length which identifies the client. (i.e. mykickassclient)
The clientversion shall be a number starting with 1, increased on every change in the client.

clientname and clientversion might be used by the API to distinguish between different clients and client versions if that should ever become nessecary.

IMPORTANT:

DO NOT use the clientname of another existing client.
ALWAYS increase the clientversion number if you release a new client version.

A Login and its assigned session_key is valid until the virtual UDP connection times out or until a LOGOUT command is issued.
The virtual UDP connection times out if no data was recieved from the client for 35 minutes.
A client should issue a UPTIME command once every 30 minutes to keep the connection alive should that be required.
If the client does not use any of the notification/push features of the API it should NOT keep the connection alive, furthermore it should explicitly terminate the connection by issueing a LOGOUT command once it finished it's work.
If it is very likely that another command will be issued shortly (within the next 20 minutes) a client may keep the current connection open, until it times out on it's own, by not sending a LOGOUT command.
The client shall notify the user if it recieved a 201 message at login.

This means a new version of the client is available, however the old version is still supported otherwise a client banned message would have been returned.

The user should get a popup message on 503 and 504 messages telling him to update his client software.

(NOTE: 504 means that this version of the client is banned, not the user!)

The 'nat' option makes the client able to detect whether it is behind a nat router or not. When the client is behind a nat router it should keep the "connection" alive with the PING command.

IMPORTANT:

Make sure your client handels ALL possible AUTH return codes before giving out any versions!

When enc=x is defined the server will change the encoding used to x.
- If the encoding is supported it will change right away (including the response) and be reset on logout/timeout.
- If not supported then the argument will be silently ignored. Use ENCODING to test what works.
- Supported encodings are these.
comp=1 means that the client supports compression (DEFLATE).
- The server will compress (instead of truncating) the datagrams when needed if this option is enabled.
- The first two bytes of compressed datagrams will always be set to zero. (So tags should never start with that.)
Default MTU is 1400. Minimum allowed is 400, maximum 1400, due PPPoE.

LOGOUT: Logout

Command String:

LOGOUT

Possible Replies:

203 LOGGED OUT
403 NOT LOGGED IN

Info:

This command only works if you are already logged in.
A logout should ALWAYS be issued if the client is currently logged in and is either exiting or not expecting to send/receive any anidb api packets for the next >= 30 minutes.

ENCRYPT: Start Encrypted Session

Will cause all future messages from the server, except the first (the reply to the ENCRYPT command itself), to be encrypted (128 bit AES). The client will also have to encrypt all future requests sent to the server. All non-encrypted messages will be discarded by the server. The encryption key is the MD5 hash of a special API Password (defined in the users profile) concatenated with the salt string as given in the reply to the ENCRYPT message. A normal AUTH message is still necessary to authenticate and should follow the ENCRYPT command once the API has acknowledged the encryption.

Command String:

ENCRYPT user={str name}&type={int2 type}

Possible Replies:

209 {str salt} ENCRYPTION ENABLED
309 API PASSWORD NOT DEFINED
509 NO SUCH ENCRYPTION TYPE
394 NO SUCH USER

Info:

user is the user name.
type is the type of encryption; 1 => 128 bit AES (only one defined).
API Password is the one defined in the profile settings page.
It is not possible to disable the encryption once enabled while staying logged in.
- A logout (the logout message needs to be correctly encrypted) or timeout will disable the encryption.
In order to minimize server load, encryption should be disabled by default and should have to be enabled manually by the user in the configuration options.
The encryption key is md5(api_password_of_user+salt).
Padding of the message needs to be done according to the PKCS5Padding scheme.

Notify Commands

Introduction

Broadly speaking, notifications provide an indication to the client that some event has occurred within the AniDB database.

There are three types:

New file notification. (Only anime type supported.)
New private message notification.
New buddy event notification.

Note that, while a user can subscribe to multiple 'new file' events (see notifications), at present, the UDP API only supports notifications of new files by anime. New files by group, or new files by producer, are NOT presently supported. Just the same, keeping in mind that the API is designed to potentially support such notifications in the future will help in understanding why some of the commands are structured the way they are.

The word "notification" is also used a bit inconsistently in this document. An AniDB notification is originally a "new file notification". It might be more correct to use the term "event" for the original "happening" and then "notification" as the means to notify the user (client). New-file, new-message, buddy-* and going-down are all events that results in notifications. Only the first two type of events are persistent, though, meaning they exist and remain in the same state until some user action affects them.

Getting Notifications

Clients that wish to receive notifications have two routes available to them. They are by no means mutually exclusive and selecting one does not imply a client is unable to use commands from another.

Method One: Polling

With this method, the client contacts the server at some interval (no more than once every 20 minutes) to see if there are new file notifications waiting. If there are, the client can the get further details of the files in question. This is analogous to checking an email server every half hour to see if new email has arrived.

Its principal advantage is that it is easy to design and code. Blocking sockets are sufficient as the client can expect the reply received to correspond with the command sent.

The disadvantage of this approach is that it introduces a delay and some uncertainty in receiving notifications. If, for example, the user clears the notification on the website before the client collects it, the client will not learn of the new file. Similarly, if the user does not dismiss notifications via the site, the client will have an increasing amount of stale data to work though. Finally, notifications cleared by the client also clears them from the website, so users will need to be made aware of what is going on.

A polling HOWTO:

Use NOTIFY (no more than once every 20 minutes) to get the number of pending notifications
IF there are new notifications pending, use NOTIFYLIST to get a list of notification types and associated IDs.
Use NOTIFYGET to receive a notification, suppling the ID provided by NOTIFYLIST
Use NOTIFYACK to acknowledge a notification, suppling the ID provided by NOTIFYLIST (if desired)

NOTE

The ID supplied by NOTIFYLIST will be the ID of the affected notification type. Since, at present, only the anime type is supported, this value is always an aid. In the future, it may represent a group or producer ID. In these cases, the str type value will indicate what entity the ID represents.

Method Two: Server PUSH

With this method, the server takes the active role in advising the client that a new file has arrived. The client must register with the server to receive these advisements, and will be responsible for keeping the login session from timing out, and any NAT router ports open. The UDP packet is sent to the ip and port from which the AUTH command was recieved.

This method compensates for the disadvantages of the polling method, but is more difficult to code. Blocking sockets are no longer an option, nor can a client make any assumptions that an incoming packet will necessarily be a reply to the last command sent. The tag option may be helpful here.

A PUSH HOWTO:

PUSH to register your client session.
Listen for 271-274 NOTIFICATIONs (not 290).
Use PUSHACK to to acknowledge the notification using the nid supplied with NOTIFICATION
Use NOTIFYGET to receive a notification, suppling the relid provided by NOTIFICATION (NOT the packet ID)
Use NOTIFYACK to acknowledge a notification, suppling the relid provided by NOTIFICATION (if desired)
Use UPTIME (with an interval between 30 and 35 minutes) to keep login session valid

It is probably a good idea to use tags to separate NOTIFICATIONs from the other communication. NOTIFICATIONs will never have tags.

PUSH: UDP Notification Registration

Register your client as an observer for anidb notification events for the current user. If you are registered for one or more event types the anidb server will send an UDP packet (format see below) on each change which affects the current user.

Command String:

PUSH notify={boolean on_new_file}&msg={boolean on_new_private_message}[&buddy={boolean on_buddy_event}]

Possible Replies:

270 NOTIFICATION ENABLED

OR (if both values are 0)

370 NOTIFICATION DISABLED

Info:

A client which has registered to recieve UDP notification packets must:
- Issue a PUSHACK command for each notification received with notify_packet_id provided in the notification packet.
- Use PING to keep the connection alive (< 30 min).
- Use UPTIME to ensure that the session is OK (>= 30 min).
Every notification generated is resent 3 times unless acknowleged. After that the client is logged out.

Notification Packet Format

New File Notify:

 271 {int4 notify_packet_id} NOTIFICATION
 {int4 relid}|{int4 date}|{int4 count}|{str relname}|{int2 reltype}|{int2 priority}

relid is the id of the related entry (anime, group)
date is the time of the event (in seconds since 1.1.1970)
count is the number of events pending for type
relname is the name of the related entry
reltype is: 1 = anime, 2 = group, 3 = producer
priority is: 0 = low, 1 = medium, 2 = high

NOTE	Group (and producer) related file notifications are not implemented yet.

New Private Message Notify:

 272 {int4 notify_packet_id} NOTIFICATION
 {int2 type}|{int4 date}|{int4 sent_by_uid}|{str sent_by_name}|{str subject}|{str body}|{int mid}

type is the type of the message (0=normal msg, 1=annonymous, 2=system msg, 3=mod msg)
date is the time the message was sent (in seconds since 1.1.1970)
senderuid/sendername are the user id and username of the sender
subject is the message subject
body is message body (can be truncated)
mid is message id and can be used with NOTIFYACK

Buddy Event Notify:

 273 {int4 notify_packet_id} NOTIFICATION
 {int4 buddy uid}|{int2 event type}

Possible event types:
- 0 => LOGIN
- 1 => LOGOUT
- 2 => ACCEPTED
- 3 => ADDED

Going Down Event Notify:

 274 {int4 notify_packet_id} NOTIFICATION
 {int4 time offline}|{int4 comment}

Clients with any notification on will receive the GOINGDOWN message before the API goes offline.
Time offline is the time in minutes the API will be down, 0 if indefinite (client can direct user to the anidb site for status updates).
The comment is a short explanation for the downtime.
Only one datagram will be sent, and the server will not listen for replies.

PUSHACK: UDP Notification Acknowledge

Used to acknowledge notification packets (271-274). A client must be prepared to issue this command before using PUSH.

Command String:

PUSHACK nid={int4 notify_packet_id}

Possible Replies:

280 PUSHACK CONFIRMED
380 NO SUCH PACKET PENDING

Info:

See: PUSH

NOTIFY: Notifications

Get number of pending notifications (and number of online buddies).

Command String:

NOTIFY [buddy=1]

Possible Replies:

290 NOTIFICATION

{int4 pending_file_notifications}|{int4 number_of_unread_messages}

when buddy=1

290 NOTIFICATION

{int4 pending_file_notifications}|{int4 number_of_unread_messages}|{int4 number_of_online_buddies}

Info:

If the client did send a NOTIFY within the last 35 minutes and it was confirmed by AniDB then recieving a 501 LOGIN FIRST message for the next NOTIFY command shows that AniDB logged the client out because it did not respond to a PUSH Notification packet.
There is no command to retrieve missed PUSH Notifications.

NOTE	This command MUST NOT be issued more than once every 20 minutes.

NOTIFYLIST: List Notification/Message IDs

List id of all pending (not acknowledged) new private message and new file notifications. Buddy events are not acknowledgeable.

Command String:

NOTIFYLIST

Possible Replies:

291 NOTIFYLIST

{str type}|{int4 id}

...

Info:

type is:

M for message entries

N for notification entries

id is the identifier for the notification/message as required by NOTIFYGET. For messages it is the actual message id, for notifications it is the id of the related type; anime, group or producer. Since only file notifications related to anime is implemented atm, it is the anime id (aid).
NOTIFYLIST returns one line per entry, if no entries are available only the first line of the reply is returned.

NOTE	This command MUST NOT be issued regulary but should only be triggered by either a push message recieved by the client or a reply to a NOTIFY command which tells you that there are messages/notifications waiting.

NOTIFYGET: Get Notification/Message

Receive private message or file notification.

Command String:

NOTIFYGET type={str type}&id={int4 id}

Possible Replies:
when type = M

292 NOTIFYGET

{int4 id}|{int4 from_user_id}|{str from_user_name}|{int4 date}|{int4 type}|{str title}|{str body}

392 NO SUCH ENTRY

when type = N

293 NOTIFYGET

{int4 relid}|{int4 type}|{int2 count}|{int4 date}|{str relidname}|{str fids}

393 NO SUCH ENTRY

Info:

type is:

M for message entries

N for notification entries

id is the identifier for the notification/message as given by NOTIFYLIST (or relid from 271 NOTIFICATION and mid from 272 NOTIFICATION)
for message entries (M):

date is the time of the event (in seconds since 1.1.1970)

type is the type of the message (0=normal msg, 1=annonymous, 2=system msg, 3=mod msg)

for notification entries (N):

relid is the id of the related type (anime)

relname is the name of the related type (anime)

type is the notification type (0=all, 1=new, 2=group, 3=complete)

count is the number of events pending for this subscription

date is the time of the event (in seconds since 1.1.1970)

fids is a comma separated list with the affected file ids

NOTIFYACK: Acknowledge Notification/Message

This command will mark a message read or clear a new file notification. Buddy events are not acknowledgeable.

Command String:

NOTIFYACK type={str type}&id={int4 id}

Possible Replies:
when type = M

281 NOTIFYACK SUCCESSFUL
381 NO SUCH ENTRY

when type = N

282 NOTIFYACK SUCCESSFUL
382 NO SUCH ENTRY

Info:

type is:

M for message entries

N for notification entries

Buddy Commands

Group of commands used to administrate your buddylist.

BUDDYADD: Add a user to Buddy List

Command String:

BUDDYADD uid={int4 buddy uid}
BUDDYADD uname={int4 buddy name}

Possible Replies:

394 NO SUCH USER
255 BUDDY ADDED
355 BUDDY ALREADY ADDED

BUDDYDEL: Remove a user from Buddy List

Command String:

BUDDYDEL uid={int4 buddy uid}

Possible Replies:

356 NO SUCH BUDDY
256 BUDDY DELETED

BUDDYACCEPT: Accept user as Buddy

Command String:

BUDDYACCEPT uid={int4 user uid}

Possible Replies:

356 NO SUCH BUDDY
257 BUDDY ACCEPTED
357 BUDDY ALREADY ACCEPTED

BUDDYDENY: Deny user as Buddy

Command String:

BUDDYDENY uid={int4 buddy uid}

Possible Replies:

394 NO SUCH USER
258 BUDDY DENIED
358 BUDDY ALREADY DENIED

BUDDYLIST: Retrieve Buddy List

Command String:

BUDDYLIST startat={int2 start at #}

Possible Replies:

253 {int2 start} {int2 end} {int2 total} BUDDY LIST

{int4 uid}|{str username}|{int2 state}

...

Info:

state is a 16bit bit field in integer notation (lowest bit first):

 * bit 1 = this user is in your buddylist
 * bit 2 = this user has accepted you
 * bit 3 = this user is waiting for your approval

BUDDYSTATE: Retrieve Buddy States

Command String:

BUDDYSTATE startat={int2 start at #}

Possible Replies:

254 {int2 start} {int2 end} {int2 total} BUDDY STATE

{int4 uid}|{int2 onlinestate}

...

Info:

onlinestate is a 16bit bit field in integer notation (lowest bit first):

  * bit 1 = http online (user has issued a HTTP request within the last 10 minutes)
  * bit 2 = udp api online (user is currently connected to the udp api server)
  * example: 0=offline, 1=http online, 2=udp api online, 3=http&udp api online

Data Commands

ANIME: Retrieve Anime Data

Command String:
by aid

ANIME aid={int4 id}&amask={hexstr}

by name

ANIME aname={str anime name}&amask={hexstr}

Possible Replies:

230 ANIME

{int4 aid}|{int4 eps}|{int4 ep count}|{int4 special cnt}|{int4 rating}|{int4 votes}|{int4 tmprating}|{int4 tmpvotes}|{int4 review rating average}|{int4 reviews}|{str year}|{str type}|{str romaji}|{str kanji}|{str english}|{str other}|{str short names}|{str synonyms}|{str category list}

330 NO SUCH ANIME

Info:

Fields are returned in the same order they appear in the amask field list: byte 1, bit 7 first
Synonyms and short names are separated with '
Category fields are separated with ',' and ordered by weight (desc).
By name: must be perfect match of romaji/kanji/english/other/synonym/short name.
NOTE: The category list is the first data to be truncated if needed. And then: synonym list, short name list. This applies for the FILE command too.
Selecting an 'unused' or 'reserved' bit will return an "illegal input" (505) response.

amask

Byte 1

Byte 2

Byte 3

Byte 4

Byte 5

Bit	Dec	Data Field
7	128	int aid
6	64	unused
5	32	str year
4	16	str type
3	8	str related aid list
2	4	str related aid type
1	2	str category list
0	1	str category weight list

Bit	Dec	Data Field
7	128	str romaji name
6	64	str kanji name
5	32	str english name
4	16	str other name
3	8	str short name list
2	4	str synonym list
1	2	str producer name list
0	1	str producer id list

Bit	Dec	Data Field
7	128	int4 episodes
6	64	int4 normal ep count
5	32	int4 special ep count
4	16	int4 air date
3	8	int4 end date
2	4	str url
1	2	str picname
0	1	str category id list

Bit	Dec	Data Field
7	128	int4 rating
6	64	int4 vote count
5	32	int4 temp rating
4	16	int4 temp vote count
3	8	int4 average review rating
2	4	int4 review count
1	2	str award list
0	1	reserved

Bit	Dec	Data Field
7	128	int4 anime planet id
6	64	int4 ANN id
5	32	int4 allcinema id
4	16	str animenfo id
3	8	unused
2	4	unused
1	2	unused
0	1	reserved

ANIMEDESC: Retrieve Anime Description

Command String:
by aid

ANIMEDESC aid={int4 id}&part={int4 partno}

Possible Replies:

233 ANIMEDESC

{int4 current part}|{int4 max parts}|{str description}

330 NO SUCH ANIME
333 NO SUCH DESCRIPTION

Info:

The maximum length of the anime description is roughly 5000 characters, but the maximum length of a UDP packet is 1400 bytes
Multiple calls to ANIMEDESC may be necessary to retrieve the complete text, retrieving separate 1400 byte parts with each call
part is zero-based
Note: No support, at present, for retrieving descriptions by title. aid only

Examples: (html escaped code intended)

 > ANIMEDESC aid=3169&part=0&s=xxxxx
 < 233 ANIMEDESC
   0|1|As summer break arrives for the students, Jun Sakurada is busily studying on his own in the library, making up for time lost <cut>

EPISODE: Retrieve Episode Data

Command String:
by eid

EPISODE eid={int4 eid}

by anime and episode number

EPISODE aname={str anime name}&epno={int4 episode number}
EPISODE aid={int4 anime id}&epno={int4 episode number}

Possible Replies:

240 EPISODE

{int4 eid}|{int4 aid}|{int4 length}|{int4 rating}|{int4 votes}|{str epno}|{str eng}|{str romaji}|{str kanji}|{int4 aired}

340 NO SUCH EPISODE

Info:

length is in minutes
Returned 'epno' includes special character (only if special) and padding (only if normal). Special characters are S(special), C(credits), T(trailer), P(parody), O(other).

Examples: (html escaped code intended)

 > EPISODE eid=1&s=xxxxx
 < 240 EPISODE
 1|1|24|400|4|01|Invasion|shinryaku|??

 > EPISODE aname=Seikai no Monshou&epno=2&s=xxxxx
 < 240 EPISODE
 2|1|24|750|2|02|Kin of the Stars|Hoshi-tachi no Kenzoku|??????

FILE: Retrieve File Data

Command String:
by fid:

FILE fid={int4 id}&fmask={hexstr fmask}&amask={hexstr amask}

by size+ed2k hash:

FILE size={int8 size}&ed2k={str ed2khash}&fmask={hexstr fmask}&amask={hexstr amask}

by anime, group and epno

FILE aname={str anime name}&gname={str group name}&epno={int4 episode number}&fmask={hexstr fmask}&amask={hexstr amask}
FILE aname={str anime name}&gid={int4 group id}&epno={int4 episode number}&fmask={hexstr fmask}&amask={hexstr amask}
FILE aid={int4 anime id}&gname={str group name}&epno={int4 episode number}&fmask={hexstr fmask}&amask={hexstr amask}
FILE aid={int4 anime id}&gid={int4 group id}&epno={int4 episode number}&fmask={hexstr fmask}&amask={hexstr amask}

Possible Replies:

220 FILE

{int4 fid}|{int4 aid}|{int4 eid}|{int4 gid}|{int4 state}|{int8 size}|{str ed2k}|{str anidbfilename}

220 FILE

{int4 fid}|...(data list)

322 MULTIPLE FILES FOUND

{int4 fid 0}|{int4 fid 1}|...|{int4 fid n}

320 NO SUCH FILE

Info:

fid, aid, eid, gid are the unique ids for the file, anime, ep, group entries at anidb.

You can use those to create links to the corresponding pages at anidb.

anidbfilename is the anidb filename for the file.

However this name does not contain all the extra information of the filenames on AniDB and might be composed slightly different.

fmask and amask are hexidecimal strings where each bit corresponds to a data field related to the specified file (see below). The data list received is sorted in the same order as the tables (and fmask before amask). There is no provision to retrieve all fields. Further, requesting a 'unusued' or 'reserved' bit will return an "illegal input" error.
Only the first matching file is returned when aname, gname and epno is used.

State:

bit / int value 	meaning
1 / 1 		FILE_CRCOK: file matched official crc (displayed with green background in anidb)
2 / 2 		FILE_CRCERR: file DID NOT match official crc (displayed with red background in anidb)
3 / 4 		FILE_ISV2: file is version 2
4 / 8 		FILE_ISV3: file is version 3
5 / 16 		FILE_ISV4: file is version 4
6 / 32 		FILE_ISV5: file is version 5
7 / 64 		FILE_UNC: file is uncensored
8 / 128		FILE_CEN: file is censored

examples:
state ==== 9 ==> FILE_CRCOK+FILE_ISV3 ==> file matched official crc and is version 3
state ==== 0 ==> - ==> file was not crc checked and is version 1
state ==== 34 ==> FILE_CRCERR+FILE_ISV5 ==> file DID NOT match official crc and is version 5
state ==== 1 ==> FILE_CRCOK ==> file matched official crc and is version 1
state ==== 8 ==> FILE_ISV3 ==> file was not crc checked and is version 3

fmask:

Byte 1

Byte 2

Byte 3

Byte 4

Bit	Dec	Data Field
7	128	unused
6	64	int4 aid
5	32	int4 eid
4	16	int4 gid
3	8	int4 lid
2	4	list other episodes
1	2	int2 IsDeprecated
0	1	int2 state

Bit	Dec	Data Field
7	128	int8 size
6	64	str ed2k
5	32	str md5
4	16	str sha1
3	8	str crc32
2	4	unused
1	2	unused
0	1	unused

Bit	Dec	Data Field
7	128	str quality
6	64	str source
5	32	str audio codec
4	16	int4 audio bitrate
3	8	str video codec
2	4	int4 video bitrate
1	2	str video resolution
0	1	str file type (extension)

Bit	Dec	Data Field
7	128	str dub language
6	64	str sub language
5	32	int4 length in seconds
4	16	str description
3	8	int4 release date
2	4	unused
1	2	unused
0	1	str anidb file name

amask:

Byte 1

Byte 2

Byte 3

Byte 4

Bit	Dec	Data Field
7	128	int4 anime total episodes
6	64	int4 highest episode number
5	32	str year
4	16	str type
3	8	str related aid list
2	4	str related aid type
1	2	str category list
0	1	reserved

Bit	Dec	Data Field
7	128	str romaji name
6	64	str kanji name
5	32	str english name
4	16	str other name
3	8	str short name list
2	4	str synonym list
1	2	str producer name list
0	1	str producer id list

Bit	Dec	Data Field
7	128	str epno
6	64	str ep name
5	32	str ep romaji name
4	16	str ep kanji name
3	8	int4 episode rating
2	4	int4 episode vote count
1	2	unused
0	1	unused

Bit	Dec	Data Field
7	128	str group name
6	64	str group short name
5	32	unused
4	16	unused
3	8	unused
2	4	unused
1	2	unused
0	1	int date aid record updated

Examples: (html escaped code intended)

> FILE size=177747474&ed2k=70cd93fd3981cc80a8ea6a646ff805c9&fmask=7FF8FEF8&amask=C000F0C0&s=xxxxx
< 220 FILE
312498|4688|69260|4243|0||0|1|177747474|70cd93fd3981cc80a8ea6a646ff805c9|b2a7c7d591333e20495de3571b235c28|7af9b962c17ff729baeee67533e5219526cd5095|a200fe73|high|DTV|Vorbis (Ogg Vorbis)|104|H264/AVC|800|704x400|japanese|english'english'english|1560||1175472000|26|26|01|The Wings to the Sky|Sora he no Tsubasa|????|#nanoha-DamagedGoodz|Nanoha-DGz

FILE: Retrieve File Data (deprecated)

Command String:
by fid:

FILE fid={int4 id}[&fcode={int4}&acode={int4}]

by size+ed2k hash:

FILE size={int8 size}&ed2k={str ed2khash}[&fcode={int4}&acode={int4}]

by anime, group and epno

FILE aname={str anime name}&gname={str group name}&epno={int4 episode number}[&fcode={int4}&acode={int4}]
FILE aname={str anime name}&gid={int4 group id}&epno={int4 episode number}[&fcode={int4}&acode={int4}]
FILE aid={int4 anime id}&gname={str group name}&epno={int4 episode number}[&fcode={int4}&acode={int4}]
FILE aid={int4 anime id}&gid={int4 group id}&epno={int4 episode number}[&fcode={int4}&acode={int4}]

Possible Replies:

220 FILE

{int4 fid}|{int4 aid}|{int4 eid}|{int4 gid}|{int4 state}|{int8 size}|{str ed2k}|{str anidbfilename}

220 FILE

{int4 fid}|...(data list)

322 MULTIPLE FILES FOUND

{int4 fid 0}|{int4 fid 1}|...|{int4 fid n}

320 NO SUCH FILE

Info:

fid, aid, eid, gid are the unique ids for the file, anime, ep, group entries at anidb.

You can use those to create links to the corresponding pages at anidb.

anidbfilename is the anidb filename for the file.

However this name does not contain all the extra information of the filenames on AniDB and might be composed slightly different.

fcode and acode is integers where each bit corresponds to a data field related to the specified file (se below). The data list received is sorted in the same order as the tables (and fcode before acode). {f|a}code=-1 means retrieve all fields.
Only the first matching file is returned when aname, gname and epno is used.

State:

bit / int value 	meaning
1 / 1 		FILE_CRCOK: file matched official crc (displayed with green background in anidb)
2 / 2 		FILE_CRCERR: file DID NOT match official crc (displayed with red background in anidb)
3 / 4 		FILE_ISV2: file is version 2
4 / 8 		FILE_ISV3: file is version 3
5 / 16 		FILE_ISV4: file is version 4
6 / 32 		FILE_ISV5: file is version 5
7 / 64 		FILE_UNC: file is uncensored
8 / 128		FILE_CEN: file is censored

examples:
state ==== 9 ==> FILE_CRCOK+FILE_ISV3 ==> file matched official crc and is version 3
state ==== 0 ==> - ==> file was not crc checked and is version 1
state ==== 34 ==> FILE_CRCERR+FILE_ISV5 ==> file DID NOT match official crc and is version 5
state ==== 1 ==> FILE_CRCOK ==> file matched official crc and is version 1
state ==== 8 ==> FILE_ISV3 ==> file was not crc checked and is version 3

fcode:

Bit	Decimal	Data field	Bit	Decimal	Data field
0	1	not used	16	65536	str dub language
1	2	int4 aid	17	131072	str sub language
2	4	int4 eid	18	262144	str quality
3	8	int4 gid	19	524288	str source
4	16	int4 lid	20	1048576	str audio codec
5	32	not used	21	2097152	int4 audio bitrate
6	64	not used	22	4194304	str video codec
7	128	not used	23	8388608	int4 video bitrate
8	256	int2 state	24	16777216	str video resolution
9	512	int8 size	25	33554432	str file type (extension)
10	1024	str ed2k	26	67108864	int4 length in seconds
11	2048	str md5	27	134217728	str description
12	4096	str sha1	28	268435456	not used
13	8192	str crc32	29	536870912	not used
14	16384	not used	30	1073741824	str anidb file name
15	32768	not used	31	-2147483648	not used

acode:

Bit	Decimal	Data field	Bit	Decimal	Data field
0	1	str group name	16	65536	int4 anime total episodes
1	2	str group short name	17	131072	int4 last episode nr (highest, not special)
2	4	not used	18	262144	str year
3	8	not used	19	524288	str type
4	16	not used	20	1048576	str romaji name
5	32	not used	21	2097152	str kanji name
6	64	not used	22	4194304	str english name
7	128	not used	23	8388608	str other name
8	256	str epno	24	16777216	str short name list
9	512	str ep name	25	33554432	str synonym list
10	1024	str ep romaji name	26	67108864	str category list
11	2048	str ep kanji name	27	134217728	str related aid list
12	4096	not used	28	268435456	str producer name list
13	8192	not used	29	536870912	str producer id list
14	16384	not used	30	1073741824	not used
15	32768	not used	31	-2147483648	not used

Examples: (html escaped code intended)

> FILE fid=15201&s=xxxxx
< 220 FILE
15201|74|445|41|1|242772540|a53c401ed95eaa502ba85acde773040c|Ai yori Aoshi - 1 - Relation - [Zhentarim DivX].ogm

> FILE fid=15201&fcode=33554432&acode=1049346 
< 220 FILE 
15201|ogm|zx|01|Relation|Ai yori Aoshi

> FILE aname=narutaru&gname=triad&amp;aone&epno=2&s=xxxxx
< t001 220 FILE
15459|782|8772|380|1|171298816|2c8a3b53d94d8579b9b81941c549e108|Narutaru - 02 - Catastrophe During the Daytime - [Triad & AonE].avi

GROUP: Retrieve Group Data

Command String:
by gid

GROUP gid={int4 gid}

by name/shortname

GROUP gname={str group name}

Possible Replies:

250 GROUP

{int4 gid}|{int4 rating}|{int4 votes}|{int4 acount}|{int fcount}|{str name}|{str short}|{str irc channel}|{str irc server}|{str url}

350 NO SUCH GROUP

Examples:

 > GROUP gid=1&s=xxxxx
 < 250 GROUP
 41|851|665|109|1004|Zhentarim DivX|zx|#zhentarim|irc.deltaanime.net|http://www.zhentarim.net/

 > GROUP gname=a-l&s=xxxxx
 < 250 GROUP
 566|840|453|53|534|Anime-Legion|A-L|#anime-legion|irc.irchighway.net|http://www.anime-legion.net

PRODUCER: Retrieve Producer Data

Command String:
by id

PRODUCER pid={int4 producer id}

by name

PRODUCER pname={str producer name/short name/other name}

Possible Replies:

245 PRODUCER

{int4 id}|{str name}|{str short name}|{str other name}|{str type}|{str picture name}|{str home page url}

345 NO SUCH PRODUCER

Example:

 > PRODUCER pid=1
 < 245 PRODUCER
 1|GAINAX||ガイナックス|Company|1088.gif|http://www.gainax.co.jp/

GROUPSTATUS: Get Completed Episode

Returns a list of group names and ranges of episodes released by the group for a given anime.

Command String:

GROUPSTATUS aid={int animeid}[&state={int completion_state}]

Possible Replies:

225 Group Status

{int group id}|{str group name}|{int completion state}|{int last episode number}|{int rating}|{int votes}|{str episode range}\n

... (repeated)

325 No Groups Found
330 Anime Not Found

Info:

The seven fields will be repeated as necessary, one for each group, separated by a new line character
Groups will be filtered by the languages selected in the user's profile
If state is not supplied, groups with a completion state of 'ongoing', 'finished', or 'complete' are returned
Groups are returned in order of descending episode count
If there are more groups to return than can be stored in a UDP packet, additional groups will be silently discarded
state values: 1=ongoing, 2=stalled, 3=complete, 4=dropped, 5=finished, 6=specials_only

Mylist Commands

MYLIST: Retrieve Mylist Data

Command String:
by lid: (mylist id)

MYLIST lid={int4 lid}

by fid:

MYLIST fid={int4 fid}

by size+ed2k hash:

MYLIST size={int4 size}&ed2k={str ed2khash}

by anime + group + epno

MYLIST aname={str anime name}[&gname={str group name}&epno={int4 episode number}]
MYLIST aname={str anime name}[&gid={int4 group id}&epno={int4 episode number}]
MYLIST aid={int4 anime id}[&gname={str group name}&epno={int4 episode number}]
MYLIST aid={int4 anime id}[&gid={int4 group id}&epno={int4 episode number}]

Possible Replies:

221 MYLIST

{int4 lid}|{int4 fid}|{int4 eid}|{int4 aid}|{int4 gid}|{int4 date}|{int2 state}|{int4 viewdate}|{str storage}|{str source}|{str other}|{int2 filestate}

312 MULTIPLE MYLIST ENTRIES

{str anime title}|{int episodes}|{str eps with state unknown}|{str eps with state on hhd}|{str eps with state on cd}|{str eps with state deleted}|{str watched eps}|{str group 1 short name}|{str eps for group 1}|...|{str group N short name}|{str eps for group N}

321 NO SUCH ENTRY

Info:

The state field provides information about the location and sharing state of a file in mylist.
If files are added after hashing, a client should specify the state as 1 (on hdd) (if the user doesn't explicitly select something else).
eps is a list of episodes, e.g. "1-12,14-16,T1"

States:

 0 - unknown - state is unknown or the user doesn't want to provide this information
 1 - on hdd - the file is stored on hdd (but is not shared)
 2 - on cd - the file is stored on cd
 3 - deleted - the file has been deleted or is not available for other reasons (i.e. reencoded)

Filestates: (for normal files, ie. not generic)

 0   => normal/original
 1   => corrupted version/invalid crc
 2   => self edited
 10  => self ripped
 11  => on dvd
 12  => on vhs
 13  => on tv
 14  => in theaters
 15  => streamed
 100 => other

Example:

 > MYLIST aname=gits sac&s=xxxxx
 < 322 MULTIPLE FILES FOUND
 Koukaku Kidoutai STAND ALONE COMPLEX|26||1-26|1-26,S2-S27|||V-A|S2-S27|LMF|20-26|KAA|1-26|AonE|1-19|Anime-MX|1-3,9-20

MYLISTADD: Add file to mylist

The command string for MYLISTADD is made of up two blocks: a 'fileinfo' block, which limits the command to a specific file, or an 'animeinfo'/'groupinfo'/'episodeinfo' block, which can be used to specify a range of files, including generics. Additionally, a number of optional parameters can be included with either set.

Adding a single file to the MyList with the 'fileinfo' block

MYLISTADD fid={int4 fid}

or

MYLISTADD size={int4 size}&ed2k={str ed2khash}

or

MYLISTADD lid={int4 lid}&edit=1 (valid for edit only)

Adding one or more files to the MyList with the 'animeinfo'/'groupinfo'/'episodeinfo' block

Here, you have a number of options, depending on what data you have available. In brief, 'animeinfo' represents a choice between anime id and anime name. 'groupinfo' represents a choice between group id, group name, and generic=1. 'episodeinfo' represents a range of one or more episodes.

MYLISTADD aid={int4 aid}&gid={int gid}&epno={int4 episode number}

or

MYLISTADD aid={int4 aid}&gname={str group_name}&epno={int4 episode number}

or

MYLISTADD aid={int4 aid}&generic=1&epno={int4 episode number}

or

MYLISTADD aname={str anime_name}&gid={int gid}&epno={int4 episode number}

or

MYLISTADD aname={str anime_name}&gname={str group_name}&epno={int4 episode number}

or

MYLISTADD aname={str anime_name}&generic=1&epno={int4 episode number}

Each command listed can have, in addition, a number of optional components to provide further MyList details. Append these as desired.

&state={int2 state}
&viewed={boolean viewed}
&viewdate={int4 viewdate}
&source={str source}
&storage={str storage}
&other={str other}

Finally, edit=1 can be included to edit a mylist entry instead of creating a new one. When editing, optional values that are not supplied retain their original value. That is, they are not replaced with default or empty values. Only values supplied are updated.

Possible Replies:

320 NO SUCH FILE
330 NO SUCH ANIME
350 NO SUCH GROUP

when edit=0 and adding by fid, size/ed2k

210 MYLIST ENTRY ADDED

{int4 mylist id of new entry}

when edit=0 and adding by aname, aid

210 MYLIST ENTRY ADDED

{int4 number of entries added}

310 FILE ALREADY IN MYLIST
322 MULTIPLE FILES FOUND

{int4 fid 1}|{int4 fid 2}|...|{int4 fid n}

when edit=1

311 MYLIST ENTRY EDITED
311 MYLIST ENTRY EDITED

{int4 number of entries edited}

411 NO SUCH MYLIST ENTRY

Info:

All data except lid/fid/size+hash/generic is optional.
Viewed should be 0 for unwatched files and 1 for watched files.
if viewdate is not specified, the current time will be used. The field will be disregarded if viewed=0.
Other is the only field which may contain newlines, but they have to be stored as <br />
For state values refer to: MYLIST
If you want to change an existing entry and already know its mylist id (lid) please use the lid-version of this command. It put less load on the server.
epno=0 means all eps (default), negative numbers means upto. (-12 -> upto 12)
group is optional only when edit=1, meaning you can't add every file for an anime

MYLISTDEL: Remove file from mylist

Command String:
by lid: (mylist id)

MYLISTDEL lid={int4 lid}

by fid:

MYLISTDEL fid={int4 fid}

by size+ed2k hash:

MYLISTDEL size={int4 size}&ed2k={str ed2k hash}

by anime + group + epno

MYLISTDEL aname={str anime name}[&gname={str group name}&epno={int4 episode number}]
MYLISTDEL aname={str anime name}[&gid={int4 group id}&epno={int4 episode number}]
MYLISTDEL aid={int4 anime id}[&gname={str group name}&epno={int4 episode number}]
MYLISTDEL aid={int4 anime id}[&gid={int4 group id}&epno={int4 episode number}]

Possible Replies:

211 MYLIST ENTRY DELETED

{int4 number of entries}

411 NO SUCH MYLIST ENTRY

Info:

group is optional
command will delete all enties found

MYLISTSTATS : Retrieve mylist stats

Command String:

MYLISTSTATS

Possible Replies:

222 MYLIST STATS

{animes}|{eps}|{files}|{size of files}|{added animes}|{added eps}|{added files}|{added groups}|{leech %}|{glory %}|{viewed % of db}|{mylist % of db}|{viewed % of mylist}|{number of viewed eps}|{votes}|{reviews}

Info:

All fields are int

VOTE: Vote for specified anime/episode/group

Command String:
by id

VOTE type={int2 type}&id={int4 id}[&value={int4 vote value}&epno={int4 episode number}]

by name

VOTE type={int2 type}&name={string name}[&value={int4 vote value}&epno={int4 episode number}]

Possible Replies:

260 VOTED

{str aname/ename/gname}

261 VOTE FOUND

{str aname/ename/gname}|{vote value}

262 VOTE UPDATED

{str aname/ename/gname}|{old vote value}

263 VOTE REVOKED

{str aname/ename/gname}|{revoked vote value}

360 NO SUCH VOTE
361 INVALID VOTE TYPE
362 INVALID VOTE VALUE
363 PERMVOTE NOT ALLOWED

{str aname}

364 ALREADY PERMVOTED

{str aname/ename/gname}

Info:

type: 1=anime, 2=anime tmpvote, 3=group
for episode voting add epno on type=1
value: negative number means revoke, 0 means retrieve (default), 100-1000 are valid vote values, rest is illegal
votes will be updated automatically (no questions asked)
tmpvoting when there exist a perm vote is not possible

RANDOM: Get a random anime

Command String:

RANDOMANIME type={int4 type}

Possible Replies:

230 ANIME ... (see ANIME)

Info:

type: 0=from db, 1=watched, 2=unwatched, 3=all mylist

Misc Commands

MYLISTEXPORT: Schedule a MyList Export

Queues a MyList Export by the AniDb Servers. As with a manual export request, exports are only done during periods when server load is low. As a result, exports may take up to 24 hours. The client submitting the request will receive an AniDb message when the export is ready to be collected.

Only one export can be in the queue at a time.

Command String:

MYLISTEXPORT [template={str template_name}|cancel=1]

Possible Replies:

217 Export Queued
218 Export Cancelled
317 No Such Template
318 Export Already In Queue
319 No Export In Queue or Export In Progress

Info:

template_name must match an available export template on the MyList Export page.
cancel will cancel any pending export request, queued either through UDP or the web server.
Clients can subscribe the message notifications if they wish to be notified when an export is complete.

PING: Ping Command

Command String:

PING [nat=1]

Possible Replies:

300 PONG

{int4 port} (when nat=1)

Info:

This command does not require a session.
May be used by a frontend to determine if the API is still available.
May be executed even if not yet logged in.
The option nat=1 provides an easy way to determine if the router has changed the outgoing port. (587)

VERSION: Retrieve Server Version

Command String:

VERSION

Possible Replies:

998 VERSION

{str server version}

Info:

This command does not require a session.

UPTIME: Retrieve Server Uptime

Command String:

UPTIME

Possible Replies:

208 UPTIME

{int4 udpserver uptime in milliseconds}

Info:

This command is the preferred way to check that the session is OK.

ENCODING: Change Encoding for Session

Sets preferred encoding per session. The preferred way to do this is to use the enc argument for AUTH. This command is mostly for testing.

Command String:

ENCODING name={str encoding name}

Possible Replies:

219 ENCODING CHANGED
519 ENCODING NOT SUPPORTED

Info:

This command does not require a session.
Supported encodings: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/intl/encoding.doc.html
Default: ASCII.
Resets to default on logout.

SENDMSG: Send Message

Command String:

SENDMSG to={str username}&title={str title}&body={str body}

Possible Replies:

294 SENDMSG SUCCESSFUL
394 NO SUCH USER
501 LOGIN FIRST

Note:

This command allows you to send an AniDB message.

IMPORTANT:

title must not be longer than 50 chars.

body must not be longer than 900 chars.

USER: Retrieve User UID

Command String:

USER user={str user name}

Possible Replies:

394 NO SUCH USER
295 USER

{int4 uid}

Info:

The client should the check length (3-10) and case (lower) of user before sending.

STATS [disabled]

Command String:

STATS

Possible Replies:

206 STATS

{int4 animes)|{int4 eps}|{int4 files}|{int4 groups}|{int4 users}|{int8 total file size in bytes}|{int4 open creqs}

TOP [disabled]

Command String:

TOP

Possible Replies:

207 TOP

{str longest mylist}|{int count}

{str largest mylist}|{int count}

{str most lame files}|{int count}

{str most indep. user}|{int count}

{str biggest leecher}|{int count}

{str most anime added}|{int count}

{str most eps added}|{int count}

{str most files added}|{int count}

{str most groups added}|{int count}

{str most votes}|{int count}

{str most reviews}|{int count}

Info:

All strings are user names.
'Hide myself in IRC stats' applies for this too.

Fatal Errors

At anypoint int the retrieval process you have to expect the following output:

6xx INTERNAL SERVER ERROR

ERROR: {str errormessage}

OR

6xx INTERNAL SERVER ERROR - {str errormessage}

Such errors should be reported back to Ommina. (xx is a number between 00 and 99)

If you supply an unknown or unimplemented command you will get an error:

598 UNKNOWN COMMAND

Return Codes

Note: The names below do _not_ necessarily reflect the actual code strings returned by the server.

	// POSITIVE 2XX

	LOGIN_ACCEPTED				=200, //a
	LOGIN_ACCEPTED_NEW_VER			=201, //a
	LOGGED_OUT				=203, //a
	RESOURCE				=205, //d
	STATS					=206, //b
	TOP					=207, //b
	UPTIME					=208, //b
	ENCRYPTION_ENABLED			=209, //c

	MYLIST_ENTRY_ADDED			=210, //a
	MYLIST_ENTRY_DELETED			=211, //a

	ADDED_FILE				=214, //e
	ADDED_STREAM				=215, //e

	ENCODING_CHANGED			=219, //c

	FILE					=220, //a
	MYLIST					=221, //a
	MYLIST_STATS				=222, //b

	ANIME					=230, //b
	ANIME_BEST_MATCH			=231, //b
	RANDOMANIME				=232, //b
        ANIME_DESCRIPTION                       =233, //b

	EPISODE					=240, //b
	PRODUCER				=245, //b
	GROUP					=250, //b

	BUDDY_LIST				=253, //c
	BUDDY_STATE				=254, //c
	BUDDY_ADDED				=255, //c
	BUDDY_DELETED				=256, //c
	BUDDY_ACCEPTED				=257, //c
	BUDDY_DENIED				=258, //c

	VOTED					=260, //b
	VOTE_FOUND				=261, //b
	VOTE_UPDATED				=262, //b
	VOTE_REVOKED				=263, //b

	NOTIFICATION_ENABLED			=270, //a
	NOTIFICATION_NOTIFY			=271, //a
	NOTIFICATION_MESSAGE			=272, //a
	NOTIFICATION_BUDDY			=273, //c
	NOTIFICATION_SHUTDOWN			=274, //c
	PUSHACK_CONFIRMED			=280, //a
	NOTIFYACK_SUCCESSFUL_M			=281, //a
	NOTIFYACK_SUCCESSFUL_N			=282, //a
	NOTIFICATION				=290, //a
	NOTIFYLIST				=291, //a
	NOTIFYGET_MESSAGE			=292, //a
	NOTIFYGET_NOTIFY			=293, //a

	SENDMSG_SUCCESSFUL			=294, //a
	USER					=295, //d

	// AFFIRMATIVE/NEGATIVE 3XX

	PONG					=300, //a
	AUTHPONG				=301, //c
	NO_SUCH_RESOURCE			=305, //d
	API_PASSWORD_NOT_DEFINED		=309, //c

 	FILE_ALREADY_IN_MYLIST			=310, //a
	MYLIST_ENTRY_EDITED			=311, //a
	MULTIPLE_MYLIST_ENTRIES			=312, //e

	SIZE_HASH_EXISTS			=314, //c
	INVALID_DATA				=315, //c
	STREAMNOID_USED				=316, //c

	NO_SUCH_FILE				=320, //a
	NO_SUCH_ENTRY				=321, //a
	MULTIPLE_FILES_FOUND			=322, //b

	NO_SUCH_ANIME				=330, //b
        NO_SUCH_ANIME_DESCRIPTION               =333, //b
	NO_SUCH_EPISODE				=340, //b
	NO_SUCH_PRODUCER			=345, //b
	NO_SUCH_GROUP				=350, //b

	BUDDY_ALREADY_ADDED			=355, //c
	NO_SUCH_BUDDY				=356, //c
	BUDDY_ALREADY_ACCEPTED			=357, //c
	BUDDY_ALREADY_DENIED			=358, //c

	NO_SUCH_VOTE				=360, //b
	INVALID_VOTE_TYPE			=361, //b
	INVALID_VOTE_VALUE			=362, //b
	PERMVOTE_NOT_ALLOWED			=363, //b
	ALREADY_PERMVOTED			=364, //b

	NOTIFICATION_DISABLED			=370, //a
	NO_SUCH_PACKET_PENDING			=380, //a
	NO_SUCH_ENTRY_M				=381, //a
	NO_SUCH_ENTRY_N				=382, //a

	NO_SUCH_MESSAGE				=392, //a
	NO_SUCH_NOTIFY				=393, //a
	NO_SUCH_USER				=394, //a


	// NEGATIVE 4XX


	NOT_LOGGED_IN				=403, //a

	NO_SUCH_MYLIST_FILE			=410, //a
	NO_SUCH_MYLIST_ENTRY			=411, //a


	// CLIENT SIDE FAILURE 5XX


	LOGIN_FAILED				=500, //a
	LOGIN_FIRST				=501, //a
	ACCESS_DENIED				=502, //a
	CLIENT_VERSION_OUTDATED			=503, //a
	CLIENT_BANNED				=504, //a
	ILLEGAL_INPUT_OR_ACCESS_DENIED		=505, //a
	INVALID_SESSION				=506, //a
	NO_SUCH_ENCRYPTION_TYPE			=509, //c
	ENCODING_NOT_SUPPORTED			=519, //c

	BANNED					=555, //a
	UNKNOWN_COMMAND				=598, //a


	// SERVER SIDE FAILURE 6XX


	INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR			=600, //a
	ANIDB_OUT_OF_SERVICE			=601, //a
	SERVER_BUSY				=602, //d
	API_VIOLATION				=666, //a

Changelog

0.03b - 23.07.2006
BUDDY*, PRODUCER, ENCRYPT, ENCODING, USER, VERSION commands added
AUTH, NOTIFY, ANIME, FILE commands extended
STATS and TOP commands disabled due performance issues
several fixes

0.03 - 13.01.2006
ANIME, EPISODE, GROUP, STATS, TOP, UPTIME, MYLISTSTATS, VOTE and RANDOM commands added
it is now possible to use html escaped code in mylist fields, and '='
updated epno in default file name (for new specials)
... (a lot of stuff already forgotten)

0.02c - 10.10.2004
LOGOUT now requires the session string too
Note on 6xx server errors and tags added

0.02b - 14.08.2004
503 INVALID SESSION changed to 506 INVALID SESSION
BUGFIX: 200 message on AUTH did not contain a session key
BUGFIX: 1 internal bug fixed

0.02 - 13.08.2004
new session key needs to be send with each command
random udp ports no longer required
FILE, MYLIST, MYLISTDEL, MYLISTADD commands added
Some textparts of return values changed
additional documentation added
check the caching section!

0.01b - 12.08.2004
added NOTIFYLIST, NOTIFYGET, NOTIFYACK, SENDMSG commands

0.01 - 10.08.2004
initial version