API Key Concepts

GraphQL

IMDb APIs use GraphQL for querying data sets. Using GraphQL and its well-defined schema makes it easy to query IMDb APIs because it does not require written custom validation logic of the results. GraphQL also improves efficiency and allows for querying specific fields without wasting bandwidth and resources over-fetching and iterating through data. Once successfully subscribed to an API product, IMDb API schema documentation will be accessible through AWS Data Exchange.

Endpoint

The endpoint to make requests against is http://api-fulfill.dataexchange.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/v1. This endpoint is the same for all 3 IMDb API Products.

API Key

Whenever you make a call to the API you must include the API Key. The API must be passed in as a request header with the following format { "x-api-key": "<Your API Key>" }. This API key was sent to you by a member of IMDb staff.

AWS Authentication

When you make requests to the IMDb API, you will have to authenticate with AWS by providing some form of AWS credentials. Check out understanding and getting your AWS credentials to learn more about authentication in AWS and how to get your AWS credentials for use below.

AWS credentials - Using profiles

In case you already have the AWS CLI deployed to your machine, we recommend you use Named Profiles to store your AWS credentials for the AWS account which has the subscription to the IMDb real-time API. This will allow you to set an environment variable enabling you to run the proxy which will use your credentials without the need to export your keys as Environment Variables.

You can either create a new AWS Profile using aws configure --profile awsuser or you can use an existing one.

Once you have created the AWS Profile, you will need to set the environment variable to tell AWS which profile to use. To set the profile for use, use one of the following commands depending on your platform.

Linux or macOS:

export AWS_PROFILE=awsuser

Windows:

setx AWS_PROFILE awsuser

Please don't forget to launch a new Command Prompt after settings these values for them to take effect on Windows.

AWS credentials - Without profiles

In case you don't have the AWS CLI deployed to your machine, or you prefer making your AWS keys available to the proxy using environment variables, you will need to set your environment variables. To do this, make sure your AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY environment variables contain the 'Access Key ID' and the 'Secret Access Key' for the AWS account which has the subscription to the IMDb real-time API.

To set the credentials for use, use one of the following commands depending on your platform.

Linux or macOS:

export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="<your AWS Access Key ID>"

export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="<your AWS Secret Access Key>"

Windows:

setx AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID "<your AWS Access Key ID>"

setx AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY "<your AWS Secret Access Key>"

Please don't forget to launch a new Command Prompt after settings these values for them to take effect on Windows.

Viewing Your IMDb API Usage & Cost

You can view your usage using the AWS Cost explorer. This tool lets you explore, analyze and download your IMDb API usage & cost. For more information please refer to this page.

Note: AWS Cost Explorer needs to be enabled first, as explained in the prerequisites section.