Namecheap API

Introduction

Namecheap Environments

barely need to change the service URL, APIusername and APIkey.

Sandbox Environment

https://api.sandbox.namecheap.com/xml.response

Production Environment

We can't stress enough, but please test your APIs against our sandbox environment before pointing it to production. We would like to avoid service disruptions in production caused by untested code.

Following is the API Service URL for our production environment

https://api.namecheap.com/xml.response

Enabling API Access

There is no restriction for trying out our APIs in the sandbox environment. However, to enable API access on the production environment, you must meet our requirements.If you don’t meet any of our requirements but wish to use our APIs in production, contact our support team and we will get back to you.

The steps for enabling API access are similar in production and sandbox environments.To enable API access, follow the steps given below on the appropriate environment:
   1. Login to your Namecheap account.
   2. Go to My Account > Manage Profile page
   3. From the left pane, select API Access option.
   4. On the Manage Profile - API Access page, enter your account password.
   5. Read our terms of service, and select the box indicating you agree.
   6. Click Enable API Access.

After enabling API access, you will be allotted an APIUsername and APIKey. Your access to the
API is authenticated using these elements.

Making an API Call

You can easily access API be sending your parameters as a HTTP-GET request query string to the service URLs. The response is given in XML format. The HTTP-GET request URL is formed by adding query parameters and values to a service URL. The first parameter begins after a ? symbol. Successive parameters are included by adding an & symbol before each parameter.The format for adding queries is parameter=values. The following is the syntax of an API call:

https://<service url>/xml.response
?ApiUser=<api_username>
&ApiKey=<api_key>
&UserName=<nc_username>
&Command=<cmd_name>
&ClientIp=<clientIPaddress>

Sample API Call

https://api.sandbox.namecheap.com/xml.response
?ApiUser=ncuser
&ApiKey=apikey
&UserName=ncuser
&ClientIp=121.22.123.22
&Command=namecheap.domains.check
&DomainList=domain1.com,domain2.com

Reference for all available commands and required parameters.

Successful Call

You can find out if an API call was successful or not by checking the ApiResponse Status. The following is the syntax of a successful API call:

<ApiResponse Status="OK">
<Errors/>
[#Requested data in XML format...]
</ApiResponse>

Erroneous Call

<ApiResponse Status="ERROR">
<Errors>
<Error Number="0">Error message</Error>
</Errors>
</ApiResponse>

Resetting the API key

If you reset the API key, make sure you update the new API key on every API call.

Disabling API Access

To discontinue using NameCheap API, go to Manage Profile - API Access in the appropriate environment and choose Disable API Access option.