kitsu.anime

stable Standard

Kitsu anime by id.

GET /v1/kitsu/anime

What you get#

One Kitsu record in Onekey's unified shape, in data. If the record does not exist you get a 404 not_found and are not charged.

What it costs#

Standard · 1 credit for a fresh fetch, charged only when it succeeds.
Free when served from cache (0.2 credit for a cached response over 100 KB).
Free if the request is invalid (never charged) or the source fails or reports not found (refunded).

Parameters#

Name	Type	Required	Default	What it is	Constraints
`id`	string	yes	(required)	Kitsu id	max 8 chars; must match `[0-9]{1,8}`; trimmed

Request#

curl "https://api.onekey.dev/v1/kitsu/anime?id=1" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Try it

Add your key to run this call right here. No key? Get one free. The key stays in this tab.

Recorded response#

A real Kitsu response, recorded and returned in Onekey's shape. Fields the platform does not provide are null.

json

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "entity": {
      "id": "1",
      "name": "Cowboy Bebop",
      "description": "In the year 2071, humanity has colonized several of the planets and moons of the solar system leaving the now uninhabitable surface of planet Earth behind. The Inter Solar System Police attempts to keep peace in the galaxy, aided in part by outlaw bounty hunters, referred to as \"Cowboys\". The ragtag team aboard the spaceship Bebop are two such individuals.\nMellow and carefree Spike Spiegel is balanced by his boisterous, pragmatic partner Jet Black as the pair makes a living chasing bounties and ",
      "status": "finished",
      "type": "TV",
      "stats": {
        "score": 82.27
      }
    },
    "event": {
      "startDate": "1998-04-03"
    },
    "ext": {
      "episodes": 26,
      "popularityRank": 44
    },
    "media": {
      "thumbnailUrl": "https://media.kitsu.app/anime/poster_images/1/small.jpg"
    }
  },
  "metadata": {
    "platform": "kitsu",
    "endpoint": "anime",
    "cached": false,
    "stale": false,
    "age_s": 0,
    "fetched_at": "2026-01-01T12:00:00+00:00",
    "credits_charged": 1,
    "request_id": "7f3a9c2e5b1d4c8fa2e6d0b9c4f18e37"
  },
  "error": null
}

Field mapping#

How this endpoint's source fields become Onekey's unified schema. Fields the source lacks come back as null.

Source path	Onekey field	Transform
`id`	`entity.id`	-
`attributes.canonicalTitle`	`entity.name`	-
`attributes.synopsis`	`entity.description`	-
`attributes.status`	`entity.status`	-
`attributes.subtype`	`entity.type`	-
`attributes.startDate`	`event.startDate`	-
`attributes.episodeCount`	`ext.episodes`	`toNumber`
`attributes.averageRating`	`entity.stats.score`	`toNumber`
`attributes.popularityRank`	`ext.popularityRank`	`toNumber`
`attributes.posterImage.small`	`media.thumbnailUrl`	`safeUrl`

Caching and freshness#

Fresh for about 1 hour. Repeat calls in that window are served from cache and are free.
Between 1 hour and 1 day the cached copy is still served instantly and marked stale: true while Onekey refreshes it in the background.
If the source is down when a refresh is needed, the last copy can be served for up to 3 days more (marked stale).
A "not found" is remembered for 5 minutes and is free.
The cache is shared across all customers, which is what keeps repeat calls cheap.

What can go wrong#

Status	Code	What to do
401	`unauthorized`	Check the `x-api-key` header.
402	`insufficient_credits`	Add credits; your balance must cover the price.
404	`not_found`	That record does not exist. Free; do not retry.
422	`invalid_params`	Fix the parameters using the table above. Free.
429	`rate_limited`	Wait `Retry-After` seconds, then retry.
502	`upstream_error`	The source failed. Refunded; retry with backoff.

See Errors for the full list and retry guidance.

Status: stable (verified against the live source).