New API credit limits are now live

[Amruta Moktali]

Today we are switching to the new allocation scheme for Topsy’s Otter
API to support multiple tiers of usage, both free and commercial.

Under the new allocation scheme every request sent to the otter api,
irrespective of which specific call you use, will be considered as one
query. Thus removing the notion of credits per call and treating every
call as a query. The allocation scheme will allow for:

1. 3000 queries per day for free IP based credit limits
2. 7000 queries per day for free API based credits with an API key
( requires a simple sign-up via our API key sign-up interface
http://manage.topsy.com/app )
3. Commercial grade API based limits for larger volumes. If your
app requires larger volumes and you wish to get commercial access
now, please send us a note at a...@topsy.com. 

Your current apps built on Topsy services will not break with this
change ( unless they are making more than 3000 queries/day ), but we
encourage you to register for an API key to get 233% more free queries/
day.

Answers to some common questions:

Where do I get my API key?
You can register your application 
with Topsy and obtain an api key to access otter.topsy.com on 
Steps to obtain your apikey 

1. Go to : http://manage.topsy.com/app/ 

2. Click on Register an API key 
3. Enter details and obtain key 

I had already created a key last month do I need to create another
key?
No your apikey should work on otter.topsy.com as well

Does this mean I now get 3000 credits /day instead of 10 K/hr credits
for my calls?
Yes, we are moving away from the 10K/hr credit limit scheme to a query
based scheme. Thus irrespective of whether you are making a search
call or a stats call it would be considered as a single query. You
will able to make 3000 queries/day without an api key and 7000 queries/
day with a free apikey. 

How do I use the apikey?
All you need to do is append the apikey to your otter query as
follows : " &apikey=<yourapikey>"

Where can I check how many queries I have made?
You can still use the /credit.json call to view the number of queries
used in a day. As for weekly or monthly reports we are still working
on enabling that in the next few weeks. 

Please let us know if you have any questions and/or comments at
a...@topsy.com.We would love to hear your 
feedback.