VCG APIvcg.com ↗
Access VCG stock image metadata, trending search terms, similar images, and brand collections via 7 structured API endpoints covering Visual China Group's library.
What is the VCG API?
The VCG API provides 7 endpoints for querying Visual China Group's stock media catalog, returning structured metadata including image dimensions, license types, contributor info, and CDN preview URLs. The search_images endpoint accepts Chinese or English keywords and returns paginated results with thumbnails and license codes. Additional endpoints cover trending search rankings, hot keywords, brand collections, and visually similar image discovery.
curl -X GET 'https://api.parse.bot/scraper/a68c623f-b770-4c73-85fd-62524d4a3cf6/search_images?page=1&keyword=nature' \ -H 'X-API-Key: $PARSE_API_KEY'
Typed, relational, agent-ready
A generated client with real types, enums, and the links between objects — the structure a flat JSON response can't carry. Autocompletes in your editor and reads cleanly to coding agents.
- Fully typed · autocompletes
- Objects link to objects
- Typed errors & pagination
Typed Python client. Set up the SDK in your uv project, then pull this API’s typed client:
uv add parse-sdk uv run parse init uv run parse add --marketplace vcg-com-api
uv run parse add --marketplace pulls a pinned snapshot of this canonical API — it won’t change underneath you. To customize it, subscribe and swap to your own copy.
"""VCG Stock Media SDK — search images, explore trends, find similar content."""
from parse_apis.vcg.com_stock_media_api import VCG, ContentType, DateRange, ImageNotFound
client = VCG()
# Search for nature images — limit= caps total items fetched across all pages.
for image in client.images.search(keyword="nature", limit=5):
print(image.title, f"{image.width}x{image.height}", image.license_type)
# Drill into the first result for full metadata.
first = client.images.search(keyword="风景", limit=1).first()
if first:
detail = client.images.get(id=first.id)
print(detail.title, detail.license, detail.preview_url)
for kw in detail.keywords[:3]:
print(f" tag: {kw.cnname} ({kw.transform})")
# Find visually similar images from a known image.
if first:
for sim in first.similar(limit=3):
print(sim.title, sim.width, sim.height)
# Get trending search phrases for the last 7 days (images).
for rank in client.rankitems.list(type=ContentType.IMAGES, date=DateRange.SEVEN_DAYS, limit=5):
print(f"#{rank.number} {rank.phrase} — {rank.search_count} searches")
# Typed error handling — catch when an image ID doesn't exist.
try:
gone = client.images.get(id=9999999999)
print(gone.title)
except ImageNotFound as exc:
print(f"Image not found: {exc.image_id}")
print("exercised: images.search / images.get / similar / rankitems.list / error handling")
Search for creative images by keyword. Returns up to 50 results per page from VCG's stock image library. Pagination via page number. Each result includes basic metadata: ID, title, thumbnail URL, dimensions, and license type. Use get_image_detail for full metadata on a specific image.
| Param | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| page | integer | Page number for pagination (1-based). |
| keywordrequired | string | Search keyword (Chinese or English). |
{
"type": "object",
"fields": {
"items": "array of image objects with id, title, thumbnail_url, width, height, contributor, license_type",
"total": "integer total result count"
},
"sample": {
"data": {
"items": [
{
"id": 1571584985,
"title": "自然的律动",
"width": 3953,
"height": 2223,
"contributor": null,
"license_type": "Creative",
"thumbnail_url": "https://vcg02.cfp.cn/creative/vcg/nowater800/new/VCG211571584985.jpg"
}
],
"total": 20000
},
"status": "success"
}
}About the VCG API
Image Search and Detail
The search_images endpoint accepts a keyword parameter (Chinese or English) and an optional page number, returning an array of image objects — each with id, title, thumbnail_url, width, height, contributor, and license_type — plus a total count of matching results. For deeper metadata on any result, get_image_detail takes a numeric image_id and returns the full record: caption, license code (e.g. RF), a keywords array with each keyword's id, cnname, transform, and kind, plus a preview_url for the 800px CDN preview and a full_data object containing all raw metadata fields.
Trending Content and Hot Keywords
The get_hot_rank endpoint surfaces trending search phrases from VCG's creative insight data. Pass a date value of '7' or '30' for the time window, and a type of '1' (images) or '2' (videos). The response includes a data array where each item carries a phrase, searchCount, and rank number, alongside startTime and endTime strings. The get_hot_words endpoint returns a simpler list of system-recommended keywords, each with a keyword string and a link field. An optional limit parameter caps how many items come back.
Brands and Visual Similarity
The get_brands endpoint requires no inputs and returns VCG's available brand collections — each brand object includes id, brandName, assetFamily, licenseType, and pinYin. For reverse-lookup workflows, get_similar_images accepts a similar_id and returns a data array of visually related images, each carrying id, title, res_id, width, height, and url800. If you need only the watermarked preview link for a known image, get_image_thumbnail_url takes an image_id and returns a single thumbnail_url string without the full metadata payload.
The VCG API is a managed, monitored endpoint for vcg.com — not a raw scraper you maintain. Every endpoint is automatically health-checked on a schedule, and when vcg.com changes and a check fails, the API is automatically queued for repair and re-verified. It is built to keep working as the site underneath it changes.
This isn't an official vcg.com API — it's an independent, maintained REST wrapper over public data. Where the source has no official API (or only a limited one), Parse gives you a stable contract over a source that never promised one, and keeps it current. Need a new endpoint or field? You can revise it yourself in plain English and the agent rebuilds it against the live site in minutes — contributing the change back to the shared API is free.
Will this API break when the source site changes?+
Is this an official API from the source site?+
Can I fix or extend this API myself if I need a new endpoint or field?+
What happens if I call an endpoint that has an issue?+
- Build a design asset browser that searches VCG by keyword and displays thumbnails, dimensions, and license type from
search_images. - Monitor trending visual themes by pulling weekly or monthly hot search phrases from
get_hot_rankfiltered by image or video type. - Populate autocomplete suggestions in a creative tool using recommended keywords from
get_hot_words. - Enrich an internal DAM (digital asset management) system with full keyword taxonomy and caption data from
get_image_detail. - Implement a 'find similar images' feature by querying
get_similar_imageswith a knownsimilar_idand surfacing related visuals. - Display a brand directory of VCG collections with license and asset family metadata sourced from
get_brands. - Batch-generate preview thumbnails for a content catalog by calling
get_image_thumbnail_urlfor each image ID.
| Tier | Price | Credits/month | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 100 | 5 req/min |
| Hobby | $30/mo | 1,000 | 20 req/min |
| Developer | $100/mo | 5,000 | 100 req/min |
One credit = one API call regardless of which marketplace API you call. Exceeding the rate limit returns a 429 response. Authenticate with the X-API-Key header.
Does VCG have an official developer API?+
What does `get_image_detail` return beyond what `search_images` provides?+
search_images returns summary fields — id, title, thumbnail_url, width, height, contributor, and license_type. get_image_detail adds a caption, the full keywords array with per-keyword cnname, transform, and kind fields, a copyright string, an 800px preview_url, and a full_data object containing all remaining raw metadata fields for that image.Can I filter `get_hot_rank` results by editorial versus creative content?+
type parameter distinguishes images ('1') from videos ('2'), and date sets a 7- or 30-day window. Filtering by editorial versus creative sub-type is not currently exposed. The API returns phrase, searchCount, and rank number for each result. You can fork this API on Parse and revise it to add the missing filter endpoint if your use case requires that distinction.Does the API return download URLs or licensing purchase links for images?+
thumbnail_url or preview_url) for 800px watermarked images, along with license_type and license code metadata. Transactional licensing data is not covered. You can fork this API on Parse and revise it to add any endpoint that surfaces licensing workflow data if that becomes available.Are video assets searchable through the same endpoints used for images?+
get_hot_rank accepts type: '2' for video trending data. However, the search_images, get_image_detail, get_similar_images, and get_image_thumbnail_url endpoints are scoped to images only. Video search and detail are not currently covered. You can fork this API on Parse and revise it to add a dedicated video search or detail endpoint.