egyankosh.ac.in APIegyankosh.ac.in ↗
Access IGNOU's eGyanKosh digital repository via API. Browse communities, list collection items, retrieve unit metadata, download PDF URLs, and search course materials.
No input parameters required.
curl -X GET 'https://api.parse.bot/scraper/75eaec3c-43b1-4dff-9f15-4ad0419f35a0/get_communities' \ -H 'X-API-Key: $PARSE_API_KEY'
List all top-level communities (schools) in the IGNOU Self Learning Material repository. Returns the 22 schools that form the main organizational structure.
No input parameters required.
{
"type": "object",
"fields": {
"communities": "array of objects with name (string) and handle (string)"
},
"sample": {
"data": {
"communities": [
{
"name": "01. School of Humanities (SOH)",
"handle": "123456789/19"
},
{
"name": "02. School of Social Sciences (SOSS)",
"handle": "123456789/26"
}
]
},
"status": "success"
}
}About the egyankosh.ac.in API
The eGyanKosh API provides 5 endpoints for navigating and extracting content from IGNOU's Self Learning Material digital repository. Using get_communities, you can retrieve the 22 top-level schools that organize the repository, then drill down through sub-communities and collections to individual course units, pulling full metadata and direct PDF file URLs for any item.
Repository Navigation
The API exposes the full hierarchical structure of eGyanKosh. get_communities returns all 22 top-level communities, each with a name and handle. Passing any handle to get_community yields that community's name, its collections array, and any sub_communities — letting you traverse arbitrarily deep into IGNOU's school and programme structure. Handles flow through the hierarchy, so a handle obtained from sub_communities can be passed directly back into get_community.
Collection and Item Access
get_block_units accepts a collection handle from get_community and returns paginated results (20 items per page, controlled by a zero-indexed page parameter). Each item in the items array includes date, title, and handle. To retrieve full details for any unit, pass its handle to get_unit_detail, which returns the item's title, a structured metadata object (covering contributors, issue date, publisher, URI, and collection membership), and a files array with filename, url, and size for every associated PDF.
Search
The search endpoint accepts a query string and returns up to 10 results per page (zero-indexed page). Each result includes date, title, handle, and contributor. An optional scope parameter accepts a community or collection handle to constrain results to a specific programme or subject area, rather than searching the full repository.
- Build a subject-specific course catalogue by iterating communities and collections for a chosen school.
- Automate PDF discovery for IGNOU study units by chaining get_block_units and get_unit_detail.
- Index IGNOU Self Learning Materials by contributor using the contributor field returned in search results.
- Create a programme navigator that maps the full community and sub-community hierarchy from get_community responses.
- Compile a metadata dataset of IGNOU units including issue dates, publishers, and collection membership.
- Search across the repository for course materials on a specific topic and surface direct PDF download URLs.
| 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 | 250 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 eGyanKosh have an official developer API?+
What does get_unit_detail return beyond the item title?+
metadata object with fields including contributors, issue date, publisher, URI, and the collections the item appears in. It also returns a files array where each entry has a filename, a direct url, and a size string — typically pointing to the PDF version of the study unit.Can I search within a specific programme or subject area rather than the whole repository?+
search endpoint accepts an optional scope parameter. Pass any community or collection handle obtained from get_communities or get_community to restrict results to that scope. Omitting scope searches the entire eGyanKosh repository.Does the API expose assignment questions, exam papers, or audio-visual media metadata?+
How does pagination work across endpoints, and are there any limits to be aware of?+
get_block_units returns 20 items per page and search returns 10 results per page, both using a zero-indexed page parameter. There is no built-in way to request the total item count for a collection in a single call, so iterating pages until an empty items array is returned is the reliable way to exhaust a collection.