Prerequisites
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This document describes the things you should do before
writing your first client application.
Get a Google Account
You need a Google Account to use this API.
Your account must have the appropriate Search Console permission on a given property in order to
call that method on that property. For example, in order to run searchAnalytics.query
you need read permissions on that property.
Try out Google Search Console
This API documentation assumes that you've used Google Search Console, and that you're familiar with web programming concepts and web data formats.
If you haven't used Google Search Console, then try out the user interface before starting to code.
Each API represents the functionality of a report in Search Console. You should
read the documentation for the equivalent report before using an API in order to understand the data you receive.
Create a project and credentials for your client
Before you can send requests to Google Search Console, you need to tell Google about your client and
activate access to the API. You do this by using the Google API Console to create a project,
which is a named collection of settings and API access information, and register your application.
All Search Console APIs except the Testing Tools API require OAuth2 credentials.
The Python and Java quickstart guides provide details on how to create a project and get credentials for your client.
Understand REST basics
There are two ways to invoke the API:
If you decide not to use client libraries, you'll need to understand the basics of REST.
REST basics
REST is a style of software architecture that provides a convenient and consistent approach to requesting and modifying data.
The term REST is short for "Representational State Transfer." In the context of Google APIs, it refers to using HTTP verbs to retrieve and modify representations of data stored by Google.
In a RESTful system, resources are stored in a data store; a client sends a request that the server perform a particular action (such as creating, retrieving, updating, or deleting a resource), and the server performs the action and sends a response, often in the form of a representation of the specified resource.
In Google's RESTful APIs, the client specifies an action using an HTTP verb such as POST, GET, PUT, or DELETE. It specifies a resource by a globally-unique URI of the following form:
https://www.googleapis.com/apiName/apiVersion/resourcePath?parameters
Because all API resources have unique HTTP-accessible URIs, REST enables data caching and is optimized to work with the web's distributed infrastructure.
You may find the method definitions in the HTTP 1.1 standards documentation useful; they include specifications for GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE.
REST in the Google Search Console API
The Google Search Console API operations map directly to REST HTTP verbs.
The format for most Google Search Console API URIs are something like this:
VERB https://www.googleapis.com/webmasters/v3/resourcePath?parameters
The full set of URIs and verbs used for each method are given in the Google Search Console API Reference overview.
Understand JSON basics
The Google Search Console API returns data in JSON format.
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is a common, language-independent data format that provides a simple text representation of arbitrary data structures. For more information, see json.org.
Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC.
[null,null,["Last updated 2025-08-28 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eBefore using the Google Search Console API, you must have a Google Account with the necessary Search Console permissions.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eFamiliarize yourself with the Google Search Console user interface and its reports to understand the data the API provides.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eCreate a project in the Google API Console and obtain OAuth2 credentials to enable your client application's access to the API.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eUnderstand REST principles, particularly HTTP verbs and resource URIs, to interact with the API directly or choose to use client libraries.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe Google Search Console API uses JSON for data exchange, so understanding this format is essential for processing API responses.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Before creating a client application, obtain a Google Account with Search Console permissions. Familiarize yourself with Google Search Console's user interface and relevant report documentation. Create a Google API Console project to register your application and get OAuth2 credentials. If not using client libraries, understand REST basics, including HTTP verbs (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) and URIs. Finally, learn JSON, the data format used by the Google Search Console API.\n"],null,["# Prerequisites\n\nThis document describes the things you should do before\nwriting your first client application.\n\nGet a Google Account\n--------------------\n\nYou need a [Google Account](https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount) to use this API.\nYour account must have the appropriate Search Console permission on a given property in order to\ncall that method on that property. For example, in order to run [searchAnalytics.query](/webmaster-tools/v1/searchanalytics/query)\nyou need read permissions on that property.\n\nTry out Google Search Console\n-----------------------------\n\nThis API documentation assumes that you've used [Google Search Console](https://search.google.com/search-console/), and that you're familiar with web programming concepts and web data formats.\n\nIf you haven't used Google Search Console, then try out the [user interface](https://search.google.com/search-console/) before starting to code.\nEach API represents the functionality of a report in Search Console. You should [read the documentation for the equivalent report](https://support.google.com/webmasters/topic/9456557) before using an API in order to understand the data you receive.\n\nCreate a project and credentials for your client\n------------------------------------------------\n\nBefore you can send requests to Google Search Console, you need to tell Google about your client and\nactivate access to the API. You do this by using the Google API Console to create a project,\nwhich is a named collection of settings and API access information, and register your application.\n\n\nAll Search Console APIs except the Testing Tools API require OAuth2 credentials.\nThe Python and Java quickstart guides provide details on how to create a project and get credentials for your client.\n\nUnderstand REST basics\n----------------------\n\nThere are two ways to invoke the API:\n\n- Sending HTTP requests and parsing the responses.\n- Using [client libraries](./libraries).\n\nIf you decide not to use client libraries, you'll need to understand the basics of REST.\n\n#### REST basics\n\nREST is a style of software architecture that provides a convenient and consistent approach to requesting and modifying data.\n\nThe term REST is short for \"[Representational State Transfer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_state_transfer).\" In the context of Google APIs, it refers to using HTTP verbs to retrieve and modify representations of data stored by Google.\n\nIn a RESTful system, resources are stored in a data store; a client sends a request that the server perform a particular action (such as creating, retrieving, updating, or deleting a resource), and the server performs the action and sends a response, often in the form of a representation of the specified resource.\n\nIn Google's RESTful APIs, the client specifies an action using an HTTP verb such as `POST`, `GET`, `PUT`, or `DELETE`. It specifies a resource by a globally-unique URI of the following form: \n\n```\nhttps://www.googleapis.com/apiName/apiVersion/resourcePath?parameters\n```\n\nBecause all API resources have unique HTTP-accessible URIs, REST enables data caching and is optimized to work with the web's distributed infrastructure.\n\nYou may find the [method definitions](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7231#section-4.3) in the HTTP 1.1 standards documentation useful; they include specifications for `GET`, `POST`, `PUT`, and `DELETE`.\n\n### REST in the Google Search Console API\n\nThe Google Search Console API operations map directly to REST HTTP verbs.\n\nThe format for most Google Search Console API URIs are something like this: \n\n```\nVERB https://www.googleapis.com/webmasters/v3/resourcePath?parameters\n```\n\nThe full set of URIs and verbs used for each method are given in the [Google Search Console API Reference](/webmaster-tools/v1/api_reference_index) overview.\n\nUnderstand JSON basics\n----------------------\n\nThe Google Search Console API returns data in JSON format.\n\n\n[JSON](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON) (JavaScript Object Notation) is a common, language-independent data format that provides a simple text representation of arbitrary data structures. For more information, see [json.org](http://www.json.org/).\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e"]]
