# Target Category API (https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/target/category)

> Returns products listed in a Target category, 24 per page, each with title, brand, price, regular price, rating, image gallery, highlight bullets, and its TCIN. Unlike Target's keyword search this one paginates, so it is the way to walk a whole category: pass the returned cursor back until has_more is false. Because Target ships no keyword search worth billing for, this plus GET /v1/target/categories is how you discover TCINs. Two things to expect: consecutive pages occasionally repeat a handful of products, because Target's category ordering shifts between calls, so de-duplicate by product.id when crawling; and ratings are present on roughly half of category rows and null on the rest, which reflects Target's own data rather than an omission here.

TL;DR: `GET /v1/target/category` costs 5 credits per call and returns SocialCrawl's unified JSON schema. Single x-api-key auth, 100 free credits on signup.

## Parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `category_id` | yes | Target category node id, for example hz89j for Kitchen & Dining. Ids come from GET /v1/target/categories, and also appear in the category URLs on target.com (/c/<name>/-/N-<id>). |
| `page` | no | Page number, starting at 1. Prefer the universal cursor parameter. |
| `max_pages` | no | 1 to 50 (default 1, or 50 when `max_items` or `max_credits` is sent). Walk up to this many pages in one call and return the rows from all of them. Each page walked is billed exactly as one call to this endpoint (a cached page is free) and counts against your rate limit; its charge and any refund are recorded under the page's own request id, listed in `data.walk.request_ids`. The walk stops early at the last page, or when the request's time budget runs low; `data.walk.stopped` says why (`end`, `max_pages`, `max_items`, `max_credits`, `time_budget`, `page_error`) and `pagination.next_cursor` continues from where it stopped. |
| `max_items` | no | 1 to 5000. Get more in one call: keep walking pages until the response holds at least this many rows, then stop with `data.walk.stopped: "max_items"`. The last page is returned whole (it was billed), so `data.items` can hold up to one page more than this, and `pagination.next_cursor` resumes right after it without skipping a row. Walks up to 50 pages unless `max_pages` says fewer; each page is billed as one call (a cached page is free). Add `max_credits` to cap the spend. A long walk can stop on the time budget first (`"time_budget"`): send the returned cursor with the same params to continue. |
| `max_credits` | no | 1 to 100000. The most this call may spend, across every page it walks. A page starts only while the credits already spent plus that page's price (or, when higher, the most any page of this walk has cost) still fit, so the call never goes past it; the walk then stops with `data.walk.stopped: "max_credits"` and the cursor to resume. Sent alone, it walks as far as the budget goes (up to 50 pages). A value below the price of one page is a free 400 whose `error.details.page_credits` names that price. Credits a row join (`include=`) adds are known only once a page has run, so page 1 is checked against its own price. |

## Code example

```bash
curl -G "https://www.socialcrawl.dev/v1/target/category" \
  --data-urlencode "category_id=hz89j" \
  -H "x-api-key: sc_YOUR_API_KEY"
```

## FAQ

### Where do I get a Target category id?

From GET /v1/target/categories, which lists the whole browse taxonomy with each node's id. Category ids also appear in target.com category URLs as the segment after N- (for example /c/kitchen-dining/-/N-hz89j gives hz89j).

### How many products come back per page?

Twenty-four, fixed by Target. Pass the returned cursor back until has_more is false to walk the whole category. Consecutive pages occasionally repeat a handful of products because Target's category ordering shifts between calls, so de-duplicate by product.id when you crawl. Every row carries a stable id, which makes that a one-liner.

### Does this endpoint return real prices?

Yes. Every measured row carried a real current price and regular price, which makes this the right endpoint for price monitoring across a product set. Ratings are thinner: roughly half of category rows carry one and the rest return null, which reflects Target's own data.

### Can I filter a category by price or brand?

Not on this endpoint. Target's category surface accepts a category and a page and nothing else, so filtering happens in your code after the rows arrive. Every row carries brand and price, so filtering client-side is cheap.

### Why use this instead of keyword search?

Because there is no Target keyword search worth billing for. Target's search surface caps at 24 results, ignores paging, and returns unrelated products for a query that matches nothing, so we do not ship it. Browsing a category is the reliable path from nothing to a set of TCINs.

See the full Target API: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/platforms/target

## Pricing

- Standard endpoints: 1 credit per call
- Advanced endpoints: 5 credits per call
- Premium endpoints: 10 credits per call
- 100 free credits on signup, no credit card required. Cached responses cost 0 credits. Credit packs never expire.
- Full pricing: https://www.socialcrawl.dev/pricing

## Explore with AI

Questions this API answers, phrased for an AI assistant:

- How to list all products in a Target category with an API
- How do I find a Target category id?
- Does the Target API return real prices for category listings?