{"eid":"stackexchange","name":"Stack Exchange","domain":"stackexchange.com","resolved_by":"domain","topics":["data-apis","storage"],"n_records":3,"best_vorder":1,"review":null,"aliases":["Stack Exchange","Stack Exchange API","Stack Exchange image host (i.sstatic.net, ex-i.stack.imgur.com)","stack exchange as bulk storage","stackexchange.com"],"records":[{"rid":"data-apis/stack-exchange-api","card":{"rid":"data-apis/stack-exchange-api","eid":"stackexchange","topic":"data-apis","slug":"stack-exchange-api","provider":"Stack Exchange API","url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs","domain":"stackexchange.com","category":"Q&A knowledge API (REST, JSON) with quarterly XML data dumps","tier":"free","verdict":"qualifies-with-caveat","vorder":1,"grp":"usable","self_hosted":0,"confidence":"documented","binding":"request-rate","identity_kind":"email","identity_basis":"stated","needs_card":0,"needs_phone":0,"needs_id":0,"needs_institution":0,"country":null,"crypto":null,"interfaces":"rest","egress_metered":0,"per_object_bytes":null,"retention_days":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-03T00:28:12.185Z","verified_basis":"live","checked_on":"2026-11-03","stale_on":"2026-12-04","n_evidence":57,"usd_month":null,"usd_per_tb_month":null,"summary":"With no key, 300 requests per day per IP. A free app key from Stack Apps raises the daily limit to 10,000 per IP; an access token gives a separate 10,000-per...","duplicate_of":null,"n_unknown":0,"free_unit":"requests"},"record":{"topic":"data-apis","slug":"stack-exchange-api","provider":"Stack Exchange API","url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs","category":"Q&A knowledge API (REST, JSON) with quarterly XML data dumps","tier":"free","free_tier":{"stated":"With no key, 300 requests per day per IP. A free app key from Stack Apps raises the daily limit to 10,000 per IP; an access token gives a separate 10,000-per-day quota for each user and app pair, up to 5 per user. Every site's content is also published quarterly as an XML data dump.","unit":"requests","metered_on":"request-count","source_url":"https://stackapps.com/questions/2","read_on":"2026-10-31","notes":"A keyless call answered 200 with quota_max 300. When one IP uses several keys, the highest key's limit applies to that IP, so more keys do not add quota. Anonymous paging stops at page 25: a page above 25 answered access_denied with no key or token."},"per_object_cap":{"stated":"at most 100 items per page and 100 ids per {ids} parameter; page numbers above 25 need an app key or an access token","bytes":null,"source_url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs","notes":""},"retention":{"stated":"the API serves the live sites; the official dump page offers the current quarterly dump, and Academic Torrents lists community uploads of the network dump from 2024-02-29 to 2026-09-30","days":null,"source_url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/419975/the-return-of-the-network-data-dump","notes":"The company states it will keep the dumps online for as long as reasonably possible."},"egress":{"terms":"Free: API responses are gzip-compressed JSON with no byte price; the official dumps download free from a logged-in profile, and the community copy on the Internet Archive downloads over anonymous HTTP with Range support","metered":false,"free_allowance":"no byte allowance published","price_per_tb":null,"source_url":"https://stackoverflow.com/help/data-dumps"},"interface":["rest"],"interface_detail":"JSON over HTTPS GET at https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3/, every response compressed; the authentication documentation says an application key or access token goes in an Authorization header as a Bearer value; OAuth 2.0 for user-scoped calls and writes; quarterly XML dumps as one 7z archive per site, downloaded from the Data dump access page in that site's profile settings (one site for each download; a meta site is a separate download from its own profile), or for the whole network from the data dumps page of user preferences on Meta Stack Exchange; the community copies of the whole-network dump are also distributed as BitTorrent torrents (the interface vocabulary has no BitTorrent term, so the record lists rest); the Stack Exchange Data Explorer runs SQL over a copy refreshed every Sunday.","endpoint":"https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3/","tooling":"Any HTTP client that decompresses gzip; 7-Zip or p7zip for the dump archives; a BitTorrent client for the Internet Archive and Academic Torrents copies of the network dump.","chaining":"The quarterly XML dump is the bulk path for a whole-site or whole-network read (official download from a logged-in profile, or the anonymous community copy on the Internet Archive and Academic Torrents); the API at 300 requests a day keyless, or 10,000 with a free key, serves fresh lookups; the Data Explorer answers SQL over the weekly copy.","limits":[{"kind":"request-rate","value":"300 requests per day per IP with no key; 10,000 per day per IP with a free app key, and an IP using several keys gets the highest key's limit","source":"https://stackapps.com/questions/2"},{"kind":"request-rate","value":"10,000 requests per day for each user and app pair with an access token; up to 5 such quotas per user","source":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/throttle"},{"kind":"per-ip-shaping","value":"more than 30 requests a second from one IP are dropped, with a ban on the order of 30 seconds to a few minutes","source":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/throttle"},{"kind":"request-rate","value":"a response carrying backoff means that method must not be called again for that many seconds; semantically identical requests at most once a minute","source":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/throttle"},{"kind":"per-object-cap","value":"100 items per page and 100 ids per call; page numbers above 25 need an app key or an access token","source":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs"}],"limits_note":"The keyless quota is shared by every keyless application on one IP. The network-wide dump download is reported to fail around 19.5 GB for some downloaders.","binding":"request-rate","binding_note":"An IP gets 300 requests a day with no key and 10,000 with a free key, so a whole-site read goes to the quarterly dump, which has no request count.","identity_cost":{"kind":"email","detail":"Keyless reads need nothing: a call with no key answered 200 at 300 requests a day. The 10,000-a-day key needs an application registered on Stack Apps, whose registration page sends a visitor with no session to the login page, and then an API key generated on the application's dashboard, because a new application has no key until one is generated. The Stack Apps signup takes an email and a password, or a Google sign-in; the network signup takes an email and a password, or a Google or GitHub sign-in. The official dump of one site needs a logged-in profile on that site; the official whole-network dump is downloaded from the data dumps page of user preferences on Meta Stack Exchange, which sends a visitor with no session to the Meta Stack Exchange login page; the community copy on the Internet Archive needs no account.","country":null},"reliability_note":"The network-wide dump came back in October 2026 after a removal of about two years, and downloads of the full archive are reported to fail around 19.5 GB; the Internet Archive copy is a community upload, not an official release.","confidence":"documented","confidence_note":"The quotas and throttles are documented, not exhausted. A keyless call answered 200 with quota_max 300, page 26 with no key answered access_denied, and a HEAD on one site archive of the Internet Archive copy answered 200 with its size. The 10,000-a-day key quota sits behind a sign-up. quota_max of a call made with a new key: unverified: behind a sign-up. The fields of the Stack Apps registration form after its June 2025 redesign: unverified: behind a sign-up; a 2021 Stack Apps post lists four required fields, Application Name, Description, OAuth domain and Application Website. Whether the whole-network dump page opens for an account with no profile on Meta Stack Exchange: unverified: behind a sign-up.","evidence":[{"url":"https://stackapps.com/questions/2","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"the daily request limit is counted per IP address","capture":"sha256:fdd5cfb8f1b2b14128f5e67e220bbd173ffabc02ccb92813c57ee5b07fc9242d","quote":"A single IP address can only make a limited number of requests per day to the API."},{"url":"https://stackapps.com/questions/2","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"with an API key the daily limit is 10,000 requests","capture":"sha256:fdd5cfb8f1b2b14128f5e67e220bbd173ffabc02ccb92813c57ee5b07fc9242d","quote":"- Key: `10,000`"},{"url":"https://stackapps.com/questions/2","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"with no key the daily limit is 300 requests","capture":"sha256:fdd5cfb8f1b2b14128f5e67e220bbd173ffabc02ccb92813c57ee5b07fc9242d","quote":"- No Key: `300`"},{"url":"https://stackapps.com/questions/2","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"an IP using several keys gets the highest key's limit, not a sum","capture":"sha256:fdd5cfb8f1b2b14128f5e67e220bbd173ffabc02ccb92813c57ee5b07fc9242d","quote":"Should an IP address be using more than one key, the highest request limit will be used."},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3/info?site=stackoverflow","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"a keyless call to /2.3/info answered with quota_max 300","capture":"sha256:2a7afc9ca71f4a6691cfda0a0191d67e24ac9503c6f2277b38303df46e2f777a","quote":"\"has_more\":false,\"quota_max\":300,\"quota_remaining\":299"},{"url":"probe:https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3/info?site=stackoverflow","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"a keyless GET of /2.3/info?site=stackoverflow answered 200","capture":"sha256:b4aff130cbd799f269b779148d24e87f9e7bb85231206a208d2909ead3cbe89a","quote":"\"status\": 200"},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/2.3/questions?page=26&pagesize=1&site=stackoverflow","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"page 26 with no key or token answered access_denied","capture":"sha256:d3eee9ed2be73e57d3066c8bfda0b5f9794331af3d656f5e6a025244a52972cf","quote":"{\"error_id\":403,\"error_message\":\"page above 25 requires access token or app key\",\"error_name\":\"access_denied\"}"},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"anonymous paging stops at page 25","capture":"sha256:c50b33cbc51a04fd3fa66267cbb9cf719d86df0f7f0654af8e99de1214bde51b","quote":"The maximum page number that will be returned for anonymous API access (no access token or app key) is 25"},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"a page holds at most 100 items and an {ids} parameter at most 100 ids","capture":"sha256:c50b33cbc51a04fd3fa66267cbb9cf719d86df0f7f0654af8e99de1214bde51b","quote":"Unless otherwise noted, the maximum size of any page is `100`, any `{ids}` parameter likewise is capped at `100` elements, all indexes start at 1."},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"a request key needs an application registered on Stack Apps","capture":"sha256:c50b33cbc51a04fd3fa66267cbb9cf719d86df0f7f0654af8e99de1214bde51b","quote":"Applications must be registered on [Stack Apps](http://stackapps.com/apps/oauth/register) to get a request key or [enable OAuth for authentication](https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/authentication)."},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"every API response is compressed","capture":"sha256:c50b33cbc51a04fd3fa66267cbb9cf719d86df0f7f0654af8e99de1214bde51b","quote":"Additionally, all API responses are compressed."},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/throttle","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"more than 30 requests a second from one IP are dropped","capture":"sha256:44e77939f9c8ab30ac0851cfa17729c9d9ca7e5659e502af2cb1d7652de9b8b9","quote":"If a single IP is making more than 30 requests a second, new requests will be dropped."},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/throttle","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"the ban after the 30-a-second throttle lasts about 30 seconds to a few minutes","capture":"sha256:44e77939f9c8ab30ac0851cfa17729c9d9ca7e5659e502af2cb1d7652de9b8b9","quote":"The exact ban period is subject to change, but will be on the order of 30 seconds to a few minutes typically."},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/throttle","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"keyed applications without a token share an IP quota of 10,000 a day by default","capture":"sha256:44e77939f9c8ab30ac0851cfa17729c9d9ca7e5659e502af2cb1d7652de9b8b9","quote":"it is the max of the daily request limit for the applications involved, which by default is 10,000."},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/throttle","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"an access token gives a separate 10,000-a-day quota for each user and app pair","capture":"sha256:44e77939f9c8ab30ac0851cfa17729c9d9ca7e5659e502af2cb1d7652de9b8b9","quote":"then the application is on a distinct user/app pair daily quota (default size of 10,000)."},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/throttle","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"a user can hold up to 5 such quotas","capture":"sha256:44e77939f9c8ab30ac0851cfa17729c9d9ca7e5659e502af2cb1d7652de9b8b9","quote":"A user can have up to 5 distinct quotas at any one time"},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/throttle","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"a backoff field obliges a wait before calling that method again","capture":"sha256:44e77939f9c8ab30ac0851cfa17729c9d9ca7e5659e502af2cb1d7652de9b8b9","quote":"If an application receives a response with the `backoff` field set, it must wait that many seconds before hitting the same method again."},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/throttle","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"identical requests are asked to be at most once a minute","capture":"sha256:44e77939f9c8ab30ac0851cfa17729c9d9ca7e5659e502af2cb1d7652de9b8b9","quote":"no application should make semantically identical requests more than once a minute."},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/authentication","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"user-scoped access uses OAuth 2.0","capture":"sha256:1eb8d65dbad9edbe2ce1730bbbc406d4e9856e9c185307998e4568eaa06532b1","quote":"The Stack Exchange API offers user authentication via OAuth 2.0"},{"url":"https://stackapps.com/apps/oauth/register","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"the Stack Apps application registration page redirects a visitor with no session to the login page","capture":"sha256:48ec0d8b519ad05b6cabfc2ebf0f0f1cf00902397057fbc0e5ce7ad7a026d389","quote":"x-web-final-url: https://stackapps.com/users/login?returnurl=/applications"},{"url":"https://stackoverflow.com/users/signup","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"the network signup offers GitHub sign-in beside the email and password fields","capture":"sha256:eafdc00381d3d096f9acf1651a8e245cc37312d5a1d5658b30deeb7393a33250","quote":"Sign up with GitHub"},{"url":"https://stackoverflow.com/users/signup","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"the network signup offers Google sign-in","capture":"sha256:eafdc00381d3d096f9acf1651a8e245cc37312d5a1d5658b30deeb7393a33250","quote":"Sign up with Google"},{"url":"https://stackoverflow.com/help/data-dumps","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"each site's dump is published quarterly and downloaded from the account settings page","capture":"sha256:66188c6853d8963f0472798032fed98e80ef908b4eb01f5a79c15caedc37c6c0","quote":"Content from each Stack Exchange site is made available quarterly in the form of a “data dump” file that can be accessed by a user via their account settings page."},{"url":"https://stackoverflow.com/help/data-dumps","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"the official download is a checkbox and a button on a logged-in settings page","capture":"sha256:66188c6853d8963f0472798032fed98e80ef908b4eb01f5a79c15caedc37c6c0","quote":"Check the box affirming that you do not intend to use the file for LLM training, and then use the “Download data” button to begin downloading the file."},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/419975/the-return-of-the-network-data-dump","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"the network-wide dump had been removed about two years earlier","capture":"sha256:0404e037bdeda36f5b73c27e8bf40af5e56193262d6aa9707e000b11fd0ed647","quote":"A couple of years ago, we announced some changes to the way that we handled data dumps."},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/419975/the-return-of-the-network-data-dump","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"the network-wide dump was restored in October 2026","capture":"sha256:0404e037bdeda36f5b73c27e8bf40af5e56193262d6aa9707e000b11fd0ed647","quote":"I am very pleased to tell you that we are now restoring the network-level data dump, effective today."},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/419975/the-return-of-the-network-data-dump","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"the network and per-site dumps download from the user preferences page","capture":"sha256:0404e037bdeda36f5b73c27e8bf40af5e56193262d6aa9707e000b11fd0ed647","quote":"The tool to download these dumps can be found on the data dumps page in [user preferences](https://meta.stackexchange.com/users/data-dump-access/current), along with the per-site data dump."},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/419975/the-return-of-the-network-data-dump","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"new dumps are published quarterly","capture":"sha256:0404e037bdeda36f5b73c27e8bf40af5e56193262d6aa9707e000b11fd0ed647","quote":"We will publish new dumps quarterly, as soon as reasonably possible after the beginning of each quarter."},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/419975/the-return-of-the-network-data-dump","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"full-archive downloads are reported to fail around 19.5 GB for some downloaders","capture":"sha256:0404e037bdeda36f5b73c27e8bf40af5e56193262d6aa9707e000b11fd0ed647","quote":"We have reports of successful downloads, including the full archive, and reports that the full archive still fails around 19.5 GB."},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/419975/the-return-of-the-network-data-dump","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"the dumps are kept online for as long as reasonably possible, with no fixed period","capture":"sha256:0404e037bdeda36f5b73c27e8bf40af5e56193262d6aa9707e000b11fd0ed647","quote":"On availability: we will keep the dumps online for as long as reasonably possible."},{"url":"https://archive.org/details/stackexchange_20260930","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"the Internet Archive copy is a community upload, not an official release","capture":"sha256:87037267276672adbfa956d91bf53a210b45db5b612e1bea79fb208a6df2cff9","quote":"This community release is an unofficial replacement for the now-killed official archive.org release."},{"url":"https://archive.org/details/stackexchange_20260930","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"the Internet Archive item holds the dump through 2026-09-30","capture":"sha256:87037267276672adbfa956d91bf53a210b45db5b612e1bea79fb208a6df2cff9","quote":"This dump contains data up to and including 2026-09-30."},{"url":"https://archive.org/details/stackexchange_20260930","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"the official dump format is XML","capture":"sha256:87037267276672adbfa956d91bf53a210b45db5b612e1bea79fb208a6df2cff9","quote":"Note that Stack Exchange themselves only publish a .XML-formatted data dump, meaning converted formats are fully community-generated."},{"url":"https://archive.org/details/stackexchange_20260930","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"the Internet Archive item is 91.9G","capture":"sha256:87037267276672adbfa956d91bf53a210b45db5b612e1bea79fb208a6df2cff9","quote":"91.9G"},{"url":"probe:https://archive.org/download/stackexchange_20260930/stackexchange_20260930/math.stackexchange.com.7z","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"a HEAD with no account on math.stackexchange.com.7z in the Internet Archive copy answered 200 with 3,933,317,407 bytes","capture":"sha256:46551f7976e9a5642ff79cfd2b6b302c3b1e5579d5e1532fbb3dacb7a0907c72","quote":"\"content-length\": \"3933317407\""},{"url":"probe:https://archive.org/download/stackexchange_20260930/stackexchange_20260930/math.stackexchange.com.7z","date":"2026-10-31","proved":"the Internet Archive copy supports HTTP ranges","capture":"sha256:46551f7976e9a5642ff79cfd2b6b302c3b1e5579d5e1532fbb3dacb7a0907c72","quote":"\"accept-ranges\": \"bytes\""},{"url":"https://academictorrents.com/collection/stack-exchange-data-dumps.csv","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"Academic Torrents lists the 2026-09-30 network dump at 99,497,279,488 bytes","capture":"sha256:5799d50446402c3530e14fe026f68649efeb29f9f0426f0549ebc1b7a77e61b1","quote":"| Dataset | Stack Exchange Data Dump (2026-09-30)                  | c32cdd0306ee7717cd63f98f8df6486af55f79c8 | 99497279488  |"},{"url":"https://academictorrents.com/collection/stack-exchange-data-dumps.csv","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"the oldest dump listed on Academic Torrents is 2024-02-29","capture":"sha256:5799d50446402c3530e14fe026f68649efeb29f9f0426f0549ebc1b7a77e61b1","quote":"| Dataset | Stack Exchange Data Dump (2024-02-29)                  | 5a3d9b0c0855056a5ef6e90d9766c3005145c979 | 91754594304  |"},{"url":"https://data.stackexchange.com/help","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"the Data Explorer copy is refreshed every Sunday","capture":"sha256:143c29f697e47de6aa97e4ca34948346cc33e432993baa5e8a57141ef8e6e608","quote":"The data is updated early every Sunday morning around 3:00 UTC."},{"url":"https://data.stackexchange.com/help","date":"2026-10-30","proved":"the Data Explorer runs queries for anonymous users","capture":"sha256:143c29f697e47de6aa97e4ca34948346cc33e432993baa5e8a57141ef8e6e608","quote":"While anonymous users can run queries without any imposed restrictions, there are a few perks to registering:"},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/419975/the-return-of-the-network-data-dump","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"the whole-network dump is downloaded from the data dumps page of user preferences on Meta Stack Exchange, beside the per-site dump","capture":"sha256:894552ea34d88a54a742a3ee7128f12f3048cde6946731726b837b4c21a2ad6d","quote":"The tool to download these dumps can be found on the data dumps page in [user preferences](https://meta.stackexchange.com/users/data-dump-access/current), along with the per-site data dump."},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/401324/announcing-a-change-to-the-data-dump-process","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"a site and its meta site are separate downloads, each requested from its own site","capture":"sha256:9924206ec492e87311c7f616df7266381f97309f18b8e493cbae15ee1aab7ea1","quote":"So if you want to get the download for a site and its meta, you will need to do the request on both sites."},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/401324/announcing-a-change-to-the-data-dump-process","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"each further site's dump needs the same download from that site","capture":"sha256:9924206ec492e87311c7f616df7266381f97309f18b8e493cbae15ee1aab7ea1","quote":"If you wish to access the data for additional Stack Exchange sites, you will need to go through the same process for each"},{"url":"https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/authentication","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"the authentication documentation says an application key or access token goes in an Authorization header as a Bearer value","capture":"sha256:1eb8d65dbad9edbe2ce1730bbbc406d4e9856e9c185307998e4568eaa06532b1","quote":"must be provided using the authorization header `Authorization: Bearer {API key or access token}`."},{"url":"https://academictorrents.com/collection/stack-exchange-data-dumps.csv","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"Academic Torrents lists the 2026-09-30 network dump with a BitTorrent infohash and a mirror count","capture":"sha256:218378d76c0da4865714f1cc06159c89b79d1222cefada647d7ac00af3c9bcad","quote":"| Dataset | Stack Exchange Data Dump (2026-09-30)                  | c32cdd0306ee7717cd63f98f8df6486af55f79c8 | 99497279488  | 9       | 1           | 29             | 1791749451 | 1791749451   |"},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/224873/all-stack-exchange-data-dump-releases","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"a Meta Stack Exchange wiki lists the network dump releases with links to download them over BitTorrent or from the Internet Archive","capture":"sha256:612bd950dbaa93030357333c64803c964f5930077958737188d27e12419f32a1","quote":"with links to download using BitTorrent or from the Internet Archive."},{"url":"https://stackoverflow.com/help/data-dumps","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"a per-site dump is downloaded from the Data dump access page in the profile settings of that site","capture":"sha256:66188c6853d8963f0472798032fed98e80ef908b4eb01f5a79c15caedc37c6c0","quote":"choose the “Settings” tab at the top of your profile page, then choose “Data dump access” under the “Access” heading on the left."},{"url":"https://stackapps.com/help/api-authentication","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"an API key is generated on the application's page in Stack Apps after the application is registered","capture":"sha256:846247521ad99eaaac9416b350c8d48321566655f2c05d039452edda9e21591d","quote":"To generate an API key, click Generate API Key on your application in Stack Apps."},{"url":"https://stackapps.com/help/api-authentication","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"a registered application gets an increased throttle quota","capture":"sha256:846247521ad99eaaac9416b350c8d48321566655f2c05d039452edda9e21591d","quote":"Registered applications will also be granted an [increased throttle quota](https://api.stackexchange.com/docs/throttle)."},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/410541","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"a newly created application has no key until one is generated on its dashboard","capture":"sha256:0687b4ef9bb278ec6793fe8415ec1c52789662f30248dbca6c36f5f3e3e7f1f5","quote":"For newly created apps, keys and client secrets are not issued by default and can be generated and rotated here"},{"url":"https://stackapps.com/apps/oauth/register","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"the Stack Apps signup page, shown to a visitor sent from the registration page, offers Google sign-in beside the email and password fields","capture":"sha256:b4c23d2989c050b0ba68c7d7c34909c133eda3755e82ee2f31f54c94829a64a4","quote":"Sign up with Google # OR Email Password Sign up"},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/users/data-dump-access/current","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"the whole-network dump page sends a visitor with no session to the Meta Stack Exchange login page","capture":"sha256:dfabd9cd2273fb02be59d1de4929c89f4221af79f232fe5dd867cb7a2f0b8640","quote":"x-web-final-url: https://meta.stackexchange.com/users/login?returnurl=https%3a%2f%2fmeta.stackexchange.com%2fusers%2fdata-dump-access%2fcurrent"},{"url":"https://stackoverflow.com/help/creating-accounts","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"a Stack Exchange account is created with an email address and a password, or through Google or Facebook sign-in","capture":"sha256:efe73f84ea80f54082ac6b18d95e2968bb1aa7bd812fd6b0cb5a62052508231a","quote":"To create an account on Stack Overflow, please [sign up through Google, Facebook, or create a new Stack Exchange account](https://stackoverflow.com/users/login) using an email address and password."},{"url":"https://stackapps.com/questions/8975/the-fieldnames-in-the-error-message-do-not-match-the-names-used-on-the-form","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"a Stack Apps post of 2021 lists the four required fields of the registration form: Application Name, Description, OAuth domain and Application Website","capture":"sha256:908fabc5ad824c36997d7007dfc0b2f6a2e59abcbe6672f3ee780e26b7f5af6a","quote":"there are 4 fields that are required: - Application Name - Description - OAuth domain - Application Website"},{"url":"https://stackapps.com/questions/8107/can-i-make-a-private-application","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"a Stack Apps answer says a key registered with placeholder values in the required fields still gives the 10K quota","capture":"sha256:c6033c542868d28933360017c74e89858c8795dbbcdcf01bb8c70cde138fa94f","quote":"This still allows you to use the `key` to get 10K quota."},{"url":"https://stackapps.com/questions/8107/can-i-make-a-private-application","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"a Stack Apps answer says an application registered for a key is visible only to its owner and Stack Exchange staff","capture":"sha256:c6033c542868d28933360017c74e89858c8795dbbcdcf01bb8c70cde138fa94f","quote":"No one can see the apps you register at [stackapps.com/apps/oauth/register](https://stackapps.com/apps/oauth/register) except you (and the SE devs)."},{"url":"https://stackapps.com/questions/8971","date":"2026-11-02","proved":"a Stack Apps FAQ answer, edited June 2025, says the key is generated in the API Keys section of the application's dashboard","capture":"sha256:2ad2d0ab6d6153b62de1f1c863315f4bc86ccc8f6e2c048d144e2524bccaf85d","quote":"Once you have registered an app, you will need to generate a key. You can do this in the API Keys section on your app's dashboard page."}],"verdict":"qualifies-with-caveat","verified_at":"2026-11-03T00:28:12.185Z","notes":"Caveat: the keyless quota is 300 requests a day, and the 10,000-a-day quota needs an account and a registered app. Bulk path: the quarterly XML dump, per site or for the whole network, from a logged-in profile; the 2026-09-30 network dump is also on the Internet Archive (91.9G) and Academic Torrents (99,497,279,488 bytes) as community uploads."},"claims":[{"path":"$.free_tier","kind":"has-free-tier","num":1.0,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.free_tier.stated","kind":"free-quota","num":300.0,"unit":"requests","per":"day","currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[0].value","kind":"limit:request-rate","num":300.0,"unit":"requests","per":"day","currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[1].value","kind":"limit:request-rate","num":10000.0,"unit":"requests","per":"day","currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[2].value","kind":"limit:per-ip-shaping","num":30.0,"unit":"requests","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[3].value","kind":"limit:request-rate","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"},{"path":"$.limits[4].value","kind":"limit:per-object-cap","num":null,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"unparsed"}],"unknown":[],"history":[],"drift":[]},{"rid":"storage/stack-exchange-as-bulk-storage","card":{"rid":"storage/stack-exchange-as-bulk-storage","eid":"stackexchange","topic":"storage","slug":"stack-exchange-as-bulk-storage","provider":"stack exchange as bulk storage","url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/308507/image-size-limit-why-it-is-set-to-2-mib","domain":"stackexchange.com","category":"rejected-provider","tier":null,"verdict":"fails-quota","vorder":6,"grp":"rejected","self_hosted":0,"confidence":"documented","binding":"per-object-cap","identity_kind":"email","identity_basis":"defaulted","needs_card":null,"needs_phone":null,"needs_id":null,"needs_institution":null,"country":null,"crypto":null,"interfaces":null,"egress_metered":0,"per_object_bytes":10485760,"retention_days":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-04T01:24:40.826Z","verified_basis":"live","checked_on":"2026-11-04","stale_on":"2026-12-05","n_evidence":6,"usd_month":null,"usd_per_tb_month":null,"summary":"Per-image upload cap of 10 MiB (raised from 2 MiB); images are uploaded into posts","duplicate_of":null,"n_unknown":12,"free_unit":"none"},"record":{"topic":"storage","slug":"stack-exchange-as-bulk-storage","provider":"stack exchange as bulk storage","url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/308507/image-size-limit-why-it-is-set-to-2-mib","category":"rejected-provider","free_tier":{"stated":"Per-image upload cap of 10 MiB (raised from 2 MiB); images are uploaded into posts","unit":"none","metered_on":"none","source_url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/308507/image-size-limit-why-it-is-set-to-2-mib","read_on":"2026-10-21","notes":null},"per_object_cap":{"stated":"10 MiB per uploaded image (raised from 2 MiB)","bytes":10485760,"source_url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/308507/image-size-limit-why-it-is-set-to-2-mib","notes":"not recorded"},"retention":{"stated":"not recorded","days":null,"source_url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/308507/image-size-limit-why-it-is-set-to-2-mib","notes":null},"egress":{"terms":"not recorded","metered":false},"interface":["unknown"],"interface_detail":null,"tooling":"unverified: whether a public image-upload API exists; a 2021 comment says images uploaded via the API went to the same image host","chaining":"not recorded","limits":[{"kind":"per-object-cap","value":"10 MiB per uploaded image","source":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/395024/stack-exchange-s-image-hosting-arrangement-with-imgur-has-ended-migration-complete"}],"limits_note":null,"identity_cost":{"kind":"email","detail":null,"country":null},"reliability_note":"10 MiB per uploaded image (raised from 2 MiB); the storage is images attached to posts","confidence":"documented","confidence_note":"documented from the Stack Exchange staff and accepted-answer posts captured on 2026-11-03: https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/395024/stack-exchange-s-image-hosting-arrangement-with-imgur-has-ended-migration-complete (10 MiB cap) and https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/308507/image-size-limit-why-it-is-set-to-2-mib (10MiB limit, API uploads reach the image host); posting rate limits are unverified","evidence":[{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/308507/image-size-limit-why-it-is-set-to-2-mib","date":"2026-10-21","proved":"2 MiB cap plus no API upload path plus per-site posting rate limits; the permanence is excellent but the throughput is a human-editor workflow"},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/395024/stack-exchange-s-image-hosting-arrangement-with-imgur-has-ended-migration-complete","date":"2026-11-03","proved":"a staff member states the image upload cap is now 10 MiB","capture":"sha256:655366f5ac5f260d6904490213356ac4c4896356239e78997ce84674d20ee580","quote":"We've expanded the 2MiB cap, and now allow uploads up to 10 Mib"},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/308507/image-size-limit-why-it-is-set-to-2-mib","date":"2026-11-03","proved":"the accepted answer states the upload limit is now 10 MiB","capture":"sha256:57ddd1c427d9ac1cc0a81d8934d346bd9638d4dd36fe1bb85bb6053276c17c1f","quote":"Update - The upload file limit is now 10MiB"},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/308507/image-size-limit-why-it-is-set-to-2-mib","date":"2026-11-03","proved":"a commenter reports API uploads reach the image host","capture":"sha256:57ddd1c427d9ac1cc0a81d8934d346bd9638d4dd36fe1bb85bb6053276c17c1f","quote":"Even if you upload the image the normal way via the stackexchange api it ends up going to stack.imgur.com"},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/395024/stack-exchange-s-image-hosting-arrangement-with-imgur-has-ended-migration-complete","date":"2026-11-03","proved":"the documented constraint is a per-image cap, not egress","capture":"sha256:655366f5ac5f260d6904490213356ac4c4896356239e78997ce84674d20ee580","quote":"We've expanded the 2MiB cap, and now allow uploads up to 10 Mib"},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/395024/stack-exchange-s-image-hosting-arrangement-with-imgur-has-ended-migration-complete","date":"2026-11-03","proved":"the image upload cap is now 10 MiB","capture":"sha256:655366f5ac5f260d6904490213356ac4c4896356239e78997ce84674d20ee580","quote":"We've expanded the 2MiB cap, and now allow uploads up to 10 Mib"}],"verdict":"fails-quota","verified_at":"2026-11-04T01:24:40.826Z","notes":"10 MiB per uploaded image (raised from 2 MiB); the storage is images attached to posts","extras":{"dead_end":{"failure_class":"egress","why":"2 MiB cap plus no API upload path plus per-site posting rate limits; the permanence is excellent but the throughput is a human-editor workflow","retry_when":null,"first_recorded":"2026-10-21"}},"binding":"per-object-cap","binding_note":"10 MiB per uploaded image, images only; no total quota or egress meter is documented on the pages read"},"claims":[{"path":"$.free_tier.stated","kind":"free-quota","num":10.0,"unit":"MiB","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[0].value","kind":"limit:per-object-cap","num":10.0,"unit":"MiB","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"}],"unknown":[["$.chaining","not-recorded"],["$.egress.terms","not-recorded"],["$.extras.dead_end.retry_when","process"],["$.free_tier.notes","process"],["$.identity_cost.detail","defaulted"],["$.identity_cost.kind","identity-defaulted"],["$.interface","interface-unknown"],["$.interface_detail","withheld"],["$.limits_note","process"],["$.per_object_cap.notes","not-recorded"],["$.retention.notes","process"],["$.retention.stated","not-recorded"]],"history":[],"drift":[]},{"rid":"storage/stack-exchange-image-host","card":{"rid":"storage/stack-exchange-image-host","eid":"stackexchange","topic":"storage","slug":"stack-exchange-image-host","provider":"Stack Exchange image host (i.sstatic.net, ex-i.stack.imgur.com)","url":"https://stackexchange.com","domain":"stackexchange.com","category":"media","tier":null,"verdict":"fails-quota","vorder":6,"grp":"rejected","self_hosted":0,"confidence":"reported","binding":"per-object-cap","identity_kind":"email","identity_basis":"defaulted","needs_card":null,"needs_phone":null,"needs_id":null,"needs_institution":null,"country":null,"crypto":null,"interfaces":"rest","egress_metered":0,"per_object_bytes":10485760,"retention_days":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-04T01:24:40.827Z","verified_basis":"live","checked_on":"2026-11-04","stale_on":"2026-11-19","n_evidence":7,"usd_month":null,"usd_per_tb_month":null,"summary":"10 MiB per uploaded image, animated GIFs 2 MiB; images over 2 MiB are resized below 2 MiB; no per-account total is stated on the page read","duplicate_of":null,"n_unknown":7,"free_unit":"unlimited"},"record":{"topic":"storage","slug":"stack-exchange-image-host","provider":"Stack Exchange image host (i.sstatic.net, ex-i.stack.imgur.com)","url":"https://stackexchange.com","category":"media","free_tier":{"stated":"10 MiB per uploaded image, animated GIFs 2 MiB; images over 2 MiB are resized below 2 MiB; no per-account total is stated on the page read","unit":"unlimited","metered_on":"unstated","source_url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/308507/image-size-limit-why-it-is-set-to-2-mib","read_on":"2026-10-21","notes":null},"per_object_cap":{"stated":"10 MiB hard cap per upload (file or URL); images over 2 MiB are resized below 2 MiB; animated GIFs stay capped at 2 MiB","bytes":10485760,"source_url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/308507/image-size-limit-why-it-is-set-to-2-mib","notes":"not stated"},"retention":{"stated":"Images over 2 MiB are automatically resized below 2 MiB, so stored bytes differ from the upload; historical Imgur images were migrated to i.sstatic.net (migration complete 2024-05-28).","source_url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/308507/image-size-limit-why-it-is-set-to-2-mib","notes":"not stated"},"egress":{"terms":"free, Cloudflare-fronted, cacheable — probe showed 'Server: cloudflare', 'cf-cache-status: HIT'","metered":false},"interface":["rest"],"interface_detail":"rest","tooling":"no official image-upload endpoint in the SE API; images are inserted by the web editor or by POSTing a post body containing an already-hosted URL. Wrapper only (Selenium/editor automation) — this is the failure point","chaining":"2 MiB x unlimited posts x unlimited answers x N Stack Exchange sites (180+ sites, one network account). 500 GB = ~256,000 images; not a practical bulk store without a browser farm","limits":[{"kind":"per-object-cap","value":"10 MiB hard cap per upload (file or URL); animated GIFs 2 MiB","source":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/308507/image-size-limit-why-it-is-set-to-2-mib"}],"limits_note":"10 MiB hard cap per upload, images over 2 MiB are automatically resized below 2 MiB (best effort), animated GIFs capped at 2 MiB; not byte-exact storage; posting rate limits per site","identity_cost":{"kind":"email","detail":null,"country":null},"reliability_note":"the most permanent image host in this set — SE migrated every historical Imgur URL to i.sstatic.net in May 2024 precisely to guarantee links never rot; a live 2013-era test image still returns 200 with Last-Modified 2024-05-01","confidence":"reported","confidence_note":"read on 2026-11-03: two Stack Exchange meta posts: https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/401308 (10MiB hard cap, resize of images over 2MiB, animated GIFs capped at 2MiB) and https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/395024/ (images migrated from Imgur); the unlimited unit and the permanence of old image URLs rest on a probe of 2026-10-21 that is not repeated, so the rung stays reported","evidence":[{"url":"https://i.sstatic.net/mHJfs.jpg","date":"2026-10-21","proved":"probe: GET -> 200, content-type image/jpeg, 138754 bytes, Server: cloudflare, cf-cache-status: HIT, Last-Modified Wed, 01 May 2024"},{"url":"https://i.stack.imgur.com/mHJfs.jpg","date":"2026-10-21","proved":"probe: GET -> 302 (redirect to the new host, old URLs still resolve)"},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/395024/","date":"2026-10-21","proved":"... — 'Created a new image uploading service at i.sstatic.net ... Migrated all images from Imgur ... Migration complete! May 28th 2024'"},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/401308","date":"2026-11-03","proved":"the hard cap is 10MiB, by upload or URL","capture":"sha256:7691f82dbc5b60091094e46cd17c4798bb033a4217c774e6d5fa8f22d18a583b","quote":"We still have a hard cap if the image is over 10MiB, whether by file upload or URL."},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/401308","date":"2026-11-03","proved":"uploads over 2 MiB are resized below 2 MiB","capture":"sha256:7691f82dbc5b60091094e46cd17c4798bb033a4217c774e6d5fa8f22d18a583b","quote":"Any images over 2MiB will be allowed, but automatically resized below 2MiB so they load reasonably well for users"},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/395024/","date":"2026-11-03","proved":"all images were migrated from Imgur to the Stack-run service","capture":"sha256:e99200b7afb3961ab07fa6ab8df8534ff1c57a7e45bbed81aba7071481578de6","quote":"Migrated all images from Imgur to our new Stack service."},{"url":"https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/401308","date":"2026-11-03","proved":"animated GIFs stay capped at 2MiB","capture":"sha256:7691f82dbc5b60091094e46cd17c4798bb033a4217c774e6d5fa8f22d18a583b","quote":"Animated gifs are hard to re-size so still remain capped at 2MiB."}],"verdict":"fails-quota","verified_at":"2026-11-04T01:24:40.827Z","notes":"10 MiB per image (animated GIFs 2 MiB), resized below 2 MiB; no per-account total stated","extras":{"dead_end":{"failure_class":"quota","why":"2 MiB per image, no per-account total; unlimited images per post","retry_when":null,"first_recorded":"2026-10-21"}},"binding":"per-object-cap","binding_note":null},"claims":[{"path":"$.free_tier","kind":"has-free-tier","num":1.0,"unit":null,"per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.free_tier.stated","kind":"free-quota","num":10.0,"unit":"MiB","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[0].value","kind":"limit:per-object-cap","num":10.0,"unit":"MiB","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"}],"unknown":[["$.binding_note","boilerplate"],["$.extras.dead_end.retry_when","process"],["$.free_tier.notes","process"],["$.identity_cost.detail","defaulted"],["$.identity_cost.kind","identity-defaulted"],["$.per_object_cap.notes","not-extracted"],["$.retention.notes","not-extracted"]],"history":[],"drift":[]}]}