What's changing?
Starting
September 1, 2019, the
Content API for Shopping will no longer support requests or responses with XML payloads. All requests with an XML payload will fail after the sunset date.
Why is this change happening?
Version 2 of the Content API for Shopping changed the default request and response format from XML to JSON, and
version 2.1 of the API (currently marked experimental) will not support XML. The majority of API requests now use JSON, so we've decided to sunset XML support and instead focus on enriching our JSON APIs with new features and functionality.
What should you do?
Prior to the sunset date, identify the components of your application that are using XML payloads for any of the following impacted services:
For each case, modify your application to:
- Send the request body as JSON.
- Ensure you have removed the
alt=xml parameter from the request.
- Process the response as JSON.
- Test your updated application using a separate test account.
Tip: The
client libraries for .NET, Dart, Go, Java, JavaScript, Node.js, Objective-C, PHP, Python, and Ruby will send JSON requests and parse JSON responses for you. We strongly recommend that you use one of the libraries so you won't have to write marshalling and unmarshalling code in your application.
When converting a given request, you can use the
JSON and
XML tabs in the
Request body section of the documentation for the method. For example, here's a partial screenshot of the
XML tab for
Inventory.set:
The corresponding
JSON tab for that method is:
Compare the two tabs and use that as a guide when converting your request from XML to JSON.
You can find similar
JSON and
XML information for the response in one of the following locations:
- Directly in the Response section for the method.
Example: The productsCustomBatchResponse for Products.custombatch.
- In the Resource representations section of the documentation for the resource returned in the response.
Example: The products resource for Products.insert.
If you have any questions or feedback about this change, or any other questions about the Content API for Shopping, please let us know on the
forum.
- Josh Radcliff, Content API for Shopping Team
