Overview

Mercado Libre is the largest e-commerce marketplace in Latin America, and its API gives developers access to product listings, pricing, seller data, and order management across 18 countries. You can search millions of products, retrieve detailed item information, and build integrations for sellers operating on the platform. It is a key API for anyone building e-commerce tools targeting markets in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and the rest of Latin America.

Beginner Tip

Mercado Libre public search and item endpoints work without authentication, so you can explore the API immediately. Try fetching items with a GET request to the search endpoint using a keyword to see real marketplace data before setting up OAuth for seller operations.

Available Data

The kind of data this API exposes, based on its documentation. We could not call the endpoint to confirm the exact field names.

Mercadolibre data via REST API

Example Response

Illustrative shape only — we were not able to call this endpoint (it requires credentials or exposes no public sample URL), so the fields below show the kind of data this API returns rather than a recorded response.

JSON Response · Illustrative
{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "result": "Data from Mercadolibre",
    "description": "Manage sales, ads, products, services and Shops",
    "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z"
  }
}

Field Reference

id Unique Mercado Libre item identifier used to retrieve full product details
title Product listing title as shown on the marketplace
price Current price of the item in the local currency of the site
currency_id ISO 4217 currency code for the listing price (e.g., ARS, BRL, MXN)
available_quantity Number of units currently available for purchase
condition Item condition, either "new" or "used"

Implementation Example

Calls a real endpoint of this API. Replace any placeholder credentials with your own key.

Request
const url = "https://api.mercadolibre.com/sites/MLA/search?q=laptop&limit=5";
// Replace headers or query params with the values required by this API.
const response = await fetch(url, {
  headers: {
  "X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
  }
});
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

What Can You Build?

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

Common Errors & Troubleshooting

Generated guidance based on this API's documentation, not observed by us. Treat it as a starting point and check against the provider's own error reference.

401 Unauthorized on user endpoints The access token is missing or has expired for endpoints that require user authentication
Refresh your OAuth 2.0 access token using your refresh token; Mercado Libre tokens expire after 6 hours
Invalid site_id error The site_id used in the URL does not correspond to a valid Mercado Libre country site
Use the correct site ID for the target country such as MLA for Argentina, MLB for Brazil, or MLM for Mexico
429 Too Many Requests You have exceeded the API rate limit for your application
Implement exponential backoff in your retry logic and cache frequently requested data like category listings

Metadata Score Breakdown

Estimated from metadata — endpoint not independently tested

This score is estimated from observable metadata — HTTPS support, authentication model, declared CORS, and documentation reachability — because the API requires authentication or exposes no publicly testable endpoint. The five-signal breakdown is only shown for live-tested APIs.

Metadata estimate · endpoint not independently tested

Technical Specifications

Auth API Key
HTTPS REQUIRED
CORS UNKNOWN
Category Shopping
Difficulty Intermediate
Listing details not endpoint-verified

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