Overview
TheTVDB API is the go-to source for television metadata, covering series, seasons, episodes, actors, and artwork. It powers many popular media center apps and is continually updated by a large community. You need to register for a free API key at thetvdb.com to access the data.
Beginner Tip
Authenticate first by posting your credentials to /login to receive a JWT token, then use that token in the Authorization header for all subsequent requests. Start with /series/search to find shows by name.
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.
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.
{
"status": "success",
"data": {
"result": "Data from TVDB",
"description": "Television data",
"timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z"
}
} Field Reference
id Unique TVDB identifier for the series or episode. name Official name of the TV series. overview Plot summary or description of the series. status Current broadcast status, such as Continuing or Ended. firstAired Date the series first aired in YYYY-MM-DD format. image URL path to the series poster image on TVDB. Implementation Example
Calls a real endpoint of this API. Replace any placeholder credentials with your own key.
const url = "https://api4.thetvdb.com/v4/series/search?query=Breaking+Bad";
// 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.
Metadata Score Breakdown
Estimated from metadata — endpoint not independently tested
Metadata estimate · endpoint not independently tested
Technical Specifications
Related Tags
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