What metadata does the URL Metadata API extract?

A single call to /v1/extract returns the page title, meta description and keywords, canonical link, charset, html lang attribute, every Open Graph (og:*) tag, every Twitter Card (twitter:*) tag, all favicons (with rel, href, sizes and type), Open Graph image URLs, and request metadata including the original url, the final_url after redirects, the HTTP status and the content_type.

Does it follow redirects and resolve relative URLs?

Yes. The API fetches the target URL with a browser-like User-Agent and follows redirects, reporting both the original url you supplied and the final_url after redirection. Relative URLs for the canonical link, og:image and favicons are automatically resolved to absolute URLs against the final post-redirect response URL, so the data you get back is ready to render without further normalization.

What happens when the URL is not an HTML page?

Non-HTML responses such as PDFs, images and JSON are detected via the content_type header. Instead of returning garbage, the API responds with the base request fields (url, final_url, status, content_type), empty metadata collections (open_graph, twitter, favicons, images), and an explanatory note field so your integration can handle these cases gracefully.

Is there protection against SSRF and internal-network access?

Yes. The API always rejects requests to localhost and private/internal hosts with a 400, including names that resolve to them and redirects into them, preventing the endpoint from being used to probe internal infrastructure.

How do I control the fetch timeout?

Use the optional timeout_ms parameter, which sets the upstream fetch timeout in milliseconds. It defaults to 10000ms and is capped at 20000ms. If the target page fails to load, the API returns a 502 response; if it exceeds the timeout, a 504 with an error and detail message, so you can retry or skip that URL.

How fast is the API and how does it handle large pages?

The API runs on Cloudflare's global edge network across 300+ locations and typically responds in under 300ms. It parses HTML with a streaming HTMLRewriter rather than a DOM library, so even very large pages are never fully buffered into memory — metadata is extracted as the bytes stream through, keeping memory usage flat and responses fast.

Can I use it for bulk link previews and SEO audits?

Absolutely. The API is ideal for generating rich link previews, share cards, bulk SEO and metadata audits, and dataset enrichment. Fan out requests in parallel within your plan's rate limit (5 req/s on Basic, 20 on Pro, 50 on Ultra), cache results since page metadata changes infrequently, and persist the final_url to deduplicate links that resolve to the same destination.

Open Graph, Twitter Card & SEO extraction from any URL

URL Metadata API

The URL Metadata API turns any web page into clean, structured JSON. Give it a URL and it fetches the page with a real browser User-Agent, follows redirects, and parses the HTML to extract the title, meta description and keywords, canonical link, charset, html lang, every Open Graph tag, every Twitter Card tag, and all favicons.

Built on Cloudflare's edge network with a streaming HTMLRewriter parser, it never buffers giant pages into memory and responds in milliseconds. Relative canonical, og:image and favicon URLs are automatically resolved to absolute URLs against the final post-redirect address, and non-HTML responses are detected and returned gracefully instead of producing garbage.

Get a free API key Read the docs

Free tier included, no credit card required. One key works across every API.

Free calls / month: 200
Response Time: <300ms
Metadata Fields: 10+
Uptime SLA: 99.9%

Get your free API key

200 free calls on the free plan

Key features

Title, description, keywords, canonical, charset and html lang extraction
Every Open Graph (og:*) tag returned as structured key/value pairs
Every Twitter Card (twitter:*) tag captured
All favicons with rel, href, sizes and type, plus optional /favicon.ico fallback
Relative og:image, canonical and favicon URLs resolved to absolute
Follows redirects and reports both the original and final URL
Streaming HTMLRewriter parser — large pages never fully buffered
Built-in SSRF guard rejects localhost and private-range hosts

Built for

Rich link previews in chat and social apps
Generating share cards and unfurled URLs
Bulk SEO and metadata audits
Competitor and brand page monitoring
Enriching URL-based datasets and bookmarks
Content pipelines and CMS imports
Validating Open Graph and Twitter Card markup
Building reading lists and content aggregators

MCP · for your agent

Hand the URL Metadata API to your agent

Connect Claude, Cursor or any MCP client once, then ask in plain words. Your agent finds this API, reads its docs and makes the call: 5 credits per call, the same as REST, from your team's balance.

Connect your agent

Fix broken link previews

“Our blog posts show blank previews when shared on Slack. Check the Open Graph and Twitter tags on our latest post.”

list_apis · get_api_docsfree

api_request GET /url-metadata/v1/extract?url=https://www.example.com/blog/launch 5 cr

The title, description, OG and Twitter tags found, and the missing ones that break previews.

Audit SEO basics across pages

“Audit the 25 URLs in our sitemap: flag missing meta descriptions, missing canonicals and titles over 60 characters.”

list_apis · get_api_docsfree

api_request GET /url-metadata/v1/extract?url=https://www.example.com/pricing 5 cr

A table of title, description and canonical per page, with SEO issues flagged.

Build a reading list from links

“Turn these 15 links from our research channel into a reading list with title, site, image and a two-line summary each.”

list_apis · get_api_docsfree

api_request GET /url-metadata/v1/extract?url=https://www.example.org/reports/state-of-apis 5 cr

+ Web Scraper API25 cr

Each link with title, site name, preview image and a short summary, as a formatted list.

$ claude mcp add --transport http apicodex https://mcp.apicodex.io

Illustrative asks; the calls and prices are real. Claude, Cursor, VS Code and Windsurf setup: mcp.apicodex.io

Try it

Build the request for your data

Edit the parameters below and see the exact request and curl command you'd send. No key required to preview.

GET /url-metadata/v1/extract

Open in Playground

Parameters

url

apikey

Request · HTTP

GET /url-metadata/v1/extract?url=https://www.example.com/blog/launch&apikey=YOUR_KEY HTTP/1.1
Host: api.apicodex.io

Response · JSON 200 OK

{
"url": "https://www.example.com/blog/launch",
"final_url": "https://www.example.com/blog/launch",
"status": 200,
"content_type": "text/html; charset=utf-8",
"title": "We just launched — Example Blog",
"description": "Read about our brand new product launch and what it means for you.",
"keywords": ["launch", "product", "example", "news"],
"canonical": "https://www.example.com/blog/launch",
"lang": "en",
"charset": "utf-8",
"open_graph": {
  "og:title": "We just launched",
  "og:type": "article",
  "og:image": "https://www.example.com/img/launch-hero.png"
},
"twitter": {
  "twitter:card": "summary_large_image",
  "twitter:image": "https://www.example.com/img/launch-hero.png"
},
"favicons": [
  { "rel": "icon", "href": "https://www.example.com/favicon-32.png", "sizes": "32x32", "type": "image/png" }
],
"images": ["https://www.example.com/img/launch-hero.png"]
}

Run it with your key

Documentation

URL Metadata API Documentation

The URL Metadata API fetches a target URL with a browser-like User-Agent (following redirects) and parses the HTML with Cloudflare's streaming HTMLRewriter to extract SEO, Open Graph, Twitter Card, favicon and page metadata. Relative canonical, og:image and favicon URLs are resolved to absolute against the final response URL. A single GET /v1/extract endpoint covers every use case.

Base URL

url

https://api.apicodex.io/url-metadata

Authentication

Pass your API key as the ?apikey= query parameter, or send it in an X-Api-Key header. Both work on every endpoint.

headers

# Query parameter
GET /url-metadata/v1/extract?url=https://example.com&apikey=YOUR_KEY

# Header
{
  "X-Api-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}

Request and response

Illustrative values. Confirm current endpoint behavior, quotas, and data freshness in the API documentation before production use.

request · http

GET /url-metadata/v1/extract?url=https://www.example.com/blog/launch&apikey=YOUR_KEY HTTP/1.1
Host: api.apicodex.io

response · json

{
"url": "https://www.example.com/blog/launch",
"final_url": "https://www.example.com/blog/launch",
"status": 200,
"content_type": "text/html; charset=utf-8",
"title": "We just launched — Example Blog",
"description": "Read about our brand new product launch and what it means for you.",
"keywords": ["launch", "product", "example", "news"],
"canonical": "https://www.example.com/blog/launch",
"lang": "en",
"charset": "utf-8",
"open_graph": {
  "og:title": "We just launched",
  "og:type": "article",
  "og:image": "https://www.example.com/img/launch-hero.png"
},
"twitter": {
  "twitter:card": "summary_large_image",
  "twitter:image": "https://www.example.com/img/launch-hero.png"
},
"favicons": [
  { "rel": "icon", "href": "https://www.example.com/favicon-32.png", "sizes": "32x32", "type": "image/png" }
],
"images": ["https://www.example.com/img/launch-hero.png"]
}

Code examples

cURL

curl --request GET \
  --url 'https://api.apicodex.io/url-metadata/v1/extract?url=https://www.example.com/blog/launch' \
  --header 'X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY'

JavaScript/Node.js

const url = 'https://api.apicodex.io/url-metadata/v1/extract?'
  + new URLSearchParams({ url: 'https://www.example.com/blog/launch' });

const options = {
  method: 'GET',
  headers: {
    'X-Api-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  }
};

try {
  const response = await fetch(url, options);
  const data = await response.json();
  console.log(data.title, data.open_graph['og:image']);
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
}

Python

import requests

url = "https://api.apicodex.io/url-metadata/v1/extract"

querystring = {"url": "https://www.example.com/blog/launch"}

headers = {
    "X-Api-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}

response = requests.get(url, headers=headers, params=querystring)

print(response.json())

Endpoints

GET /v1/extract

Fetch the target URL and extract title, meta description/keywords, canonical link, charset, html lang, all Open Graph tags, all Twitter Card tags, favicons and Open Graph images. Returns base fields with a note for non-HTML responses.

/v1/extract?url=https://www.example.com/blog/launch

Parameters

Required parameters

url The page URL to inspect. Must use http:// or https://.

Optional parameters

timeout_ms Upstream fetch timeout in milliseconds. Default 10000, capped at 20000.
favicon_fallback If no icon link is found in the HTML, include the conventional /favicon.ico guess (flagged with "default": true). Default true.

Pricing

URL Metadata API Pricing

This API costs 5 credits per request. Credits are shared across every API on your plan.

Estimate your monthly cost

Drag the slider to match your expected request volume. We'll recommend the cheapest plan that covers it.

Requests per month 10,000

Recommended plan

Starter

$29.99 /month

Credits used

Credits included

Cost per 1K requests

Choose Starter

Free

1,000 credits · ~200 requests/mo · 2 rps

All APIs included
No credit card required
Full documentation and examples
MCP server for your AI agents
Up to 5 active API keys

Start for free

Starter

Popular

$29.99 /month

50,000 credits · ~10,000 requests/mo · 10 rps

All APIs included
Email support
Usage dashboard and analytics
MCP server for your AI agents
Up to 5 active API keys

Start with Starter

Pro

$99.99 /month

250,000 credits · ~50,000 requests/mo · 25 rps

All APIs included
Priority support
MCP server for your AI agents
Up to 5 active API keys

Start with Pro

FAQ

URL Metadata API

Key features

Built for

Hand the URL Metadata API to your agent

Fix broken link previews

Audit SEO basics across pages

Build a reading list from links

Build the request for your data

URL Metadata API Documentation

Base URL

Authentication

Request and response

Code examples

Endpoints

GET /v1/extract

Parameters

Required parameters

Optional parameters

URL Metadata API Pricing

Free

Starter

Pro

Need a different plan?

Frequently asked questions

Related APIs