API DOCUMENTATION V2

API v2 authentication and free trial

Authenticate GenderAPI v2 with your existing API key. Learn Bearer headers, GET query keys, IP trial access and JSON requests.

Authentication and the free trial

Send Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY from your server. Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your existing GenderAPI key. Both versions share your balance; no separate v2 subscription or key is required.

All POST requests require Content-Type: application/json. Use your existing Bearer API key. Each request is processed independently; repeated requests use normal billing.

Only GET /gender also accepts the key query parameter. Prefer the Authorization header for integrations because URLs can be stored in browser history and logs. Do not put private keys in frontend code.

A missing, malformed or unrecognized key falls back to the IP trial shared with v1. A recognized but disabled, expired or restricted key does not. Check meta.access.mode: api_key, ip_trial or unauthenticated. Trial reasons are api_key_missing, api_key_invalid or api_key_not_found. An invalid key can therefore produce a successful trial response; verify the access mode in production.

Trial credits reset after a 24-hour period, not necessarily at midnight. Use /usage to read resets_at. People behind the same public IP share this allowance.

Set up your API key

Copy your API key from your GenderAPI account. Replace YOUR_API_KEY below with that key, then run your chosen example in the same terminal session. These commands set an environment variable for that session only; the published placeholder is not a working key.

For an application or deployment, configure GENDERAPI_API_KEY as a server-side secret. The examples do not automatically load a .env file. Keep the key out of browser bundles, source control and public URLs.

macOS / Linux terminal
export GENDERAPI_API_KEY='YOUR_API_KEY'
Windows PowerShell
$env:GENDERAPI_API_KEY = 'YOUR_API_KEY'

Verify access without spending credits

Call GET /usage with the Bearer header. A valid account key produces meta.access.mode: api_key. If the result says ip_trial, check the copied key before running predictions. This request is free, including for an account with no remaining credits.

Choose your language. Set up your API key, then run the example on your server.

This balance read costs no credits. It still counts toward request rate limits.

Before you run: access and error handling

Run these examples on your server. Set GENDERAPI_API_KEY in the process environment to your existing API key. Confirm meta.access.mode is api_key: an unrecognized key can fall back to the IP trial.

HTTP 4xx and 5xx JSON responses preserve the error body and return a nonzero exit status. Check code, action and meta.usage.billing_status before retrying.

Error and retry guide →
cURL
curl --silent --show-error --fail-with-body --max-time 30 \
  --request GET 'https://api.genderapi.io/api/v2/usage' \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer ${GENDERAPI_API_KEY:?Set GENDERAPI_API_KEY}"

cURL 7.76+ in a POSIX shell. Run in your terminal. Runtime documentation

JavaScript / Node.js
// Server-side Node.js. Save as example.mjs.
const apiKey = process.env.GENDERAPI_API_KEY;
if (!apiKey) throw new Error("Set GENDERAPI_API_KEY");

const response = await fetch("https://api.genderapi.io/api/v2/usage", {
  method: "GET",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
  },
  signal: AbortSignal.timeout(30_000),
  redirect: "error",
});
const raw = await response.text();
if (!(response.headers.get("content-type") ?? "").includes("json")) {
  throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}: expected JSON; request ID ${response.headers.get("x-request-id")}`);
}
const result = JSON.parse(raw); // Also accepts application/problem+json.
if (!response.ok) {
  console.error(`HTTP ${response.status}`, result);
  process.exitCode = 1; // A retry is a new operation; inspect billing first.
} else {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(result, null, 2));
  // For batches, inspect every item: HTTP 200 may contain item errors.
}

Node.js 22+; built-in fetch. Save as example.mjs and run node example.mjs. Runtime documentation

Python
import json
import os
import sys
import urllib.error
import urllib.request

api_key = os.environ.get("GENDERAPI_API_KEY")
if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError("Set GENDERAPI_API_KEY")

class NoRedirect(urllib.request.HTTPRedirectHandler):
    def redirect_request(self, req, fp, code, msg, headers, newurl):
        return None

request = urllib.request.Request(
    "https://api.genderapi.io/api/v2/usage",
    method="GET",
    headers={
        "Authorization": "Bearer " + api_key,
    },
)
opener = urllib.request.build_opener(NoRedirect())
try:
    response = opener.open(request, timeout=30)
except urllib.error.HTTPError as error:
    response = error  # Keep the Problem Details body on non-2xx responses.
with response:
    status = response.status
    raw = response.read().decode("utf-8")
    if "json" not in response.headers.get("Content-Type", ""):
        raise RuntimeError(f"HTTP {status}: expected a JSON response")
    result = json.loads(raw)
print(json.dumps(result, indent=2), file=sys.stderr if status >= 300 else sys.stdout)
if not 200 <= status < 300:
    sys.exit(1)  # Inspect code, action and billing before retrying.
# For batches, inspect every item even when HTTP status is 200.

Python 3.10+; standard library. Save as example.py and run python3 example.py. Runtime documentation

PHP
<?php
$apiKey = getenv('GENDERAPI_API_KEY');
if (!$apiKey) {
    throw new RuntimeException('Set GENDERAPI_API_KEY');
}

$ch = curl_init('https://api.genderapi.io/api/v2/usage');
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => 'GET',
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION => false,
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        'Authorization: Bearer ' . $apiKey,
    ],
]);
$raw = curl_exec($ch);
if ($raw === false) {
    throw new RuntimeException(curl_error($ch));
}
$status = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
$contentType = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_CONTENT_TYPE) ?: '';
curl_close($ch);
if (strpos($contentType, 'json') === false) {
    throw new RuntimeException("HTTP $status: expected a JSON response");
}
$result = json_decode($raw, true, 512, JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR);
$output = json_encode($result, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT | JSON_THROW_ON_ERROR) . PHP_EOL;
if ($status < 200 || $status >= 300) {
    fwrite(STDERR, $output); // Preserve the Problem Details body.
    exit(1);
}
echo $output;
// For batches, inspect every item; HTTP 200 can contain item errors.

PHP 8+ with the cURL extension. Save as example.php and run php example.php. Runtime documentation

Java
import java.net.URI;
import java.net.http.HttpClient;
import java.net.http.HttpRequest;
import java.net.http.HttpResponse;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
import java.time.Duration;

public class GenderApiExample {
    private static String requiredEnv(String name) {
        String value = System.getenv(name);
        if (value == null || value.isBlank()) throw new IllegalStateException("Set " + name);
        return value;
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        String apiKey = requiredEnv("GENDERAPI_API_KEY");
        HttpClient client = HttpClient.newBuilder()
            .connectTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10))
            .followRedirects(HttpClient.Redirect.NEVER)
            .build();
        HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder(URI.create("https://api.genderapi.io/api/v2/usage"))
            .timeout(Duration.ofSeconds(30))
            .header("Authorization", "Bearer " + apiKey)
            .GET()
            .build();
        HttpResponse<String> response = client.send(request,
            HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
        if (!response.headers().firstValue("content-type").orElse("").contains("json")) {
            throw new IllegalStateException("HTTP " + response.statusCode() + ": expected JSON");
        }
        // JSON text; parse with your application's JSON library when integrating.
        if (response.statusCode() < 200 || response.statusCode() >= 300) {
            System.err.println(response.body()); // Includes Problem Details.
            System.exit(1);
        }
        System.out.println(response.body());
        // For batches, inspect each item's data or error, including on HTTP 200.
    }
}

Java 17+; standard HTTP client. Save as GenderApiExample.java and run java GenderApiExample.java. Runtime documentation

C# / .NET
using System;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Text;
using System.Text.Json;

string RequiredEnv(string name) =>
    !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable(name))
        ? Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable(name)!
        : throw new InvalidOperationException($"Set {name}");

var apiKey = RequiredEnv("GENDERAPI_API_KEY");
using var handler = new HttpClientHandler { AllowAutoRedirect = false };
using var client = new HttpClient(handler) { Timeout = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30) };
using var request = new HttpRequestMessage(HttpMethod.Get, "https://api.genderapi.io/api/v2/usage");
request.Headers.Authorization = new AuthenticationHeaderValue("Bearer", apiKey);

using var response = await client.SendAsync(request);
var raw = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
if (!(response.Content.Headers.ContentType?.MediaType?.Contains("json") ?? false))
    throw new InvalidOperationException($"HTTP {(int)response.StatusCode}: expected JSON");
using var result = JsonDocument.Parse(raw);
if (!response.IsSuccessStatusCode)
{
    Console.Error.WriteLine(result.RootElement); // Preserve Problem Details.
    Environment.ExitCode = 1;
}
else
{
    Console.WriteLine(result.RootElement);
    // For batches, inspect every item even on HTTP 200.
}

.NET 8+ console application. Use as Program.cs in a console project, then run dotnet run. Runtime documentation

Go
package main

import (
    "encoding/json"
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "net/http"
    "os"
    "strings"
    "time"
)

func requiredEnv(name string) string {
    value := os.Getenv(name)
    if value == "" { panic("Set " + name) }
    return value
}

func run() error {
    apiKey := requiredEnv("GENDERAPI_API_KEY")
    request, err := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.genderapi.io/api/v2/usage", nil)
    if err != nil { return err }
    request.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer " + apiKey)
    client := &http.Client{
        Timeout: 30 * time.Second,
        CheckRedirect: func(req *http.Request, via []*http.Request) error {
            return http.ErrUseLastResponse
        },
    }
    response, err := client.Do(request)
    if err != nil { return err }
    defer response.Body.Close()
    raw, err := io.ReadAll(response.Body)
    if err != nil { return err }
    if !strings.Contains(response.Header.Get("Content-Type"), "json") || !json.Valid(raw) {
        return fmt.Errorf("HTTP %d: expected a JSON response", response.StatusCode)
    }
    if response.StatusCode < 200 || response.StatusCode >= 300 {
        return fmt.Errorf("HTTP %d: %s", response.StatusCode, raw)
    }
    fmt.Println(string(raw))
    // For batches, inspect every item even on HTTP 200.
    return nil
}

func main() {
    if err := run(); err != nil {
        fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, err) // Keep Problem Details for error handling.
        os.Exit(1)
    }
}

Go 1.22+; standard library. Save as main.go and run go run main.go. Runtime documentation

Next steps