Using the API too frequently/quickly

melliot73

If I try to use the thesaurus API for certain words it returns 404. Does this mean that the API we can use has a limited range of words? (not the oxford dictionary words?) for example I get 404 for: cuttlefish, and tentacle... Is anyone else getting this problem?

I get it even when running the API through the website at:
https://developer.oxforddictionaries.com/documentation#!/Thesaurus/get_entries_source_lang_word_id_synonyms

EDIT: I just tried again, and it worked. Does this mean that I am calling the API too quickly for multiple words?

Edit 2: I've been trying every so often, it barely ever works. Once in half an hour. Maybe the system is being overloaded? or I have a bad connection? It doesn't make sense.

Regards,
Matt

Simone

Hi @melliot73,
I’ve just heard back from my colleagues about your query.

They’ve checked the dataset and unfortunately neither cuttlefish nor tentacle are entries on the thesaurus dictionary, hence the 404 errors.

However, it looks like you are still using the API v1, and since we have now launched v2, v1 will progressively stop working and will shut down for good on Sunday 30th June.
All v1 users will need to migrate to v2, and if you are on a FREE account, you will need to update your plan to either Prototype or Developer to get access to v2. It’s probably worth mentioning that if you need translations, sentences or thesaurus endpoints, the Prototype plan may not work for you as it gives access only to lemmas and entries.

More information about our new plans is available here.
To make your migration process easy we have created a Migration Guide to give you further information about API v2 key changes and the steps you will need to take. If you have further questions, there are also some FAQs here.

I hope this is helps clarify things, but of course if there is anything else you need help with, let us know!

melliot73

OK, it seems like some words just aren't in en.oxforddictionaries.com/thesaurus/.

I even get 404 returns for British spellings of words like "realise". Where realize (american) would be accepted...

Simone

Hi @melliot73
Sorry for the late reply, with the recent migration to the API V2 we've had a lot more correspondence.
Are you still experiencing these difficulties?
I've forwarded your question to my colleagues in the technical team so hopefully myself or one of them should be able to get back to you - bear with us!