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An affiliate API (application programming interface) lets software exchange data or perform supported actions with an affiliate network, program, or affiliate-management platform.
Publishers can use it to retrieve products or promotions, create tracked referral links, and read transaction reports. Merchants can use it to manage supported program workflows, share promotions, synchronize performance data, or validate transactions. Available functions vary by provider and account.
How an affiliate API works
Imagine a cashback app approved for a merchant's affiliate program. A customer chooses a product in the app and continues to the merchant. The API helps the app prepare the referral and update the customer's reward record after the purchase.
Retrieve the product
The app requests supported product data or ingests the provider's catalogue feed. It shows the relevant item, merchant, and available price information.
Create the tracked referral
The app requests an affiliate link to the merchant's product page. Where the program permits it, a supported reference connects the referral with the app's customer reward record. The app explains its commission and cashback arrangement.
Receive the purchase record
The customer buys on the merchant's site. The merchant's tracking integration reports the purchase, and the app retrieves the transaction through the API or receives a supported notification.
Update the reward status
The app matches the reported transaction to the customer record and shows a pending reward. Approval, cancellation, or reversal updates change that record. The app pays cashback under its reward terms and payment process.
Who uses an affiliate API?
Publishers, including comparison sites, cashback services, creators, and AI shopping apps, automate referrals and reporting. Merchants and affiliate teams connect their program with commerce, analytics, or finance systems. These are the two sides of affiliate marketing, and their API permissions can differ.
Affiliate API example: Awin
Awin’s API documentation separates publisher and advertiser operations. Its tracking-link endpoint lets a publisher submit a merchant destination and receive an affiliate link. Its transaction endpoint lets a publisher retrieve purchases and their statuses.
These operations support the cashback example above: create the referral, then read the purchase record and update its reward status. Other providers expose their own combinations of product, link, and reporting functions.
What can an affiliate API do?
The provider's endpoints determine which functions an account can use. The table connects common functions with the applications that need them.
| API function | Typical information or action | Example use |
|---|---|---|
| Product and merchant discovery | Products, descriptions, prices, merchant records, or program information. | A comparison site or AI shopping agent finds relevant products. |
| Tracking-link creation | A supported referral link to a selected merchant destination. | A cashback app connects a customer referral with a later transaction. |
| Promotions | Coupon codes, offer dates, and eligibility restrictions. | A coupon tool synchronizes current promotions. |
| Transaction and commission reporting | Amounts, currencies, event identifiers, and transaction statuses. | A publisher updates earnings or customer reward records. |
| Program administration | Supported promotion creation, performance reporting, or transaction validation. | A merchant reconciles affiliate activity with its own systems. |
Affiliate API vs product API, feed, and webhook
These interfaces solve different problems and can be used together. For example, an application may ingest a feed, request tracked links through an API, and receive transaction changes through a webhook.
| Interface | Main purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Affiliate API | Access program data and referral operations. | Create tracking links or retrieve commissions. |
| Product data API | Retrieve or update product information. | Compare specifications with a product data API. |
| Product feed | Distribute a collection of product records. | Refresh a catalogue from a product feed. |
| Webhook or postback | Send an event notification to another system. | Notify an app of a purchase or status change. |
Affiliate API integration checklist
Confirm merchant and product access
Start with the merchants and product categories your audience needs. Some providers require approval for each merchant program, so catalogue size and usable coverage can differ.
Check referral links and transaction reports
A comparison site may mainly need product links. A cashback app also needs to connect each purchase to a customer and follow its status from pending to approved.
Plan data updates and request volume
Check how often product data changes and how many requests the app can make. A scheduled feed may suit catalogue refreshes, while an API handles individual link requests.
Test setup and status changes
Look for clear documentation, test tools, and examples. The team will need to keep credentials secure and process changes such as cancelled purchases or expired promotions.
How AON connects affiliate APIs to AI apps
Affiliate APIs let software work with merchant programs, products, links, and transaction reports. AON uses connected commercial supply to help AI apps find offers that match a user’s request.
The business supplying offers to AON can use an affiliate API to retrieve product information and report purchases. The AI app queries AON for relevant offers and presents them to the shopper. Merchant coverage depends on the programs connected through those suppliers.
Explore AON offer discoveryCommon questions about Affiliate API
Are affiliate APIs free to use?
It depends on the provider and account. Access can be included in a program, restricted to particular plans, or priced separately. Compare the current access terms, usage limits, and program requirements rather than assuming every API is free.
How does an affiliate API help track commission?
It lets the app retrieve transaction records and their commission status. For example, a cashback app can use an order reference to show a customer’s reward as pending, approved, or cancelled.
What is the difference between an affiliate API and an affiliate link?
An affiliate link sends a shopper to a merchant and identifies the referral. An affiliate API lets software create those links or work with product and transaction data. A publisher can use affiliate links without building an API integration.
How can an AI app use an affiliate API through MCP?
An MCP server can expose API operations as tools the AI app can call, such as searching products or creating a referral link. The affiliate API provides the data and operations; MCP gives the AI app a way to discover and use them.
Sources
- Awin: publisher and advertiser APIsOfficial documentation
- Awin: generate tracking linksOfficial documentation
- Awin: publisher transaction reportsOfficial documentation
- AON Offer Query APIAON documentation
- AON Partner overviewAON documentation