Asynchronous Requests

In this article, we’ll explain the difference between sync and async requests, highlight the benefits of the async flow, and describe key parameters with examples.

Async is supported by both Web Unlocker and SERP API products

Async VS Sync requests

There are 2 ways for us to handle your Web Unlocker and SERP API requests:

• default Synchronous requests - Send a request and get a real-time response immediately
• Asynchronous requests - Send a request (without waiting for an immediate response) and retrieve the results later via our designated API endpoint. Callback times are usually up to 5 minutes but may take up to 8 hours during peak periods. Responses are stored for up to 48 hours from the time the request was sent.

Async is recommended for those with high-volume requests who don’t need to serve an immediate or live response and can wait a few minutes to retrieve all their responses at once.

Why should I use Async?

• 99.99% success rate
• Stability
• Flexibility - the ability to retrieve your requests at a later time of your choosing (and not have to wait for the response immediately after sending the request)

How it works

Sending requests and receiving responses with Async mode is a two-step flow:

• Sending the request - This request includes the search parameters, returns a response_ID, and is a direct request (i.e. you will be billed for this request).
• Collecting the response - This request includes the response_ID and is free of charge (i.e. you will not be billed for this request). If you call for a response_ID which is still being processed you will receive a 102 status code.

We store responses for up to 48 hours from the time the request was sent.

Getting started

1. Enable "Asynchronous requests"

   Within your specific Web Unlocker or SERP API zone, under “Advanced settings”, enable the “Asynchronous requests” toggle.

2. [Optional] Setting up a webhook (POST or GET)

   This is where you will get notified on the status of your future requests

   A webhook can also be set per request (see “Initial request parameters” below)

3. Sending an async request

   The request syntax is slightly different from that of synchronous requests and requires an API key for authentication. See a basic example below (for more request parameters see below):

   curl -i --silent --compressed "https://api.brightdata.com/unblocker/req?customer=[ACCOUNT_ID]&zone=[zone_name]" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer [API_KEY]" \
     -d '{"country":"us","query":{"q":"pizza","num":"100","hl":"en","gl":"au"}}'
   

   You’ll receive a response to the above that contains an x-response-id header with the ID of your request. This is the RESPONSE_ID for this request which you will use when collecting your results in the next step.

   You can easily save the RESPONSE_ID in your script by initializing it along with your request like this:

   RESPONSE_ID=$(
   	curl -i --silent --compressed "[https://api.brightdata.com/unblocker/req?customer=[ACCOUNT_ID]&zone=[zone_name]](https://api.brightdata.com/unblocker/req?customer=%5BACCOUNT_ID%5D&zone=%5BZONE_NAME%5D)" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer API_KEY" -d '{"country":"us","query":{"q":"pizza","num":"100","hl":"en","gl":"au"}}' | sed -En 's/^x-response-id: (.*)/\1/p' | tr -d '\r'
   )
   

4. Webhook notification

   If you’ve set up a webhook, you’ll receive a notification immediately when the requests are ready with the following parameters: status, response_id, request_url and hook_data (optional - if you’ve used the webhook_data parameter in your request).

   Whitelist our webhook IPs

   Our asynchronous webhooks delivery sends notifications from a pair of stable IP addresses, so please make sure to whitelist them:

   1. 100.27.150.189
   2. 18.214.10.85
5. Collecting your results

   Using the RESPONSE_ID received in step 3, send the following:

   curl -i --silent --compressed "https://api.brightdata.com/unblocker/get_result?customer=[ACCOUNT_ID]&zone=[zone_name]&response_id=${[RESPONSE_ID]}" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer [API_KEY]"
   

API - Request creation - POST /{unblocker|serp}/req

Example

curl -i --silent --compressed "https://api.brightdata.com/unblocker/req?customer=[ACCOUNT_ID]&zone=[zone_name]" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer [API_KEY]" \
  -d '{"url":"https://example.com?foo=bar","country":"us"}'

Parameters

(*) mandatory parameter

Parameter	Type	Description
url (*)	String	Defines the url of the request
method	String	Defines the HTTP method of the request
headers	Object	Defines headers to be used in the request
body	String or Object	Defines body to be sent with request. If an object is specified, it is serialized to JSON, and Content-Type header is set to application/json.
country	String	Defines country to be used for request (2-letters code)
webhook_url	String	Defines the URL to which the job status notification will be sent. If you don’t want to setup a default webhook (above) or prefer the URL to be different per request, use this.
webhook_method	String	Defines the HTTP method to use with the webhook_url (GET or POST)
webhook_data	Any	Defines the data that will be sent with job status notification

SERP-specific parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
query (*)	Object
brd_json	1 or “html”	Defines the response format

SERP Example

curl -i --silent --compressed "https://api.brightdata.com/serp/req?customer=[ACCOUNT_ID]&zone=[zone_name]" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer [API_KEY]" \
  -d '{"country":"us","query":{"q":"pizza","num":"100","hl":"en","gl":"au"},"brd_json":"1"}'

API - Response collection - GET /{unblocker|serp}/get_result

Note: response_id comes from the x-response-id header of the request creation response

Example

curl -k -v --compressed "https://api.brightdata.com/serp/get_result?customer={ACCOUNT_ID&zone={ASYNC_ZONE}&response_id={response_id}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {API_Key}" \
  -o {Your_result_ouput_file}

Parameters

(*) mandatory parameter

Parameter	Description
response_id (*)	Defines the job id. Received in the response headers of your initial async request.

Multiple queries in a single request

SERP API only

Async supports sending 2 parallel query requests within one API request using the multi parameter instead of query.

These parallel requests use the same peer IP and session and can be used for collecting additional data, comparison tests, etc. – e.g., making a pair of requests with different parameters/values. They use the same IP and session.

Conditions:

1. Supported only for a zone with Async enabled (as shown above)
2. Supported only for Google Search
3. Limited to 2 requests
4. Billed as 2 requests

parameter usage:

Same Keyword

multi: [
  {"keyword":"pizza","num":20},
  {"keyword":"pizza","num":100}
]

request example:

Sample Request

curl -v --compressed "https://api.brightdata.com/serp/req" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {API_KEY}" \
  -d "{\"zone\":\"$ZONE\",\"country\":\"us\",\"multi\":[{\"keyword\":\"pizza\",\"num\":20},{\"keyword\":\"pizza\",\"num\":100}]}"