Getting started with Kakao API

This document provides an overview of how to call Kakao APIs, intended for those new to the Kakao API.

1. Log in

Log in to Kakao Developers with your developer account.

If you do not have a developer account, sign in with your Kakao Account and click [Sign up] to register as a developer.

2. Create Kakao Developers app

To use Kakao APIs, you need an app. If you do not have an app yet, create one first.

Create an appoutlink

1. On the app management page, select [Create app] from the All Apps list.
2. 🅐 App icon: Upload a logo or icon for your app. You can skip this step if needed and edit it later under Basic information.
3. 🅑 App name: Enter the service name.
4. 🅒 Company name: Enter the name of the business or organization operating the service. Independent developers can enter any name representing the developer or service source.
5. 🅓 Category: Select the category that best fits your service.
6. Check that none of the restricted items in the operations policy apply to your service, and then select 🅔.
7. Click [Save] to create the app.

3. Check your app key

When calling Kakao APIs, you must pass the app key in the authorization header to identify which app is calling the API.

Go to [App] > [General] > [App keys] on the app management page to check your app keys. Depending on the platform or API, you may need different types of app keys. Each API development guide indicates which authorization method is required.

4. Call API

To easily make an API call without any prerequisites, let's call the Daum Search API as an example.

Using REST API test tool

If you are not familiar with development, you can call Kakao API using the test tool provided by Kakao Developers.

Use REST API test tooloutlink

1. Select the registered app in the REST API test tool. You can also use the developers-sample app that is selected by default.
2. Enter the parameters as guided in the developer documentation and then select [Send].

You can check the request code examples along with the response result.

For the details on using the REST API test tool, see Test tool.

Using Curl

You can also call the API directly with the curl command in CLI (Command Line Interface).

As guided in the Developer documentation, put the REST API key in the authorization header to call the API. Be careful not to expose the REST API key to external parties.

curl -v -G GET "https://dapi.kakao.com/v2/search/web" \
  --data-urlencode "query=Kakao" \
  -H "Authorization: KakaoAK ${YOUR_REST_API_KEY}"

For example, if the REST API key is 6f95e7e3146********, you can request as below.

curl -v -G GET "https://dapi.kakao.com/v2/search/web" \
  --data-urlencode "query=Kakao" \
  -H "Authorization: KakaoAK 6f95e7e3146********"

5. Call other APIs

As described above, you can use various APIs provided by the Kakao API platform. To call APIs, you must first complete the prerequisites required for each API.

Check prerequisites for each API

At the top of each development guide, the Basic information table shows any prerequisites needed to call that API.

Each item in the Basic information table has the following meaning:

• Method: The HTTP method used to call the API.
• URL: The endpoint for sending API requests.
• Authorization: The authorization method required for the API call, such as an access token or app key, business token.
• Permission: Permission required to call the API.
• Prerequisite: You must configure settings in the app management page before calling the API.
  • Request permission: Indicates that the API requires additional usage permission (Example: Kakao Moment, Kakao Talk Calendar).
  • Manage consent items: Indicates that the API requires user consent. See the User consent row in the table, and configure the consent item.
  • Kakao Sync: Indicates that you must implement Kakao Sync for the API to work.
• Kakao Login: Whether you must implement Kakao Login for the API to work.
• User consent: The names of consent items required for the API or its features.

See more

• Test with sample code: Guide to quickly testing Kakao Login using prebuilt sample code.
• Implement Kakao Login: Guide to implementing the login feature from project creation in Node.js, PHP, and Python environments.