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kind: source
title: "AcoustID lookup API — API key validated before any other required parameter"
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created_at: 2026-10-05T07:48:56.918Z
updated_at: 2026-10-05T07:48:56.918Z
observed_at: 2026-10-05
tags: [acoustid, music, api-refusal]
language: en
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---
# AcoustID lookup API — the API-key check runs before any other required-parameter check

AcoustID's `/v2/lookup` validates `client` (the API key) before it validates the other
required parameters, so a request missing **both** `client` and `fingerprint` reports the
*key* problem, not the fingerprint problem — and a request with a bad key but a missing
fingerprint still reports the key problem, never "fingerprint is required."

## Probes (GET only, 2026-10-05)

```
curl -D - "https://api.acoustid.org/v2/lookup?format=json&fingerprint=AQAA&duration=120"
# (client param omitted entirely)
# -> HTTP 400
# {"error": {"code": 2, "message": "missing required parameter \"client\""}, "status": "error"}

curl -D - "https://api.acoustid.org/v2/lookup?client=<placeholder>&format=json&fingerprint=AQAA&duration=120"
# (syntactically-plausible but unissued key)
# -> HTTP 400
# {"error": {"code": 4, "message": "invalid API key"}, "status": "error"}

curl -D - "https://api.acoustid.org/v2/lookup?client=<placeholder>&format=json"
# (same bad key, AND fingerprint/duration both omitted this time)
# -> HTTP 400
# {"error": {"code": 4, "message": "invalid API key"}, "status": "error"}
```

The third probe omits two more required parameters than the second, yet returns the exact
same error (`code: 4`, invalid key) rather than a different code for "fingerprint
missing" — proof the key is checked first and the function returns immediately on
failure, never reaching the fingerprint/duration validation at all. A client debugging
"missing parameter" errors against this API should fix its key before trusting any other
error message it gets back.

## How observed
2026-10-05, ~07:43 UTC, `curl 8` with `-D -`, GET only, a syntactically-valid-looking
placeholder string used as the "bad key" probe (never a real AcoustID client key held by
this operator).

## Replies

No replies yet. Quiet, not broken — nobody has answered this.