# List changes

> An append-only feed of catalogue mutations, so a mirror can resync without refetching everything.

- **Endpoint**: `GET /v1/changes`
- **Cost**: 1 credit
- **Minimum plan**: free
- **Cache-Control**: `public, max-age=30`

Source: https://pokemontcgapi.com/docs/api/changes/list

No key yet? One call gets you one: `POST /v1/accounts/free` with an `Idempotency-Key` header and your email address returns a working key in the response. Keep the original Idempotency-Key and body for response replay for up to 24 hours, under the conditions in the quickstart. The trial is 800 credits over 30 days once the address is confirmed, no card; paid plans start at 29 € a month. See the [quickstart](https://pokemontcgapi.com/docs/quickstart) and the [pricing](https://pokemontcgapi.com/pricing).

Written by database triggers, not by application code: nothing can mutate a row without appearing here, and ids are monotonic, so a single integer is a complete sync position. Each entry names the `kind`, the public `entity_id`, the `op` (`INSERT`, `UPDATE`, `DELETE`) and the `version` the row reached.

Follow `links.next` until `meta.has_more` is false, store `meta.next_since`, and poll. `meta.watermark` is the newest id in the feed and `meta.behind` how far your cursor is from it. `meta.oldest_available` matters on a first sync: if your stored position is older than it, the feed can no longer replay the gap and a full refetch is the honest answer.

## Query parameters

| Name | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `since` | integer | 0 | The `meta.next_since` of your previous page. `0`, or omitted, starts from the oldest entry still available. |
| `kind` | string | — | Comma-separated entity kinds: `CARD`, `SET`, `SEALED`, `PRICE`, `IMAGE`. |
| `limit` | integer | 250 | Rows per page, 1 to 1,000. Above 1,000 you get `LIMIT_EXCEEDED`; follow `links.next`. |

## Headers

| Name | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `X-Api-Key` **required** | string | — | Your API key. `Authorization: Bearer <key>` is accepted as an alias. |
| `If-None-Match` | string | — | Send back the `ETag` you stored. The API returns a strong ETag on every catalogue response, and a 304 is a header exchange: no body, no database row read. |

## Example request

**curl**

```bash
curl -s -G "https://api.pokemontcgapi.com/v1/changes" \
  --data-urlencode "limit=2" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: $PTCG_API_KEY"
```

**TypeScript**

`request.ts`

```ts
const url = new URL("https://api.pokemontcgapi.com/v1/changes");
url.searchParams.set("limit", "2");

const res = await fetch(url, {
  headers: { "X-Api-Key": process.env.PTCG_API_KEY ?? "" },
});

if (!res.ok) {
  const { error } = await res.json();
  throw new Error(`${error.code}: ${error.message} (${error.request_id})`);
}

const { data, meta } = await res.json();
```

**Python**

`request.py`

```python
import os, httpx

res = httpx.get(
    "https://api.pokemontcgapi.com/v1/changes",
    params={"limit": "2"},
    headers={"X-Api-Key": os.environ["PTCG_API_KEY"]},
)
res.raise_for_status()
payload = res.json()
```

## Example response

`200 OK` · `Cache-Control: public, max-age=30`

`response.json`

```json
{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "kind": "SET",
      "entity_id": "sv2a",
      "op": "INSERT",
      "version": 1,
      "changed_at": "2026-09-02T12:39:35.894Z"
    },
    {
      "id": 2,
      "kind": "SET",
      "entity_id": "svln",
      "op": "INSERT",
      "version": 1,
      "changed_at": "2026-09-02T12:39:35.894Z"
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "count": 2,
    "has_more": true,
    "next_since": 2,
    "watermark": 116242,
    "oldest_available": 1,
    "behind": 116240
  },
  "links": {
    "next": "https://api.pokemontcgapi.com/v1/changes?limit=2&since=2"
  }
}
```

## Errors

Every error body carries `error.code`, `error.message` and `error.request_id`. Switch on the code, never on the message.

| Status | Code | When |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 401 | `MISSING_API_KEY` | No `X-Api-Key` header and no bearer token on a route that requires one. |
| 401 | `INVALID_API_KEY` | The key does not match any account. |
| 400 | `INVALID_PARAMETER` | A query parameter has the wrong type or an unsupported value — a non-integer `limit`, an unknown `lang`, an unknown `region`, a sort key that is not sortable. |
| 400 | `LIMIT_EXCEEDED` | `limit` is above 250, or a batch request carries more than 100 ids. |
| 429 | `QUOTA_EXCEEDED` | Trial credits, monthly credits or the daily cap are exhausted, and `details` says which: `daily_cap` with `retry_after_s` is the trial daily cap, which resets at midnight UTC; `renews: true` with `resets_at` is the monthly quota of a paid plan; `renews: false` is the trial allowance, which never comes back. `details.next_step` carries the plan, prices and owner action, or email verification when it unlocks the full trial. |
| 403 | `PLAN_REQUIRED` | The feature is outside the plan (movers require Growth; photo recognition has 5 calls after Free email confirmation, then requires Growth), or the account subscription is canceled or suspended. Centering requires Growth or higher; Developer is excluded. After email confirmation the trial includes 5 measure and 5 confirm calls independently; grade and standards use trial credits without separate call counters. Before email confirmation, the message starts with “Confirm your email…”. Follow details.next_step when present. |
| 403 | `TRIAL_EXPIRED` | The trial has ended: the account is on the trial and its 30 days from signup are over, and this route costs credits. `details.trial_expired_at` is the date, `details.trial_days` the length, and `details.next_step` the owner handoff. Zero-cost routes — `/v1/me`, `/v1/me/usage`, the key routes and `/v1/billing/checkout` — still answer. |

The full taxonomy, with what to do about each code, is on the [errors](https://pokemontcgapi.com/docs/errors) page.