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Request Costs

Each API call may use one or more internal request units. The actual cost is returned in the response header:

x-hiker-info: reqs=<number>

Most endpoints cost 1 request. Some endpoints perform additional checks (privacy, ID lookup) and cost more.

Multi-request endpoints

Endpoint Reqs What it does
/v1/user/highlights 2 Gets highlights + privacy check
/v2/user/highlights 2 Gets highlights + privacy check
/v1/user/highlights/by/username 3 Username→ID lookup + highlights + privacy check
/v2/user/highlights/by/username 3 Username→ID lookup + highlights + privacy check
/v1/user/stories 2 Gets stories + privacy check
/v2/user/stories 2 Gets stories + privacy check
/v1/user/stories/by/username 3 Username→ID lookup + stories + privacy check
/v2/user/stories/by/username 3 Username→ID lookup + stories + privacy check
/v1/user/search/followers 2 Gets followers + privacy check
/v1/user/search/following 2 Gets following + privacy check
/a2/user 2 Profile data + media
/v2/user/explore/businesses/by/id 2 Business recommendations + account details
/gql/user/followers/chunk 2 Gets followers + privacy check
/gql/user/following/chunk 2 Gets following + privacy check

Force mode — skip privacy checks

Add force=on to skip privacy checks and reduce request cost by 1:

curl -H "x-access-key: YOUR_TOKEN" \
  "https://api.hikerapi.com/v1/user/stories?user_id=123&force=on"

curl -H "x-access-key: YOUR_TOKEN" \
  "https://api.hikerapi.com/v1/user/stories?user_id=123"

Note

Privacy checks identify private accounts specifically. Shadow-banned, deleted, or suspended accounts are handled differently.