API Overview

Overview

The Shotgun API allows users to integrate their tools with Shotgun very easily. Using the simple Python-based API we provide, you can quickly get your scripts integrated with Shotgun's CRUD-based API. Because the needs of every studio can prove to be very different, we don't do a lot of "automation" or "smarts" in our API. We have kept it pretty low-level and leave most of those decisions to you. The API is powerful enough you can write your own "smarts" in a wrapper on top of the Shotgun API.

CRUD

The API follows the CRUD pattern allowing simple Create, Read, Update, and Delete actions. Each request acts on a single entity type and depending on the specific action, can define filters, columns to return, sorting information, and some additional options.

Media Files

The API has additional methods for managing thumbnails, images, and both uploaded and linked media.

Authentication

In order to communicate with the Shotgun server via the API, your script must be registered with Shotgun and have a valid API key. Then authentication is simple. You just provide your script name and it's API key. We strongly recommend you register each script separately and have individual API keys for each. This allows you to track down each of your scripts and the actions they are performing much more accurately in the event logs.