Introduction

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What You Can Do

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What You Need

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Step 1: Create Your Account & Subscribe

1. Get started by creating a free account at Pictory
2. Click on your profile picture in the top-right corner
3. Select API Subscription from the menu
4. Choose a plan based on how many videos you plan to create per month
5. Complete the purchase to activate your API access

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Step 2: Get Your API Key

1. Go to the API Subscription page in your Pictory account
2. Your API Key will be displayed on this page
3. Click the Copy button to copy it to your clipboard
4. Save it securely — you need it for every API request

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Step 3: Make Your First API Call

1. Include your API Key in the Authorization request header for authentication
2. Specify a video name and provide the text content
3. Receive a job ID — the API returns this immediately for tracking the asynchronous rendering process

import axios from "axios";

const API_BASE_URL = "https://api.pictory.ai/pictoryapis";
const API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY"; // Replace with your actual API Key

async function createVideo() {
  try {
    const response = await axios.post(
      `${API_BASE_URL}/v2/video/storyboard/render`,
      {
        videoName: "my_first_video",
        scenes: [
          {
            story: "Welcome to Pictory! This is my first video created with the API.",
            createSceneOnNewLine: true,
            createSceneOnEndOfSentence: true,
          },
        ],
      },
      {
        headers: {
          "Content-Type": "application/json",
          Authorization: API_KEY, // Use API Key directly
        },
      }
    );

    console.log("Job created:", response.data.data.jobId);
    return response.data;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("Error:", error.response?.data || error.message);
    throw error;
  }
}

createVideo();

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Step 4: Check When Your Video is Ready

1. Use the job ID from Step 3 to query the current status
2. Poll the status endpoint every 10–30 seconds until rendering completes
3. When status is completed — the response will include your video download URL

async function checkJobStatus(jobId) {
  const response = await axios.get(
    `${API_BASE_URL}/v1/jobs/${jobId}`,
    {
      headers: {
        Authorization: API_KEY,
      },
    }
  );

  const status = response.data.data.status;
  console.log("Status:", status);

  if (status === "completed") {
    console.log("Video URL:", response.data.data.videoURL);
  }

  return response.data;
}

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Best Practices

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Keep Your API Key Safe

• Use environment variables — Never hardcode your key directly in source code
• Never commit to Git — Add your key file to .gitignore
• Use server-side code only — Never expose your key in client-side applications
• Regenerate if compromised — Generate a new key immediately if you suspect unauthorized access

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Handle Errors Gracefully

• Use try-catch blocks — Wrap API calls to handle failures without crashing your application
• Implement exponential backoff — On failure, retry with increasing delays (2s, 4s, 8s)
• Persist job IDs — Store job IDs for status tracking and debugging
• Validate inputs — Ensure all required fields are populated before making API calls

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Optimize Performance

• Poll at appropriate intervals — Check job status every 10–30 seconds to avoid rate limiting
• Cache responses — Store frequently accessed data locally to reduce redundant API calls
• Batch operations — When creating multiple videos, process them concurrently rather than sequentially

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Troubleshooting Common Issues

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Next Steps

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Popular Guides

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API Reference

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Need Help?

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