Introduction

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What You Can Do

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What You’ll Need

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Step 1: Create Your Account & Subscribe

1. Visit app.pictory.ai and create a free account
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’ll 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’ll need it for every API request

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Step 3: Make Your First API Call

1. Send your API Key in the request header so Pictory knows it’s you
2. Give your video a name and provide the text content
3. Get a job ID - Pictory will return this immediately so you can track progress

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 check the current status
2. Call the status endpoint every 5-10 seconds until it’s done
3. When status is “completed” - your video URL will be in the response

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 - Don’t hardcode your key directly in your code
• Never commit to Git - Add your key file to .gitignore
• Use server-side code only - Don’t expose your key in websites or mobile apps
• Rotate regularly - Change your key every few months for extra security

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Handle Errors Well

• Use try-catch blocks - Wrap API calls so your app doesn’t crash if something fails
• Retry intelligently - If a request fails, wait a bit (2s, then 4s, then 8s) before trying again
• Save job IDs - Keep track of them so you can debug issues later
• Check your inputs - Make sure required fields are filled before calling the API

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Make It Fast

• Check status every 5-10 seconds - Not faster, not slower
• Cache results - If you need the same data multiple times, save it instead of calling the API again
• Batch your work - When creating many videos, process them together instead of one at a time

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Troubleshooting Common Issues

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What’s Next?

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Popular Guides

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API Reference

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Need Help?

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