IndexNow API Key Setup and One API for Bulk Submission and Index Status

How do I get an IndexNow API key?

There is no account to register with. The key is any string you create that meets the format, and Bing's IndexNow page has a generate button that produces one for you. What makes it valid is the file: engines fetch https://yourdomain.com/your-key.txt and check that it holds the same key, which proves you control the domain.

Indexing creates a random 32-character key for each site you add and shows you the exact file name and location. We then request the file before the first submission and again whenever an engine refuses a batch, so a key that vanished in a redesign is caught on the day it happens.

• Key length 8 to 128 characters
• Characters a to z, A to Z, 0 to 9 and dashes only
• File named after the key with a .txt extension
• File at the root, unless you pass keyLocation for a subfolder

Is the IndexNow API free?

Yes. IndexNow is an open protocol and the participating engines do not charge for submissions. What you pay for with Indexing is the work around it: key verification, host filtering, the same submission to Google, per-URL index status, and one API for many client sites. API access is part of the Agency plan at $119 a month billed annually, or $239 month to month.

How many URLs can I submit to the IndexNow API at once?

IndexNow.org allows up to 10,000 URLs in one POST, and you can mix http and https URLs from the same host. A submission is all or nothing: if one URL in the list belongs to a different host, the engine answers 422 and none of the batch is accepted.

Our submit endpoint takes up to 500 URLs per call. We drop URLs that do not belong to the site first, send the rest, and count only accepted URLs against your monthly allowance. A rejected batch costs nothing.

What do IndexNow API response codes mean?

IndexNow.org documents six. 200 means the URL was submitted successfully. 202 means it was received and key validation is pending, which is normal the first time an engine sees your key. 400 is a malformed request. 403 means the key is not valid, usually because the key file cannot be fetched. 422 means a URL does not belong to the host or the key does not match. 429 means too many requests, which the protocol describes as potential spam.

Our API passes the meaning back in plain English in the message field, for example that the key file is not public or that Bing is rate limiting this host, so the developer reading the response knows what to fix without looking up the code.

Does the IndexNow API work for Google?

No. Google does not participate in IndexNow, so an IndexNow submission reaches Bing and the other partner engines but not Google. For Google, the routes are an accurate sitemap, internal links, and the Google Indexing API for verified property owners.

To be straight about the last one: Google documents its Indexing API for pages with JobPosting or BroadcastEvent in a VideoObject. Our API submits through it from the Search Console property you connect, respects Google's default quota of 200 publish requests a day per project, and then reads the real index status, because a submission is never a guarantee from any engine.

The three endpoints

Every request carries your key as a Bearer token in the Authorization header. A missing or unknown key returns 401, a plan without API access returns 403, and a lapsed subscription returns 402, the same gate the dashboard uses. Requests are limited to 120 a minute.

GET /api/v1/sites lists every site on the subscription with its coverage summary: URLs known, crawlable, blocked, indexed and not indexed in Google, the Bing equivalents, average time to index and the last scan time. GET /api/v1/sites/{id}/urls returns up to 1,000 URLs with their state. POST /api/v1/sites/{id}/submit takes a urls array and returns how many went to Google and how many to IndexNow.

Who uses the Indexing API

Agencies that manage IndexNow for dozens of client sites and want one integration instead of one per domain. Developers building programmatic or headless sites who publish thousands of pages and need to know which ones landed. In-house teams that feed index status into their own dashboards or client reports instead of exporting Search Console by hand.

If you run one site and only need Bing to hear about new posts, call IndexNow directly or use a plugin; it is free and it works. The API earns its price when you have many sites, care about Google too, and need proof of what was indexed.