Content Management API (BETA)
The Polycam Content Management API allows Enterprise users to programmatically access and manage captures, retrieve metadata, and export capture artifacts at scale. This article covers how to get started, key endpoints, and best practices for working with the API during its beta period.
Plan Availability
API access is available exclusively to Enterprise subscribers. Access must be explicitly enabled for individual developer accounts and is coordinated through your Polycam account representative.
To add API access to your account:
- Existing Enterprise customers: Reach out to your Polycam account owner to discuss adding the API to your contract.
- Not yet on Enterprise? Contact our Sales team to learn more about Enterprise plans and API access.
| API Access | |
|---|---|
| Free | ❌ |
| Basic | ❌ |
| Pro LEGACY | ❌ |
| Business | ❌ |
| Enterprise | ✅ |
Overview
Once enabled for your account, the Content Management API gives your developers programmatic access to your Polycam library. Common use cases include:
- Automating retrieval of capture metadata across large projects
- Downloading processed mesh data and thumbnails at scale
- Triggering and monitoring artifact export jobs (OBJ, GLTF, LAS)
- Integrating Polycam capture data into third-party platforms and workflows
Your beta access window is 90 days from the date the API is enabled on your account.
Prerequisites & Access
Before your developers can use the API, your organization needs to complete two steps: confirming API access as part of your Enterprise contract, and nominating the accounts that will need access.
1Enable API Access for Developer Accounts
To get started, provide your Polycam account representative with the email addresses of the accounts that should have API access enabled. Your representative will coordinate adding API access to your contract and activating the nominated accounts.
2Generate an API Token
Once API access has been granted to your account, that user can generate an API token by following these steps:
- Navigate to poly.cam/library
- Click your profile icon in the top-right corner
- Click Account
- Click Go to API Keys
- Under Create a new API key, select your Workspace from the dropdown
- Enter a Name for your API key to help identify it later
- Optionally, check API key expires if you'd like to set an expiration date. Leave unchecked for no expiry.
- Click
API Usage Limits
Once your token is created, the API Usage section of the API Keys page displays your current consumption against your account's limits:
- Concurrent jobs: The number of export jobs that can run simultaneously at any given time.
API Documentation
Full API reference documentation is available at poly.cam/docs/api. This covers all available endpoints, request parameters, response schemas, and authentication requirements.
Noteworthy API Endpoints
The following endpoints cover the most common workflows. For the full list of available endpoints and parameters, refer to the API documentation.
GET List Captures
Returns a paginated list of captures in your library using cursor-based pagination. Use this endpoint to walk through large capture libraries systematically.
GET Get Capture
Returns detailed metadata for a specific capture based on its Capture ID. Use this to retrieve information about an individual capture such as creation date, status, and associated data.
GET Download Artifacts
Returns download links for artifacts that are ready to download. Default artifacts (such as capture thumbnails and mesh data) are available here directly. For less common formats (OBJ, GLTF, LAS), you must first use the Start Export Job and Get Export Job endpoints to prepare the artifact before returning here to retrieve the download URL.
POST Start Export Job
Initiates an export job to prepare a capture artifact for download. Use this when requesting non-default artifact formats such as OBJ, GLTF, or LAS.
GET Get Export Job
Returns the current status of an export job. Poll this endpoint after calling Start Export Job to determine when the artifact is ready. Once the job status indicates completion, use the Download Artifacts endpoint to retrieve the download URL.
Follow this sequence when downloading artifact types that require an export job:
Continue polling Get Export Job until the status indicates the job is complete before requesting the download URL.
Security & Best Practices
Protecting Your API Token
- Store API tokens in a secure secrets manager or environment variable. Never hard-code them in source code
- Restrict token access to only the team members and services that require it
- If a token is compromised or lost, generate a new one immediately
Managing Developer Account Access
- Nominate only accounts that have a genuine need for API access
- Notify your account representative promptly when a developer's access should be removed (e.g., team changes, role transitions)
Troubleshooting & FAQs
My account doesn't have API access after the contract was updated
Confirm that your email address was included in the list submitted to your account representative. Access is enabled per account, not at the organization level automatically. Contact your account representative to verify the status.
I lost or forgot to save my API token
API tokens are only displayed once at creation and cannot be retrieved afterward. You will need to generate a new token. Navigate to → to create a replacement.
My export job isn't completing
Export jobs may take some time depending on capture size and format. Continue polling the Get Export Job endpoint at reasonable intervals. If a job remains in a non-complete state for an extended period, contact Enterprise support with the job ID for investigation.
The API behavior doesn't match the documentation
As the API is currently in beta, the documentation and endpoint behavior may be updated between releases.
Enterprise Support: For issues not resolved by this article, contact your dedicated Polycam account representative. Please include relevant details such as your Capture ID, job ID, or error response when submitting a request.