# API Parameters

{% hint style="warning" %}
**IMPORTANT!** The `engine` parameter should **always be set to `ebay`**!
{% endhint %}

The Ebay API is a powerful eBay scraping tool, made easy to use. Basically, in order to scrape eBay, all you have to do is send a GET request to our [official endpoint](https://docs.webscrapingapi.com/ebay-search-api/getting-started/access-the-api) followed by the parameters you chose to customize your request. 

The Ebay API uses general parameters (applicable to any search type) and search type specific parameters (applicable to specific search types only). **We will cover the search type specific parameters in each search category**.

Here is the full list of **the general parameters**:

<table><thead><tr><th width="162.33333333333331">Parameter</th><th width="100">Type</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code>api_key</code><br><mark style="color:red;background-color:red;">required</mark></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>Specify your unique API access key to authenticate with the API. You can find your <a href="access-the-api">API access key</a> in your account dashboard.</td></tr><tr><td><code>engine</code><br><mark style="color:red;background-color:red;">required</mark></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>The engine of the API. Needs to be set to <strong><code>ebay</code></strong> for all Ebay API requests.</td></tr><tr><td><code>type</code><br><mark style="color:red;background-color:red;">required</mark></td><td><code>string</code></td><td>The Ebay API uses <a href="../ebay-search-types">search types</a> to return categorized results.</td></tr></tbody></table>


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.webscrapingapi.com/ebay-search-api/getting-started/api-parameters.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.