Quickstart

This guide takes you from an API key to a finished MP4 on disk. You need an account on the Agency plan and a few minutes while the video renders.

Caution

Step 3 starts a real render and spends your account’s credits.

1. Get an API key

   In the app, open Account > API keys, create a key and copy it. Then store it in an environment variable so it stays out of your code:

   export REIGNITOR_API_KEY="emp_..."

   See Authentication for details.

2. Check the key

   Call GET /v1/me. A 200 means the key works. The response also shows your credit balance.

   curl

   curl https://reignitor.com/v1/me \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $REIGNITOR_API_KEY"

   JavaScript

   const BASE = 'https://reignitor.com';
   const headers = { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.REIGNITOR_API_KEY}` };
   
   const res = await fetch(`${BASE}/v1/me`, { headers });
   console.log(res.status, await res.json());

   Python

   import os, requests
   
   BASE = "https://reignitor.com"
   headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['REIGNITOR_API_KEY']}"}
   
   res = requests.get(f"{BASE}/v1/me", headers=headers)
   print(res.status_code, res.json())

   {
     "user_id": "3f1c2a9e-8b7d-4c1e-9f0a-2d6b5e4c3a21",
     "email": "dev@example.com",
     "name": "Sam",
     "credits_remaining": 42
   }

3. Start a video

   Call POST /v1/render with a brief. Reignitor plans the scenes and starts the render. Send an Idempotency-Key with a fresh value, so a network retry cannot start the same video twice.

   curl

   curl https://reignitor.com/v1/render \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $REIGNITOR_API_KEY" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
     -d '{
       "brief": "A 20 second advert for Northwind Coffee, a small-batch roaster. Warm, early-morning mood. End on the line: Roasted this week, at your door by Friday.",
       "kind": "ad",
       "duration_sec": 20,
       "aspect": "9:16",
       "quality": "draft"
     }'

   JavaScript

   import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto';
   
   const res = await fetch(`${BASE}/v1/render`, {
     method: 'POST',
     headers: {
       ...headers,
       'Content-Type': 'application/json',
       'Idempotency-Key': randomUUID(),
     },
     body: JSON.stringify({
       brief: 'A 20 second advert for Northwind Coffee, a small-batch roaster. Warm, early-morning mood. End on the line: Roasted this week, at your door by Friday.',
       kind: 'ad',
       duration_sec: 20,
       aspect: '9:16',
       quality: 'draft',
     }),
   });
   const job = await res.json();
   if (res.status !== 202) throw new Error(`${res.status} ${job.code}: ${job.error}`);
   console.log(job.job_id);

   Python

   import uuid
   
   res = requests.post(
       f"{BASE}/v1/render",
       headers={**headers, "Idempotency-Key": str(uuid.uuid4())},
       json={
           "brief": "A 20 second advert for Northwind Coffee, a small-batch roaster. "
                    "Warm, early-morning mood. End on the line: "
                    "Roasted this week, at your door by Friday.",
           "kind": "ad",
           "duration_sec": 20,
           "aspect": "9:16",
           "quality": "draft",
       },
   )
   job = res.json()
   if res.status_code != 202:
       raise RuntimeError(f"{res.status_code} {job.get('code')}: {job['error']}")
   print(job["job_id"])

   You get 202 Accepted and a job_id:

   {
     "job_id": "7d2e4b10-5c3a-4f8e-a1b2-9c0d8e7f6a54",
     "status": "starting",
     "title": "Northwind Coffee, at your door by Friday",
     "scenes": 4,
     "credits_used": 12,
     "watermarked": false,
     "poll_url": "/v1/job/7d2e4b10-5c3a-4f8e-a1b2-9c0d8e7f6a54",
     "note": "Render started. Poll poll_url, or subscribe to video.completed via POST /api/webhooks/hooks."
   }

   Note

   This video has no brand, because an API render never picks one up on its own. To brand it, add brand_logo_url. See Making videos.

4. Wait for the job to finish

   Poll GET /v1/job/{id} every few seconds until status is succeeded, failed or cancelled. A render usually takes a few minutes.

   curl

   JOB_ID="7d2e4b10-5c3a-4f8e-a1b2-9c0d8e7f6a54"
   
   while true; do
     JOB=$(curl -s "https://reignitor.com/v1/job/$JOB_ID" \
       -H "Authorization: Bearer $REIGNITOR_API_KEY")
     STATUS=$(echo "$JOB" | jq -r .status)
     echo "$STATUS $(echo "$JOB" | jq -r .progress)%"
     case "$STATUS" in succeeded|failed|cancelled) break ;; esac
     sleep 10
   done
   echo "$JOB"

   JavaScript

   const FINAL = new Set(['succeeded', 'failed', 'cancelled']);
   
   let result;
   while (true) {
     const res = await fetch(`${BASE}/v1/job/${job.job_id}`, { headers });
     result = await res.json();
     console.log(result.status, `${result.progress}%`);
     if (FINAL.has(result.status)) break;
     await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 10_000));
   }
   if (result.status !== 'succeeded') throw new Error(result.error ?? result.status);

   Python

   import time
   
   FINAL = {"succeeded", "failed", "cancelled"}
   
   while True:
       result = requests.get(f"{BASE}/v1/job/{job['job_id']}", headers=headers).json()
       print(result["status"], f"{result['progress']}%")
       if result["status"] in FINAL:
           break
       time.sleep(10)
   
   if result["status"] != "succeeded":
       raise RuntimeError(result["error"] or result["status"])

   A finished job looks like this:

   {
     "job_id": "7d2e4b10-5c3a-4f8e-a1b2-9c0d8e7f6a54",
     "status": "succeeded",
     "progress": 100,
     "video_url": "https://cdn.example.com/exports/7d2e4b10.mp4",
     "error": null
   }

   Rather than polling, you can subscribe a webhook to video.completed.

5. Download the video

   video_url is a direct link to the MP4. Download it and store it on your side.

   curl

   curl -L -o northwind.mp4 "$(echo "$JOB" | jq -r .video_url)"

   JavaScript

   import { writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
   
   const video = await fetch(result.video_url);
   await writeFile('northwind.mp4', Buffer.from(await video.arrayBuffer()));

   Python

   video = requests.get(result["video_url"])
   video.raise_for_status()
   with open("northwind.mp4", "wb") as f:
       f.write(video.content)

If something goes wrong

• 401: check the key and the Bearer prefix. See Authentication.
• 402: the account is not on the Agency plan, or is out of credits. Read code.
• 422 BRAND_REQUIRED or NO_ANCHOR, or 400 PRESENTER_REQUIRED: the render needs a brand, a product photo or a presenter. See Making videos.
• 429: slow down. See Limits.

Every status and code is listed in Errors.

Next steps

• Making videos: brand kits, product photos, scene plans and training videos.
• Webhooks: get a signed callback when a video is ready.
• Create render reference: every field.