Pokemon TCG Cards Scraper — pokemontcg.io API Wrapper

Fetches Pokemon Trading Card Game card data from pokemontcg.io. Four modes: search by Lucene query, fetch specific cards by ID, walk an entire set, or pull the full set list. Returns full card metadata, attacks, format legality, regulation mark, and live prices from TCGPlayer and Cardmarket.

No scraping. The data comes from a public REST API that the Pokemon TCG community has maintained for years — clean JSON, no CAPTCHAs, no browser emulation required.

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Modes

Mode	What it does	Required input
search	Lucene query across all ~16k cards	query
by_id	Fetch specific cards by ID	cardIds
set_walk	All cards in a specific set	setId
sets_list	All Pokemon TCG sets ever released	—

Default mode is search. Leave the query blank to get everything (capped by maxItems).

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Input

Field	Type	Description
mode	string	search / by_id / set_walk / sets_list
query	string	Lucene query. Examples: name:charizard, subtypes:VMAX types:fire, hp:[100 TO 300], legalities.standard:Legal
cardIds	array	Card IDs for by_id mode. Format: swsh1-1, base1-4, sv3pt5-3
setId	string	Set ID for set_walk. Examples: sv1, swsh4, base1, bw11
includePrices	boolean	Include TCGPlayer + Cardmarket price snapshots. Default: true
apiKey	string	Optional. Free key from dev.pokemontcg.io raises daily limit to 20k requests
maxItems	integer	Cap on results returned. 0 = unlimited
proxyConfiguration	object	Optional datacenter proxy. The API is globally accessible without one

Query Syntax

pokemontcg.io uses full Lucene query syntax. Useful examples:

name:pikachu                       # exact or fuzzy match
name:"Charizard VMAX"              # exact phrase
subtypes:VMAX                      # subtype filter
types:fire                         # energy type
set.id:sv3pt5                      # specific set
set.series:Scarlet\ \&\ Violet     # full series
hp:[200 TO *]                      # HP range (200 and up)
legalities.standard:Legal          # format-legal cards only
regulationMark:H                   # rotation mark H
rarity:"Hyper Rare"                # specific rarity
artist:PLANETA                     # by illustrator

Combine with AND / OR / NOT. The API handles the rest.

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Output

Each card record includes:

Field	Type	Description
id	string	Unique card ID (e.g. swsh1-1)
name	string	Card name
supertype	string	Pokémon, Trainer, or Energy
subtypes	string[]	V, VMAX, GX, EX, ex, Stage 1, Stage 2, etc.
hp	string	Hit points
types	string[]	Energy types (Fire, Water, etc.)
evolvesFrom	string	Pre-evolution card name
evolvesTo	string[]	Evolution card names
rules	string[]	Rule-box text (V-RULE, VMAX RULE, etc.)
attacks	string	JSON: list of attack objects [{name, cost, damage, text}]
weaknesses	string	JSON: [{type, value}]
resistances	string	JSON: [{type, value}]
abilities	string	JSON: list of abilities [{name, text, type}]
retreatCost	string[]	Retreat cost energy symbols
convertedRetreatCost	integer	Numeric retreat cost
set	string	JSON: set metadata {id, name, series, printedTotal, releaseDate, …}
number	string	Collector number within set
artist	string	Illustrator name
rarity	string	Rarity string
flavorText	string	Flavor text (older cards)
nationalPokedexNumbers	string[]	Pokédex number(s)
legalities	string	JSON: {standard, expanded, unlimited} — Legal, Banned, or absent
regulationMark	string	Rotation mark: D, E, F, G, H (Scarlet & Violet era)
images	string	JSON: {small, large} — CDN URLs for card art
tcgplayer	string	JSON: TCGPlayer price snapshot {url, updatedAt, prices}
cardmarket	string	JSON: Cardmarket price snapshot {url, updatedAt, prices}

Sets List Output

When mode=sets_list, each record is a set:

Field	Description
id	Set ID (e.g. sv3pt5)
name	Set name
series	Block (e.g. Scarlet & Violet)
printedTotal	Cards in official numbering
total	Total cards including secret rares
legalities	JSON: format legality
ptcgoCode	PTCGO set code
releaseDate	Release date
updatedAt	Last data update
images	JSON: logo and symbol URLs

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Rate Limits

Without an API key: 1,000 requests per day, 30 per minute. With a free API key: 20,000 requests per day.

Get a free key at dev.pokemontcg.io. Supply it via the apiKey input field — the actor attaches it as an X-Api-Key header automatically.

At 250 cards per page, a full set like Scarlet & Violet Base (198 cards) takes one to two API requests. A full catalogue fetch with no query filter pages through ~16k cards in roughly 64 API calls.

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Use Cases

Price tracker. Pull all cards in a set with set_walk and includePrices: true. Both TCGPlayer and Cardmarket prices land in the same row — no join required.

Deck builder tooling. Search legalities.standard:Legal to get all Standard-legal cards. Filter by type, subtype, or regulation mark.

Rotation planning. Query regulationMark:H (or any mark) to see exactly which cards fall out on the next rotation. The mark changes every year; the query doesn't.

Collection management. Use by_id with a list of card IDs to bulk-enrich collection data with official art, set metadata, and current prices.

Catalogue join. This actor pairs naturally with Pokemon-adjacent scrapers — Limitless tournament data, auction results, graded card pop reports — using id or name as the join key.

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About pokemontcg.io

pokemontcg.io is an open, community-maintained API covering every Pokemon TCG card released since Base Set. It powers most third-party Pokemon TCG tools. Data is updated as new sets release.

The API is free to use within rate limits. This actor calls it directly.

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Support

Run into something unexpected? Use the feedback button on the actor page. Include the mode, query or card IDs used, and a sample of the unexpected output.