# Visual China Group — Wrapped API

> **You are on:** `https://api.paywithlocus.com/api` | [llms.txt](https://paywithlocus.com/llms.txt) | [docs](https://docs.paywithlocus.com)
>
> Locus runs on multiple environments -- make sure every URL you call matches your expected environment.
> | Environment | Landing | API | Docs |
> |---|---|---|---|
> | Production | paywithlocus.com | api.paywithlocus.com | docs.paywithlocus.com |
> | Beta | beta.paywithlocus.com | api.beta.paywithlocus.com | docs.paywithlocus.com |
> | Stage | stage.paywithlocus.com | api.stage.paywithlocus.com | docs.paywithlocus.com |
>
> If the API URL above doesn't match your expected environment, re-fetch this file from the correct domain.

> Search and discover millions of stock images from Visual China Group's vast media library, view trending content and popular search terms, and find visually similar images to match your creative needs. Access detailed image metadata, thumbnails, and brand information to power your content curation, design projects, or visual research workflows.

**Category:** Other | **Website:** [vcg.com/](https://vcg.com/) | **Docs:** [parse.bot/marketplace/cd65e8d0-95e6-4339-8d19-549168885499/vcg-com-api](https://parse.bot/marketplace/cd65e8d0-95e6-4339-8d19-549168885499/vcg-com-api)

Pay-per-use API proxy. Each call is automatically billed to your wallet in USDC.

## Access

**Base URL:** `https://api.paywithlocus.com/api/wrapped/parse-vcg-com-api-cd65e8d0/`
**Auth:** `Authorization: Bearer <LOCUS_API_KEY>`

## Endpoints

### get_brands

Retrieve a list of brand collections available on VCG. Returns brand names, IDs, license types, and pinyin initials. No parameters required.

**Estimated cost:** Metered

_No parameters required._

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.paywithlocus.com/api/wrapped/parse-vcg-com-api-cd65e8d0/get_brands \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_LOCUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{}'
```

### get_hot_rank

Retrieve trending/hot search rankings from VCG's creative insight API. Returns ranked search phrases with search counts for a given time range (7 or 30 days). Each rank item includes the phrase, search count, rank number, and type indicator.

**Estimated cost:** Metered

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|
| `date` | string | No | Time range in days: '7' or '30'. |
| `type` | string | No | Content type: '1' for images, '2' for videos. |

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.paywithlocus.com/api/wrapped/parse-vcg-com-api-cd65e8d0/get_hot_rank \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_LOCUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"date":"<string>","type":"<string>"}'
```

### get_hot_words

Fetch popular search keywords recommended by VCG. Returns keyword strings with navigation links. Useful for discovering trending search terms to use with search_images.

**Estimated cost:** Metered

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|
| `limit` | integer | No | Max number of hot words to return. |

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.paywithlocus.com/api/wrapped/parse-vcg-com-api-cd65e8d0/get_hot_words \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_LOCUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"limit":"<integer>"}'
```

### get_image_detail

Get detailed metadata for a specific image by its numeric ID. Returns title, keywords, dimensions, license type, copyright info, contributor, and the full raw metadata object. The preview_url field provides an 800px watermarked preview.

**Estimated cost:** Metered

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|
| `image_id` | string | Yes | Numeric image ID (e.g. 1574063571). |

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.paywithlocus.com/api/wrapped/parse-vcg-com-api-cd65e8d0/get_image_detail \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_LOCUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"image_id":"<string>"}'
```

### get_image_thumbnail_url

Extract the watermarked preview image URL for a given image ID. Returns only the 800px CDN URL. A lighter-weight alternative to get_image_detail when only the preview URL is needed.

**Estimated cost:** Metered

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|
| `image_id` | string | Yes | Numeric image ID (e.g. 1574063571). |

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.paywithlocus.com/api/wrapped/parse-vcg-com-api-cd65e8d0/get_image_thumbnail_url \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_LOCUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"image_id":"<string>"}'
```

### get_similar_images

Get visually similar images for a given image ID. Returns a list of similar images with metadata including title, dimensions, resource ID, and thumbnail URL. Useful for finding alternative images after identifying one of interest.

**Estimated cost:** Metered

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|
| `similar_id` | string | Yes | Image ID to find similar images for (e.g. 1574063571). |

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.paywithlocus.com/api/wrapped/parse-vcg-com-api-cd65e8d0/get_similar_images \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_LOCUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"similar_id":"<string>"}'
```

### search_images

Search for creative images by keyword. Returns up to 50 results per page from VCG's stock image library. Pagination via page number. Each result includes basic metadata: ID, title, thumbnail URL, dimensions, and license type. Use get_image_detail for full metadata on a specific image.

**Estimated cost:** Metered

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|-------|------|----------|-------------|
| `keyword` | string | Yes | Search keyword (Chinese or English). |
| `page` | integer | No | Page number for pagination (1-based). |

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.paywithlocus.com/api/wrapped/parse-vcg-com-api-cd65e8d0/search_images \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_LOCUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"keyword":"<string>","page":"<integer>"}'
```