The OLX Partner API for shop owners

If you sell on OLX from a shop, the OLX Partner API is what a plugin uses to do the typing for you. This is how it works, without the developer jargon. The facts come from OLX’s own developer portals, which we read on 2026-10-21 and 2026-10-29.

What is the OLX Partner API?

OLX describes it in an OpenAPI specification on every country’s developer portal, for example developer.olx.bg. The specification is public, so what follows can be checked against it. The five specifications for Bulgaria, Romania, Portugal, Ukraine and Kazakhstan are identical apart from the host name; the Polish one adds endpoints, such as delivery settings and order management.

How does access work?

Three steps stand between a plugin and your OLX account:

1. You register an application on the developer portal of your country. OLX checks every application by hand and e-mails you the result. It publishes no time or criteria. The walkthrough is in how to register an OLX developer app.
2. OLX gives you a Client ID and a Client Secret. They belong to that one application.
3. You log in to OLX once and allow access. From then on the plugin holds an access token that lasts about a day and a refresh token that lasts about a month and is renewed on use.

The login step uses the standard OAuth flow. The plugin never sees your OLX password.

Why does every shop need its own app?

OLX issues the key per application, and its API terms say the key is assigned to one application and must not be shared with third parties. The shop owner who registered the app is responsible for the key and for anyone it is shared with. That is why a plugin should never run one central app for everybody, and why Tidelist asks you to register your own. The credentials are stored encrypted in your own WordPress database and are not sent to Tidelist’s servers.

There is a practical benefit too. Your adverts are published from your own account, under your own limits and packages, and you can withdraw access in OLX at any time.

What are the limits?

OLX allows 4,500 requests per IP address in five minutes. Beyond that the address is blocked for 30 minutes. Some commands also have a cost above one request. A plugin should stay far below the limit and wait when OLX asks it to slow down. Tidelist publishes one advert at a time with a pause between adverts, and stops if OLX asks for a payment.

The API is also limited in what it lets a program see: only your own adverts, and public reference data such as the category tree.

What content rules does OLX enforce?

OLX validates every advert, and the specification lists the rules:

• the title has 16 to 150 characters and the description 80 to 9,000;
• at most half of the letters may be capitals;
• no e-mail address, web address or phone number in the title or description;
• plain text, not HTML;
• no punctuation mark three times in a row;
• adverts only in the last level of the category tree.

The full checklist is in OLX listing rules: a checklist. Do not take our word for the numbers: they are in OLX’s specification, and OLX can change them.

Is there a test environment?

No. OLX documents no sandbox. Test with a separate OLX account and a handful of adverts, and use a mode that shows what would be sent before it is sent. This is one reason Tidelist starts in dry-run and asks you to type PUBLISH before every batch.

What differs between countries?

The interface is the same. What differs is the data behind it: categories, attributes, currency, languages, limits and packages, and a few optional features. For example, the extend command is not available in Portugal and Ukraine, and Ukraine has regional pricing zones for some categories.

That is why one plugin can support all six countries with one code path, and why only the country tested with a real account deserves the word “supported”. For Tidelist that is Bulgaria. Poland, Romania, Portugal, Ukraine and Kazakhstan are beta. See WooCommerce to OLX for the table.

What can go wrong?

The real risk is not a fee but a block. OLX’s API terms allow it to warn you, to block a key temporarily or permanently, and to limit use that risks harm to OLX or other users. That is the reason to publish in small, hand-picked batches, to avoid duplicates and to never let a program buy anything or delete adverts on its own.

Ready to connect a shop? Follow Connect your OLX account. Tidelist is not affiliated with OLX Group.