Programmatic Affiliate Tracking with BuyWhere: A 2026 Developer Guide

BuyWhere is free to use. That's not a loss-leader — it's a deliberate design choice. The business model is affiliate revenue, and the API is engineered to make attribution straightforward. Here's how the tracking works and how to build on top of it.

Quick Answer: Every product URL returned by the BuyWhere API carries an affiliate tracking parameter. When the user completes a qualifying transaction, BuyWhere attributes the commission and shares it with the agent that drove the click. The agent developer doesn't need a separate affiliate network account.

The flow

User asks agent → Agent calls BuyWhere → BuyWhere returns product list
                                          ↓
User clicks product URL → (redirected via BuyWhere tracker)
                                          ↓
User completes transaction at merchant → Merchant attributes sale to BuyWhere
                                          ↓
BuyWhere attributes sale to your agent → Revenue share paid out

Step 1: Get a product list

curl "https://api.buywhere.ai/v1/products/search?q=playstation+5&country_code=SG&limit=5" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BUYWHERE_API_KEY"

Each product has a url field. The URL already contains your affiliate tracking parameter — you don't need to add anything.

{
  "id": "ps5-disc-sg-001",
  "name": "Sony PlayStation 5 Slim Disc Edition",
  "price": 549.0,
  "currency": "SGD",
  "merchant": "Courts",
  "url": "https://buywhere.ai/r/abc123?merchant=courts&product=ps5-disc-sg-001",
  "availability": "in_stock"
}

The https://buywhere.ai/r/... URL is a tracking redirect. When the user clicks, BuyWhere records the click, then redirects to the merchant's actual product page with the merchant's own affiliate ID attached.

Step 2: Pass the user to the URL

In your agent's UI, render the url as a clickable link. The user clicks → BuyWhere records the click → user lands on the merchant's checkout.

[Buy on Courts](https://buywhere.ai/r/abc123?merchant=courts&product=ps5-disc-sg-001)

That's the entire integration. BuyWhere handles the rest.

Step 3: Read attribution reports

For an agent developer, you can fetch the click and conversion attribution via the dashboard at buywhere.ai/dashboard. For programmatic access, use the dashboard API:

curl "https://api.buywhere.ai/v1/affiliate/attribution?days=30" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BUYWHERE_API_KEY"

Returns a list of clicks and conversions attributed to your account:

{
  "clicks": 1247,
  "conversions": 89,
  "conversion_rate": 0.071,
  "estimated_revenue_sgd": 412.50,
  "by_merchant": [
    { "merchant": "Courts", "clicks": 412, "conversions": 31, "revenue_sgd": 168.00 },
    { "merchant": "Shopee SG", "clicks": 308, "conversions": 22, "revenue_sgd": 89.50 }
  ]
}

The dashboard at buywhere.ai/dashboard renders this for human consumption; the API is for programmatic access.

Why BuyWhere is free

Most commerce APIs charge per request. BuyWhere charges nothing for the API itself. The reason is structural:

• API rate limits are a tax on agent development. The faster agents can iterate, the more BuyWhere-tracked URLs they generate, the more affiliate revenue flows back.
• Affiliate attribution is the durable monetization. A free API drives volume; volume drives conversions; conversions drive revenue.
• Agent developers are the distribution channel. BuyWhere invests in the developers who use the API, not in CPC bidding for search traffic.

This is the same model many open-source projects use (free at the tool layer, paid at the conversion layer). BuyWhere is the commerce infrastructure; the agent ecosystem is the distribution.

Building a revenue dashboard

For an agent that wants to show its own end-users the value it delivered, the attribution API is the data source:

import requests

def fetch_attribution(days=30):
    resp = requests.get(
        f"https://api.buywhere.ai/v1/affiliate/attribution",
        params={"days": days},
        headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {BUYWHERE_API_KEY}"},
        timeout=10,
    )
    resp.raise_for_status()
    return resp.json()

def format_for_user(data):
    return (
        f"Over the last {data['clicks']} clicks, "
        f"{data['conversions']} resulted in purchases. "
        f"You saved an estimated ${data['estimated_revenue_sgd']} SGD."
    )

Render this in your agent's UI to close the loop with the user.

Common concerns

"I don't want to be an affiliate"

BuyWhere does not require you to disclose affiliate relationships in agent output. Many agents include "BuyWhere tracked" badges; you don't have to. Some regions require disclosure (US FTC, EU consumer protection) — check your local rules.

"What if the user buys something different?"

BuyWhere attributes the sale to the original click's session. If the user clicks the PS5 link, lands on Courts, and buys a controller instead, the conversion still counts.

"What commission rate does BuyWhere share?"

Revenue share is set per program tier. Partner tier agents get a higher share. The exact rate is published in your dashboard at buywhere.ai/dashboard/affiliate.

"Can I see the actual merchant URL?"

For debugging, pass debug=true to the API to get the raw merchant URL alongside the tracked URL. The default is to return only the tracked URL.

Verdict

BuyWhere's affiliate model is the reason the API is free. As an agent developer, you get:

• Free API access (1,000 req/month free tier, 1,000 req/min partner tier)
• Free MCP server (open, no API key required)
• Built-in affiliate tracking on every product URL
• Revenue share on qualifying transactions
• Dashboard for human-readable attribution

The integration is one config block (MCP) or one HTTP call (REST). The monetization is closed-loop.

Common questions

Is the affiliate tracking opt-in? Yes — your agent decides which URLs to render. If you don't want to earn revenue, render the merchant's URL directly (the API also returns raw merchant URLs in the response).

What happens if a user clicks multiple products? Each click is tracked separately. The first-touch attribution is preserved.

Can I sub-attribute to multiple agents? Yes — pass sub_id=<your_agent_id> to the URL and BuyWhere will track per-sub-id attribution.

Where to go next

• API signup → buywhere.ai/api-keys
• Dashboard → buywhere.ai/dashboard
• API catalog → buywhere.ai/.well-known/api-catalog