Rakuten Web Service setup

Important: the legacy Rakuten API ended on 17 August 2026

The old scheme, where an Application ID alone was enough, no longer functions. On sites without an access key (a key beginning with pk_), Rakuten product search and price updates do not work.

If Rakuten products will not come up in search, or prices are frozen, first check whether an access key is present under Settings > Pukulink > API settings. If it is empty, you need to register a new-specification application by following the steps below.

What you need

Item	Where it comes from
Application ID	Application registration at Rakuten Web Service
Access key (`pk_`…)	Same place — issued for new-specification applications
Affiliate ID	Rakuten Affiliate

Steps

Register an application with Rakuten Web Service.
Sign in at Rakuten Web Service and register a new application.
Add your site URL to the allowed websites — this is not optional.
The current API checks the request's Origin header against your registered sites. Skip this and authentication fails. Register the URL of the site Pukulink runs on.
Note the Application ID and access key.
The access key is a string starting with pk_. Legacy applications have no access key, so in that case register a new application.
Find your affiliate ID.
It is shown in Rakuten Affiliate.
Enter everything in Pukulink.
In Settings > Pukulink > API settings, in the Rakuten section:
- Tick Show the Rakuten Ichiba button
- Application ID
- Access key (pk_…)
- Affiliate ID
- Link method: “Rakuten Affiliate (direct)” or “Via Moshimo Affiliate” (Moshimo setup)
Press “Test Rakuten”.

The Rakuten section of the API settings tab with dummy credentials and the allowed-website URL — The Rakuten fields. The URL to register as an allowed website is displayed right here.

Copy the URL from the settings screen Pukulink displays the exact URL that should be registered as an allowed website. Copy that value into Rakuten Web Service rather than retyping it.

An Application ID alone earns nothing The Application ID and access key cover search and price updates. Without the affiliate ID, the Rakuten button still appears but links to the plain store URL, so purchases are not attributed to you. Since v2.6.5 Pukulink warns about this on the settings screen.

Beware of older tutorials

There are a great many articles about the Rakuten API, and most of them assume the legacy specification (endpoints under app.rakuten.co.jp). Those URLs are dead. The current Rakuten Ichiba Item Search API is called at openapi.rakuten.co.jp with an access key and an Origin header, which is what Pukulink does.

Also, Pukulink never passes your affiliate ID to the API. The affiliate ID is used only when assembling the link a reader sees. Older articles describe this differently.

If the connection test fails

Symptom	What to check
Authentication or allowed-website verification fails	The Application ID, the access key, and the allowed website (domain) registered with Rakuten Web Service. Any one of the three being wrong causes a failure.
Application ID not configured	Check that the Rakuten fields on the API settings tab are not empty.
Request limit reached	The limit is roughly one request per second. Wait a second or more and retry.
An error about the legacy API, or Rakuten alone won't search	The access key is missing. The legacy API ended on 17 August 2026, so register a new-specification application and enter the `pk_` key — and register the allowed website too.

Saving a favourite store

If there is a Rakuten shop you want to support, add it on the Favourite stores tab and you can restrict searches to that shop. Enter the store URL (https://www.rakuten.co.jp/scope/ form) or the store code (scope) and press Verify and save; the store name is confirmed against the official API before saving.

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