craigslist Bulk Posting Interface

Overview:

craigslist provides a bulk posting interface for easy submission of multiple new posts in a single request to our server. This document describes that interface and how it is used.

New postings are submitted to the bulk interface in RSS format with additional craigslist-specific elements via HTTPS POST. craigslist returns another RSS document detailing which postings are valid or which have been posted.

A description of the protocol, RSS submission and response formats, and a reference of acceptable values is below.

craigslist has recently added new features to the existing bulk posting interface. These features include modifying price on active postings, looking up account balances, checking posting fees by location, and more.

For developer documentation on these expanded features, see https://bapi.craigslist.org/bulkpost-docs/v1/

Authorization:

Access to the bulk posting interface is granted to high volume posters (hundreds of postings per month or more) on a case-by-case basis, and is limited to paid posting categories in the U.S.:

• Jobs (offered)
• Apartment rentals in NYC
• For Sale By Dealer

For more information regarding access to the bulk posting interface, please call us at 415-399-5200 x8283.

Protocol:

Request:

1. establish an HTTPS connection to craigslist at one of these URLs:
   • https://post.craigslist.org/bulk-rss/validate - Submit RSS to this URL to be validated.
   • https://post.craigslist.org/bulk-rss/post - Submit RSS to this URL to be posted.
2. send an HTTP POST request
   • with a Content-Type of "text/xml"
   • encoded as UTF-8
   • containing RSS content in the correct format
3. wait for a response.
4. check the response for an <cl:warning> tags

The character encoding of your document will be determined by the following rules, but it must be utf-8:

1. First, the "charset" parameter in the Content-Type HTTP header, e.g. Content-Type: application/xml;charset="utf-8"
2. If that is not set, then the "encoding" parameter in the XML prolog, e.g. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
3. Otherwise it will default to "utf-8"

See the code sample in this document for an example bulk post client.

Response:

Possible HTTP status values:

• 415 Unsupported Media Type
  • "Failed to parse RSS" - This error occurs when the posting submission RSS document is not well-formed, or if the parser encounters an error processing the format of the RSS. A detailed parse failure message should accompany this error.
• 403 Forbidden
  • "Must supply username" - A username was not supplied in the <cl:auth> element.
  • "Must supply password" - A password was not supplied in the <cl:auth> element.
  • "AccountID required" - An accountID was not supplied in the <cl:auth> element.
  • "Location required" - Postal or Latitude and Longitude must be supplied in the <cl:mapLocation> element.
  • "Invalid username/password" - Username and/or password supplied in RSS submission are not known or invalid.
  • "This user account is not granted bulk post access" - The user account supplied is not authorized to use the bulk posting interface. Please contact craigslist with authorization requests.
  • "User is not a buyer for account" - The user account supplied is not indicated as an authorized buyer for the accountID supplied.
• 200 OK Content of response will be RSS document in posting response format

Posting Submission Format:

Below is a sample RSS bulk posting submission containing two NYC housing postings.

A submission consists of a <channel> element containing a list of postings to be processed (within <items> element), and a <cl:auth> element containing authentication credentials for the user submitting the postings. The <items> element should contain <rdf:li> elements, each having an attribute, rdf:resource=, whose value is an arbitrary user-supplied string identifying each posting. These identifiers need only be unique within the RSS document.

Additionally, there is an <item> element for every posting submitted, containing various subelements defining the post content. The about= attribute of this element should contain a value that matches one of the rdf:resource= attributes in an <rdf:li> element. A description of the various elements allowed within each <item> is below this example.

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<rdf:RDF xmlns="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/"
         xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
         xmlns:cl="http://www.craigslist.org/about/cl-bulk-ns/1.0">

  <channel>
    <items>
      <rdf:li rdf:resource="NYCBrokerHousingSample1"/>
      <rdf:li rdf:resource="NYCBrokerHousingSample2"/>
    </items>

    <cl:auth username="listuser@bogus.com"
             password="p0stp@rty"
             accountID="14"/>
  </channel>

  <item rdf:about="NYCBrokerHousingSample1">
    <cl:category>fee</cl:category>
    <cl:area>nyc</cl:area>
    <cl:subarea>mnh</cl:subarea>
    <cl:neighborhood>Upper West Side</cl:neighborhood>
    <cl:housingInfo price="1450"
                    bedrooms="0"
                    sqft="600"/>
    <cl:replyEmail privacy="C">bulkuser@bulkposterz.net</cl:replyEmail>
    <cl:brokerInfo companyName="Joe Sample and Associates"
                   feeDisclosure="fee disclosure here" />
    <title>Spacious Sunny Studio in Upper West Side</title>
    <description><![CDATA[
      posting body here
    ]]></description>
  </item>

  <item rdf:about="NYCBrokerHousingSample2">
    <cl:category>fee</cl:category>
    <cl:area>nyc</cl:area>
    <cl:subarea>mnh</cl:subarea>
    <cl:neighborhood>Chelsea</cl:neighborhood>
    <cl:housingInfo price="2175"
                    bedrooms="1"
                    sqft="850"
                    catsOK="1"/>
    <cl:mapLocation city="New York"
                    state="NY"
                    crossStreet1="23rd Street"
                    crossStreet2="9th Avenue"
                    latitude="40.746492"
                    longitude="-74.001326"
    />
    <cl:replyEmail privacy="C"
                   otherContactInfo="212.555.1212">
      bulkuser@bulkposterz.net
    </cl:replyEmail>
    <cl:brokerInfo companyName="Joe Sample and Associates"
                   feeDisclosure="fee disclosure here" />
    <title>1BR Charmer in Chelsea</title>
    <description><![CDATA[
      posting body goes here
    ]]></description>
    <cl:PONumber>Purchase Order 094122</cl:PONumber>
    <cl:image position="1">/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQEASABIAAD/4QCARXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABQESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEaAAUA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    </cl:image>
  </item>
</rdf:RDF>

Inside <channel> Element:

required:

• <cl:auth> Authentication information for this submission.
  
  • username - string - email address used to log into craigslist account / authenticate.
  • password - string - craigslist user password.
  • accountID - integer - A craigslist account number with sufficient block credit (or an invoiced account), where the username supplied is an authorized buyer for this accountID.

Inside <item> Elements:

required:

• <title> - string - The title of the post.
• <description> - string - The content (body) of the post.
• <cl:category> - string - The category where this will be posted. Contents should be a valid category abbreviation.
• <cl:area> - string - The area (city) where this will be posted. Contents should be a valid area abbreviation.
• <cl:subarea> - string - Subarea where this will be posted. Ad will be posted under this subarea as well as "all areas". Contents should be a valid subarea abbreviation. Note: Subarea is required only in areas that have subareas
• <cl:replyEmail> - string - Reply email address for this post.
  • privacy - How reply email should be displayed on the post.
    A - don't show any email address
    C - use anonymous craigslist email address
    P - publicly show the replyEmail address
  • outsideContactOK - 0, 1 If set to 0, will add text to post: it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests.
  • otherContactInfo - string - Any alternate contact info text.
• <cl:mapLocation> - Information for creating map links
  • city - string - City name, such as "New York"
  • state - string - State postal abbreviation, such as "NY"
  • postal - string - US, CA, or GB postal code (REQUIRED)
  • crossStreet1 - string - Cross street name
  • crossStreet2 - string - Other cross street name
  • latitude - signed float - Latitude of item
  • longitude - signed float - Longitude of item
  Note: Location information is required for all posts.
  Postal code is the minimum location information required and will determine an approximate geographic location of the post.
  You should submit latitude and longitude attributes to set an exact geographic location for your post.
  The geographic location is used to place the pin on craigslist maps and for measuring distances in range search.
  

optional:

• <cl:image> - string -Base 64 (rfc 2045) encoded jpeg image.
  • position - integer - optional - images can be placed in a specific order by specifying a "position" value for them. The image at position 0 will be the image featured on search pages. Valid values are 0 - 23
• <cl:neighborhood> - string - The name of the neighborhood that this post applies to
• <cl:price> - integer - Advertised price
• <cl:PONumber> - string - A purchase order number or internal tracking number for your own record-keeping purposes
• <cl:housingInfo> - Housing info fields.
  • price - integer - Advertised price
  • bedrooms - integer - Number of bedrooms 0 indicates "studio apartment". Maximum allowed is 8.
  • sqft - integer - Surface area of the space
  • catsOK - 0, 1 Add "Cats are OK" notice to post
  • dogsOK - 0, 1 Add "Dogs are OK" notice to post
• <cl:brokerInfo> - housing broker information
  • companyName - string - Broker company name
  • feeDisclosure - string - Broker fee disclosure
• <cl:jobInfo> - Jobs info fields.
  • jobTitle - string - The actual job title.
  • telecommuting - 0, 1 Indicates telcommuting job
  • relocationAvailable - 0, 1 Indicates a relocation package may be offered
  • nonprofit - 0, 1 Indicates non-profit employer
  • internship - 0, 1 Indicates internship job
  • disability - 0, 1 Indicates OK to repost to job developers for persons with disabilities
  • recruitersOK - 0, 1 Add "Recruiters OK" notice to post
  • phoneCallsOK - 0, 1 Add "Phone calls OK" notice to post
  • okToContact - 0, 1 Add "OK to contact" notice to post
  • okToRepost - 0, 1 Add "OK to repost" notice to post
• <cl:auto_basics> -
  • auto_bodytype - SUV, bus, convertible, coupe, hatchback, mini-van, offroad, other, pickup, sedan, truck, van, wagon
  • auto_cylinders - 10 cylinders, 12 cylinders, 3 cylinders, 4 cylinders, 5 cylinders, 6 cylinders, 8 cylinders, other
  • auto_drivetrain - 4wd, fwd, rwd
  • auto_fuel_type - diesel, electric, gas, hybrid, other
  • auto_make_model - string -
  • auto_miles - integer -
  • auto_paint - black, blue, brown, custom, green, grey, orange, purple, red, silver, white, yellow
  • auto_size - compact, full-size, mid-size, sub-compact
  • auto_title_status - clean, lien, missing, parts only, rebuilt, salvage
  • auto_transmission - automatic, manual, other
  • auto_vin - string -
  • auto_year - 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
  • odometer_broken - 0, 1
  • odometer_rolled_over - 0, 1
• <cl:forsale> -
  • boat_length_overall - integer -
  • boat_propulsion_type - human, power, sail
  • boat_type - commercial boat, houseboat, kayak/canoe/SUP, luxury/classic yacht, other, personal watercraft (jet ski), pontoon boat, powerboat, rowboat, rowing shell, sailboat, ski boat, small outboard/fishing, trawler
  • condition - excellent, fair, good, like new, new, salvage
  • engine_displacement_cc - integer -
  • engine_hours_total - integer -
  • mobile_os - android, apple iOS, blackberry, other, windows mobile
  • motorcycle_street_legal - 0, 1
  • motorcycle_type - bobber, cafe racer, chopper, cruiser, dirtbike, dual-sport, moped, other, scooter, sport bike, sport touring, standard, street, touring, trike
  • number_available - integer -
  • rv_type - class A, class B, class C, fifth wheel trailer, folding/popup trailer, hybrid trailer, other, teardrop/compact trailer, toy hauler, travel trailer, truck camper
  • sale_date_1 - string -
  • sale_date_2 - string -
  • sale_date_3 - string -
  • sale_manufacturer - string -
  • sale_model - string -
  • sale_size - string -
  • venue_name - string -
  • year_manufactured - integer -
• <cl:generic> -
  • client_label - string - max 65 characters
  • city - string -
  • contact_name - string -
  • contact_ok - 0, 1
  • contact_phone - string -
  • contact_phone_extension - string -
  • contact_phone_ok - 0, 1
  • contact_text_ok - 0, 1
  • crypto_currency_ok - 0, 1
  • delivery_available - 0, 1
  • fee_disclosure - string -
  • geographic_area - string -
  • has_license - 0, 1
  • item_detail_link - string - For the categories ctd, rvd, and mcd we will replace the slug [[CL_ITEM_DETAIL_LINK]] in the posting body with the equivalent of <a href="${ item_detail_link }">${ item_detail_link_text || item_detail_link }</a> if "item_detail_link" is present and is an https URL. Max 512 characters.
  • item_detail_link_text - string - See item_detail_link. Max 512 characters.
  • language - afrikaans, català, dansk, deutsch, english, español, filipino, français, italiano, nederlands, norsk, português, suomi, svenska, tiếng việt, türkçe, русский, العربية, 中文, 日本語, 한국말
  • license_info - string -
  • postal - string -
  • price - integer -
  • repost_ok - 0, 1
  • see_my_other - 0, 1
  • xstreet0 - string -
  • xstreet1 - string -
• <cl:housing_basics> -
  • airconditioning - 0, 1
  • bathrooms - 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9+, shared, split
  • bedrooms - 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
  • ev_charging - 0, 1
  • housing_type - apartment, assisted living, condo, cottage/cabin, duplex, flat, house, in-law, land, loft, manufactured, townhouse
  • is_furnished - 0, 1
  • laundry - laundry in bldg, laundry on site, no laundry on site, w/d hookups, w/d in unit
  • movein_date - string -
  • no_smoking - 0, 1
  • parking - attached garage, carport, detached garage, no parking, off-street parking, street parking, valet parking
  • surface_area - integer -
  • wheelchaccess - 0, 1
• <cl:housing_pets> -
  • pets_cat - 0, 1
  • pets_dog - 0, 1
• <cl:housing_terms> -
  • application_fee - 0, 1
  • application_fee_explained - string -
  • broker_fee - 0, 1
  • broker_fee_explained - string -
  • broker_name - string -
  • rent_period - daily, monthly, weekly
• <cl:job_basics> -
  • company_name - string -
  • disability_ok - 0, 1
  • employment_type - contract, employee's choice, full-time, part-time
  • is_forpay - 0, 1
  • is_internship - 0, 1
  • is_nonprofit - 0, 1
  • is_relocation_available - 0, 1
  • is_telecommuting - 0, 1
  • job_title - string -
  • recruiters_ok - 0, 1
  • remuneration - string -

Posting Response Format:

Below are some examples of an RSS response document for validation and posting, as well as a description of the craigslist-specific elements

Validation:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF xmlns="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/"
    xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
    xmlns:cl="http://www.craigslist.org/about/cl-bulk-ns/1.0">
    <channel>
        <items>
            <rdf:Seq>
                <rdf:li rdf:resource="NYCBrokerHousingSample1"/>
                <rdf:li rdf:resource="NYCBrokerHousingSample2"/>
            </rdf:Seq>
        </items>
    </channel>
    <item rdf:about="NYCBrokerHousingSample1">
        <cl:postedStatus>VALID</cl:postedStatus>
        <cl:postedExplanation>This posting seems to be valid.</cl:postedExplanation>
        <cl:previewHTML><![CDATA[
            HTML preview of posting will appear here.
            ]]></cl:previewHTML>
    </item>
    <item rdf:about="NYCBrokerHousingSample2">
        <cl:postedStatus>VALID</cl:postedStatus>
        <cl:postedExplanation>This posting seems to be valid.</cl:postedExplanation>
        <cl:previewHTML><![CDATA[
            HTML preview of posting will appear here.
            ]]></cl:previewHTML>
    </item>

</rdf:RDF>        

Posting:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF xmlns="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/"
    xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
    xmlns:cl="http://www.craigslist.org/about/cl-bulk-ns/1.0">
    <channel>
        <description>upload-id:FD95E9A8-E192-11E6-A34F-C577977E6A6B</description>
        <items>
            <rdf:Seq>
                <rdf:li rdf:resource="NYCBrokerHousingSample1"/>
                <rdf:li rdf:resource="NYCBrokerHousingSample2"/>
            </rdf:Seq>
        </items>
    </channel>
    <item rdf:about="NYCBrokerHousingSample1">
        <cl:postedStatus>POSTED</cl:postedStatus>
        <cl:postedExplanation>Successfully enqueued posting.</cl:postedExplanation>
        <cl:postingID>159144091</cl:postingID>
        <cl:postingManageURL>https://post.craigslist.org/manage/159144091/to6s1
        </cl:postingManageURL>
        <cl:postingViewURL>https://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/prk/d/parking-spot-for-rent-at-east/159144091.html
        </cl:postingViewURL>
        <cl:previewHTML><![CDATA[
            HTML preview of posting will appear here.
            ]]></cl:previewHTML>
    </item>
    <item rdf:about="NYCBrokerHousingSample2">
        <cl:postedStatus>POSTED</cl:postedStatus>
        <cl:postedExplanation>Successfully enqueued posting.</cl:postedExplanation>
        <cl:postingID>159144092</cl:postingID>
        <cl:postingManageURL>https://post.craigslist.org/manage/159144092/b0n65
        </cl:postingManageURL>
        <cl:postingViewURL>https://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/prk/d/parking-spot-for-rent-at-west/159144092.html
        </cl:postingViewURL>
        <cl:previewHTML><![CDATA[
            HTML preview of posting will appear here.
            ]]></cl:previewHTML>
    </item>

</rdf:RDF>
        

<item> Elements:

• <cl:postedStatus> - Status of processing this posting. Possible values are VALID, NOT_VALID, INSUFFICIENT_BLOCKS, POSTED, FAILED, and CREDIT_LIMIT_REACHED. VALID appears only in validation mode and if your RSS document is valid. NOT_VALID appears in post and validate modes and will be accompanied by message in <cl:postedExplanation> detailing where the validation failed. INSUFFICIENT_BLOCKS is reported when the accountID supplied does not have enough remaining blocks to create a posting in the city/category and is not an invoiced account, more blocks must be purchased before the posting is processed. POSTED indicates that the posting was successfully accepted. FAILED indicates an unexpected error at post time. CREDIT_LIMIT_REACHED indicates the paid posting account (accountID) has reached its set credit limit for posting via invoicing.
• <cl:postedExplanation> - Human-readable status of processing this posting. If there is an error in validation, error details will appear in this element.
• <cl:previewHTML> - HTML preview of submitted posting.
• <cl:warning> - Warnings related to this post; typically, these will be non-fatal xml parsing issues. This tag will be specified once per warning.
• <cl:postingID> - In post mode, this element will contain the craigslist ID of the newly created posting.
• <cl:postingManageURL> - In post mode, this element will contain a URL that can be used to edit or delete the new posting.
• <cl:postingViewURL> - In post mode, this element will contain the URL for the new posting.

Note: If you submit a posting item with the same rdf:about as an existing posting item, the existing posting item will not be updated. Presently the only way to alter the content of a posting is via URL specificed in the cl:postingManageURL element.

Reference:

Categories:

Areas and Subareas:

Categories for which bulk posting is no longer supported:

Sample Bulk Post Client:

#!/usr/bin/perl
use LWP;
use LWP::UserAgent;
use Getopt::Std;
use strict;

use constant BASE_URL => 'https://post.craigslist.org/bulk-rss';

# process options
my $opts = {};
getopts('o:f:p', $opts);
my $post     = $opts->{p};
my $filename = $opts->{f};
my $outfile  = $opts->{o};
unless($filename) {
  print "usage: $0 [-p] [-o outfile] -f filename\n".
        "       options:\n".
        "       -f  -  the name of the RSS file to submit (required)\n".
        "       -p  -  actually post (otherwise just validate)\n".
        "       -o  -  output filename (otherwise results sent to STDOUT)\n\n";
  exit(0);
}

# open file
my $content;
open my $cfh, "<", $filename || die "can't open $filename for reading: $!";
{ local $/ = undef; $content = <$cfh>; }
close $cfh;

# prepare request
my $ua = LWP::UserAgent->new();
$ua->agent('SampleBulkPostClient/0.1');
my $post_url = BASE_URL .'/'. ($post? 'post': 'validate');
my $req = HTTP::Request->new(POST => $post_url);
$req->content_type('application/x-www-form-urlencoded');
$req->content($content);

# issue request
my $res = $ua->request($req);

# print result
if($res->is_success) {
  if($outfile) {
    open(my $ofh, ">", $outfile) || die "can't open $outfile for writing: $!";
    print $ofh $res->content;
    close $ofh;
  }
  else {
    print $res->content."\n";
  }
}
else {
  print "request failed:\n".
        $res->status_line."\n".$res->content."\n";
}

Sample XSLT for transforming from the Posting Response Format to HTML

Here's an example XSLT stylesheet for transforming a posting response. This example converts a posting response to HTML.

<xsl:stylesheet version = '1.0'
    xmlns:xsl='http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform'
    extension-element-prefixes="cl rdf"
    xmlns:rss="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/"
    xmlns:cl="http://www.craigslist.org/about/cl-bulk-ns/1.0"
    xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#">

    <xsl:template match="/">
        <html>
            <head><title>Bulk posting results</title>
                <style>
                    tr.error { color : red; }
                </style>
            </head>
            <body>
                <xsl:apply-templates select="rdf:RDF"/>
            </body>
        </html>
    </xsl:template>

    <xsl:template match="rdf:RDF">
        <h3> Bulk posting results: </h3>
        <xsl:apply-templates select="rss:channel"/>
        <table border="1">
            <thead>
                <tr> <td>Item</td><td>Status</td><td>Explanation</td><td>Manage-link</td><td>View-link</td><td>Warnings</td> </tr>
            </thead>
            <xsl:apply-templates select="rss:item">
                <xsl:sort select="@rdf:about"/>
            </xsl:apply-templates>
        </table>
    </xsl:template>

    <xsl:template match="rss:channel">
        <xsl:apply-templates select="rss:items"/>
    </xsl:template>

    <xsl:template match="rss:item">
        <xsl:variable name='status' select="cl:postedStatus"/>
        <xsl:variable name='rowclass'>
            <xsl:choose>
                <xsl:when test="$status = 'POSTED' or $status = 'VALID'">
                    <xsl:text>valid</xsl:text>
                </xsl:when>
                <xsl:otherwise>
                    <xsl:text>error</xsl:text>
                </xsl:otherwise>
            </xsl:choose>
        </xsl:variable>
        <tr class="{$rowclass}">
            <td> <xsl:value-of select="@rdf:about"/> </td>
            <td> <xsl:value-of select="$status"/> </td>
            <td> <xsl:value-of select="cl:postedExplanation"/> </td>
            <td>
                <a href="{cl:postingManageURL}">
                    <xsl:value-of select="concat('Manage-', cl:postingID)"/>
                </a>
            </td>
            <td>
                <a href="{cl:postingViewURL}">
                    <xsl:value-of select="concat('View-', cl:postingID)"/>
                </a>
            </td>
            <td>
                <ul>
                    <xsl:for-each select="cl:warning">
                        <li>
                            <xsl:value-of select="current()"/>
                        </li>
                    </xsl:for-each>
                </ul>
            </td>
        </tr>
    </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

History of changes to this document:

• 2021-04-16
  • Change preferred content-type from application/x-www-form-urlencoded to application/xml
  • Add a discussion of charset encoding
  • Add a suggestion to check the <warnings> in the response
  • Update sample client to modern perl idiom
  • Add this changelog