This guide provides practical instructions for migrating from News API v2 to v3, with Python code examples for each endpoint.

​
Prerequisites

Before starting your migration:

  1. Obtain your v3 API token.
  2. Review the API changes v2 vs v3.
  3. Have Python with the requests library installed.

​
Basic setup

To get started, change authentication and base URLs:

import requests
from typing import Dict, Optional

API_KEY: str = "YOUR_API_KEY"
BASE_URL: str = "https://api.newscatcherapi.com/v2"
HEADERS: Dict[str, str] = {"x-api-key": API_KEY}

def search_news(query: str) -> Optional[Dict]:
    try:
        response = requests.get(
            f"{BASE_URL}/search",
            headers=HEADERS,
            params={"q": query}
        )
        response.raise_for_status()
        return response.json()
    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        print(f"Error making request: {e}")
        return None

​
Search endpoint migration

The search endpoint enables news search with enhanced filtering capabilities in v3. Key changes include parameter renaming, updated response fields, and new filtering options.

​
Parameter changes

1

Rename date parameters

Replace from and to with from_ and to_ respectively:

params = {
    "q": "Tesla",
    "from": "2024/01/01",
    "to": "2024/01/31"
}
2

Update topic to theme

Replace topic with theme and enable NLP:

params = {
    "q": "Tesla",
    "topic": "tech"
}
3

Update search fields

Replace search_in format:

params = {
    "q": "Tesla",
    "search_in": "title_summary"
}

​
Complete search example

import requests
from typing import Dict, Optional

API_KEY: str = "YOUR_API_KEY"
BASE_URL: str = "https://api.newscatcherapi.com/v2"
HEADERS: Dict[str, str] = {"x-api-key": API_KEY}

def search_articles(
    query: str,
    from_date: str,
    to_date: str,
    topic: str
) -> Optional[Dict]:
    try:
        response = requests.get(
            f"{BASE_URL}/search",
            headers=HEADERS,
            params={
                "q": query,
                "from": from_date,
                "to": to_date,
                "topic": topic,
                "search_in": "title_summary",
                "lang": "en"
            }
        )
        response.raise_for_status()
        data = response.json()

        articles = []
        for article in data.get("articles", []):
            articles.append({
                "title": article.get("title"),
                "url": article.get("link"),
                "source": article.get("clean_url"),
                "published_date": article.get("published_date"),
                "content": article.get("summary")
            })

        return {
            "total_articles": data.get("total_hits", 0),
            "articles": articles
        }

    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        print(f"Error making request: {e}")
        return None

​
Usage example

# Search for Tesla news in tech
result = search_articles(
    query="Tesla",
    from_date="2024/01/01",
    to_date="2024/01/31",
    topic="tech"
)

​
Response structure changes

{
  "status": "ok",
  "total_hits": 521,
  "page": 1,
  "total_pages": 6,
  "page_size": 100,
  "articles": [
    {
      "title": "Tesla lowers range estimates for Model X, S, Y cars",
      "author": "Matt Binder",
      "published_date": "2024-01-05 18:11:03",
      "link": "https://mashable.com/article/tesla-range-estimates",
      "clean_url": "mashable.com", // Domain name, renamed to domain_url in v3
      "excerpt": "The change follows...", // Brief summary, renamed to description in v3
      "summary": "Tesla has updated...", // Full text, renamed to content in v3
      "topic": "tech", // Topic classification, moved to nlp.theme in v3
      "country": "US",
      "language": "en",
      "authors": "Matt Binder",
      "is_opinion": false,
      "twitter_account": "@mashable",
      "_score": 11.959808, // Renamed to score in v3
      "_id": "e623cee7239059b40ca40234" // Renamed to id in v3
    }
  ],
  "user_input": {
    "q": "Tesla",
    "search_in": ["title_summary_en"],
    "lang": ["en"],
    "from": "2024-01-01 00:00:00",
    "to": "2024-01-31 00:00:00",
    "ranked_only": "True",
    "sort_by": "relevancy",
    "page": 1,
    "size": 100,
    "not_sources": [],
    "topic": "tech" // Renamed to theme in v3
  }
}

​
Latest headlines migration

The latest headlines endpoint provides access to recent news articles. Migration involves similar parameter updates as the search endpoint, with additional time-based filtering options.

​
Parameter changes

1

Update topic to theme

Replace topic with theme and enable NLP:

params = {
    "topic": "business",
    "countries": "US,GB"
}
2

Time range specification

Optionally specify time range with the when parameter:

params = {
    "countries": "US,GB",
    "when": "24h"  # Optional, defaults to "7d"
}

​
Complete latest headlines example

import requests
from typing import Dict, Optional

API_KEY: str = "YOUR_API_KEY"
BASE_URL: str = "https://api.newscatcherapi.com/v2"
HEADERS: Dict[str, str] = {"x-api-key": API_KEY}

def get_latest_headlines(
    countries: str,
    topic: str
) -> Optional[Dict]:
    try:
        response = requests.get(
            f"{BASE_URL}/latest_headlines",
            headers=HEADERS,
            params={
                "countries": countries,
                "topic": topic,
                "lang": "en"
            }
        )
        response.raise_for_status()
        data = response.json()

        articles = []
        for article in data.get("articles", []):
            articles.append({
                "title": article.get("title"),
                "url": article.get("link"),
                "source": article.get("clean_url"),
                "published_date": article.get("published_date"),
                "content": article.get("summary")
            })

        return {
            "total_articles": data.get("total_hits", 0),
            "articles": articles
        }

    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        print(f"Error making request: {e}")
        return None

​
Usage example

# Get latest business headlines from US and GB
result = get_latest_headlines(
    countries="US,GB",
    topic="business"
)

​
Additional filtering options

V3 provides enhanced filtering capabilities for latest headlines:

params = {
    "theme": "Business",
    "countries": "US,GB",
    "include_nlp_data": True
    "is_headline": True,          # Filter for homepage articles
    "is_paid_content": False,     # Exclude paywalled content
    "word_count_min": 200,        # Minimum article length
    "word_count_max": 1000        # Maximum article length
}

For a complete list of /latest_headlines parameters, see the Latest headlines reference documentation.

​
Response structure changes

{
  "status": "ok",
  "total_hits": 10000,
  "page": 1,
  "total_pages": 200,
  "page_size": 50,
  "articles": [
    {
      "title": "Donald Trump Nominates Fox Business Host Sean Duffy",
      "author": "Ted Johnson",
      "published_date": "2024-11-18 23:07:23",
      "published_date_precision": "full",
      "link": "https://deadline.com/2024/11/trump-sean-duffy-1236180738",
      "clean_url": "deadline.com", // Domain name, renamed to domain_url in v3
      "excerpt": "Donald Trump has gone...", // Brief text, renamed to description in v3
      "summary": "Sean Duffy in 2018...", // Full text, renamed to content in v3
      "topic": "business", // Moved to nlp.theme in v3
      "country": "US",
      "language": "en",
      "authors": "Where Img,Class,Display Inline,Ted Johnson",
      "media": "https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/img.jpg",
      "is_opinion": false,
      "twitter_account": "@tedstew",
      "_score": null, // Renamed to score in v3
      "_id": "75382d1ff5336599bce837ab168bb34b" // Renamed to id in v3
    }
  ],
  "user_input": {
    "lang": ["en"],
    "countries": ["US", "GB"],
    "topic": "business", // Renamed to theme in v3
    "from": "2024-11-11 23:14:24"
  }
}

​
Sources endpoint migration

The sources endpoint in v3 provides enhanced metadata about news sources. Key changes include the removal of the topic parameter and introduction of new filtering capabilities.

​
Parameter changes

1

Remove topic parameter

The topic parameter is removed in v3. Instead, use new filtering options:

params = {
    "lang": "en",
    "countries": "US",
    "topic": "news"
}
2

Enable additional metadata

Use include_additional_info to get enhanced source information:

params = {
    "lang": "en",
    "countries": "US"
}

​
Complete sources example

import requests
from typing import Dict, Optional

API_KEY: str = "YOUR_API_KEY"
BASE_URL: str = "https://api.newscatcherapi.com/v2"
HEADERS: Dict[str, str] = {"x-api-key": API_KEY}

def get_sources(
    countries: str,
    lang: str = "en"
) -> Optional[Dict]:
    try:
        response = requests.get(
            f"{BASE_URL}/sources",
            headers=HEADERS,
            params={
                "countries": countries,
                "lang": lang
            }
        )
        response.raise_for_status()
        data = response.json()

        return {
            "message": data.get("message"),
            "sources": data.get("sources", [])  # List of domain strings
        }

    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        print(f"Error making request: {e}")
        return None

​
Usage example

# Get US news sources
result = get_sources(countries="US")

# Access source domains (returns list of strings)
sources = result["sources"]  # e.g., ["example.com", "news.com"]

​
Advanced filtering options

V3 provides additional parameters for precise source filtering:

params = {
    "lang": "en",
    "countries": "US",
    "include_additional_info": True,
    "source_name": "tech,news",        # Search within source names
    "is_news_domain": True,            # Filter for news domains only
    "news_domain_type": "Original Content",  # Can be "Original Content" or "Aggregator"
    "from_rank": 1,                    # Filter by rank range
    "to_rank": 1000
}

​
Response structure changes

{
  "message": "Maximum sources displayed according to your plan is set to 1000",
  "sources": [
    // Simple array of domain strings
    "wn.com",
    "yahoo.com",
    "headtopics.com"
    // ...
  ],
  "user_input": {
    "lang": ["en"],
    "countries": ["US"],
    "topic": "news" // Replaced by more specific classification in v3
  }
}

​
Next steps

  1. Test your migrated implementation.
  2. Review How-to documentation for v3 usage.
  3. Explore News API v3 endpoints for additional capabilities.

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