# /mvideo/categories

`POST /api/mvideo/categories`

Price: 20 credits

Walk the M.Video category tree one level at a time. Returns the category id, page URL, alias, display name, parent id, depth, the full alias path and how many products the category holds. `name`/`product_count` come from a second, per-category lookup that can individually time out; when it does, both are null and `details_fetch_failed` is true rather than the category genuinely carrying no name. Omit `category` for the top level; pass one back to get its children.

## How to use it

Call it with no `category` for every top-level department, then pass an id back in for that department's children. The tree M.Video publishes is two levels deep, so a child returns an empty list rather than grandchildren. Feed `id` straight into mvideo/categories/products. `product_count` counts everything under the category, so a parent's count is not the sum of the children shown here. A null `name`/`product_count` with `details_fetch_failed: true` is not final — that category genuinely has a name, and mvideo/categories/products with the same `id` will confirm it.

## Parameters

- `access-token` (string, required)

## Request body

- `timeout` (integer) — Max scrapping execution timeout (in seconds) (default: 300; min: 20; max: 1500)
- `city` (string) — M.Video city id the request is priced and stocked for. Store availability, pickup and delivery terms are resolved for this city, and the resolved city is echoed back in city_id / city_name. (default: "CityCZ_975"; examples: "CityCZ_975", "CityDE_31146", "CityCZ_36500"; minLength: 1)
- `count` (integer, required) — Max number of categories to return (min: 1)
- `category` (string, nullable) — Return the direct children of this category id or URL; omit for the top level (examples: "10", "https://www.mvideo.ru/smartfony-i-svyaz-10")

## Response

### 200 — Successful Response

- `@type` (string) (default: "MvideoCategory")
- `id` (string, required)
- `url` (string, required)
- `alias` (string, required)
- `name` (string, nullable)
- `parent_id` (string, nullable)
- `level` (integer) (default: 0)
- `path` (array) (default: [])
- `product_count` (integer, nullable)
- `details_fetch_failed` (boolean) (default: false)

## Errors

### 422 — Validation Error

The input carries no M.Video category id, or the city id is unknown

What to do: Check the fields against this schema. A URN with the wrong prefix is the most common cause.

- `detail` (array)
  - `loc` (array, required)
  - `msg` (string, required)
  - `type` (string, required)
  - `input` (any)
  - `ctx` (object)

### 408

The request ran past its time limit

What to do: Raise `timeout` in the request body, up to the maximum this endpoint documents. Lowering `count` or turning off the `with_*` flags also helps, because less work finishes sooner.

### 412

The entity was not found, or a precondition failed

What to do: Retrying will not help: either the entity does not exist, or the input points at a different one.

### 429

Too many requests: a rate limit or a usage window is exhausted

What to do: When the response carries an X-Retry-After header, wait that many seconds and retry: the same number is in the body as `detail.retry_after`, and the limit clears once that window passes. The message in the body names the limit that was hit.

### 500

Something broke on our side

What to do: Retrying will not help. If it keeps happening, send us the X-Request-ID from the response headers.

### 529

Rate limit reached, or the endpoint is overloaded

What to do: Wait at least 30 seconds, then retry.

## Response envelope

Success: Array of objects (may be empty if no results)

Error: Error may coexist with partial results if it occurs mid-execution. Check X-Error header and status code.

Every response carries these headers:

- `X-Error` — Error message text (present only on error)
- `X-Request-ID` — Unique request identifier
- `X-Execution-Time` — Execution time in seconds
- `X-Result-Count` — How many records the body carries. 0 means an empty result, which is a normal answer and not by itself an error. A non-zero count can come back together with X-Error when the failure happened partway through — read this header and X-Error independently.
- `X-Total-Available-Results` — How many records exist for this query, when the endpoint can say. On a `dry_run` request this is the answer and the body is empty. It saturates: the endpoint's documented maximum means 'at least that many', any smaller number is exact.
- `X-Warning` — Present when the request body carried keys this endpoint does not document. They were ignored, so any filter you meant to apply through them did not apply. Check the spelling against this schema and retry.
- `X-Retry-After` — Seconds to wait before retrying. Present only on 429.