BitlyDeveloper
Start Now

Generate QR Codes

You can create a QR Code for any URL that you want via the API and customize it with a variety of different options.

Refer to the Create Endpoint for a detailed breakdown of the customizations that are available when creating a QR Code. QR Code colors and file type options may be available depending on your subscription plan.

There are multiple examples in the dropdown for the request which show a variety of QR Code customizations. We recommend taking a look at the available customizations in the Bitly web app for a visual preview of what's available.

The Create QR Code endpoint can create codes with a large variety of customizations, but if a standard black and white QR Code is what you want, the minimum amount of data required is as follows:

POST /v4/qr-codes
{
  "title": "Minimal QR Code",
  "group_guid": "Ba1bc23dE4F",
  "destination": {
    "long_url": "https://dev.bitly.com/api-reference/#createQRCodePublic"
  }
}

Creating a QR Code in this way will only consume 1 QR Code from your monthly limit, not a Link.

Creating a QR Code for a short link

Creating a QR Code from a bitlink is very similar to creating a normal QR Code. After creating a short link you can set it as the QR Code's destination using the bitlink_id property instead of long_url:

POST /v4/qr-codes
{
  "title": "Minimal Bitlink QR Code",
  "group_guid": "Ba1bc23dE4F",
  "destination": {
    "bitlink_id": "bit.ly/abc123"
  }
}

Creating a QR Code in this way will only consume 1 QR Code from your monthly limit, a Link will be consumed when you create the link, if you use an existing link it would not consume a link limit, only the QR Code limit.

Request Body

The request body is briefly described below and in more detail in the Create Endpoint.

title string A title to name the QR Code.

destination object This determines where the QR Code scan is redirected.

render_customizations object Change the colors, shapes, add logos, and more. This object determines what the QR Code will look like.

You can specify the color of almost any element of the QR Code. There are multiple shapes for the different elements of the QR Code.

Let's create another QR Code with some customization options set. We'll set the dot pattern option to rounded and adjust the shape of each corner to leaf. We'll also use two gradients, one for the background, and one for the color of the QR dots.

POST /v4/qr-codes
{
  "title": "Gradient QR Code",
  "group_guid": "Ba1bc23dE4F",
  "destination": {
    "bitlink_id": "bit.ly/abc123"
  },
  "render_customizations": {
    "dot_pattern_type": "rounded",
    "corners": {
      "corner_1": { "shape": "leaf" },
      "corner_2": { "shape": "leaf" },
      "corner_3": { "shape": "leaf" }
    },
    "gradient": {
      "style": "linear",
      "angle": 45,
      "colors": [
        { "color": "#C80404", "offset": 10 },
        { "color": "#042F86", "offset": 90 }
      ],
      "exclude_corners": false
    },
    "background_gradient": {
      "style": "radial",
      "colors": [
        { "color": "#C696EE", "offset": 25 },
        { "color": "#D4E1A8", "offset": 50 }
      ]
    }
  }
}

A successful response will return metadata about the QR Code.

{
  "qrcode_id": "string",
  "group_guid": "string",
  "title": "string",
  "archived": "boolean",
  "created": "string",
  "modified": "string"
}

Retrieve QR Code Image

Once the code has been created successfully we can grab the image data from the following endpoint.

GET /v4/qr-codes/{qrcode_id}/image

The response is returned as SVG by default.

Interacting with a QR Code

Once a QR Code has been created you can retrieve its details with:

GET /v4/qr-codes/{qrcode_id}

To make changes to your QR code use:

PATCH /v4/qr-codes/{qrcode_id}

This endpoint allows you to update the QR Code's:

  • title
  • render customizations
  • archived/unarchived