Replacing Photos

This is the specification for replacing photographs that have already been uploaded to Flickr.

Like the upload API it works outside the normal Flickr API framework because it involves sending binary files over the wire.

Uploading apps can call the flickr.people.getUploadStatus method in the regular API to obtain file and bandwidth limits for the user.

Uploading

Photos should be POSTed to the following URL:

https://up.flickr.com/services/replace/

Authentication

This method requires authentication with 'write' permission.

For details of how to obtain authentication tokens and how to sign calls, see the authentication api spec. Note that the 'photo' parameter should not be included in the signature. All other POST parameters should be included when generating the signature.

Arguments

photo
The file to upload.
photo_id
The ID of the photo to replace.
async (optional)
Photos may be replaced in async mode, for applications that don't want to wait around for an upload to complete, leaving a socket connection open the whole time. Processing photos asynchronously is recommended. Please consult the documentation for details.

Example Response

When an upload is successful, the following xml is returned:

<photoid secret="abcdef" originalsecret="abcdef">1234</photoid>

photoid is the id of the photo being replaced. This response is formatted in the REST API response style.

Error Codes

If the upload fails, a REST API error response is returned. The following error codes are possible:

1: Not a pro account
The calling user must have a pro account.
2: No photo specified
The photo required argument was missing.
3: General upload failure
The file was not correctly uploaded.
4: Filesize was zero
The file was zero bytes in length.
5: Filetype was not recognised
The file was not of a recognised image format.
6: Upload limit reached. For more info, visit flickr.com/pro
The calling user has reached the upload limit for free accounts.
15: Non-safe content not allowed
Non-safe content is not allowed for free accounts.
95: SSL is required
SSL is required to access the Flickr API.
96: Invalid signature
The passed signature was invalid.
97: Missing signature
The call required signing but no signature was sent.
98: Login failed / Invalid auth token
The login details or auth token passed were invalid.
99: User not logged in / Insufficient permissions
The method requires user authentication but the user was not logged in, or the authenticated method call did not have the required permissions.
100: Invalid API Key
The API key passed was not valid or has expired.
105: Service currently unavailable
The requested service is temporarily unavailable.
106: Write operation failed
The requested operation failed due to a temporary issue.
116: Bad URL found
One or more arguments contained a URL that has been used for abuse on Flickr.