Short answer

Yes – you can programmatically search Amazon’s catalog and generate affiliate links for your site. The official, supported way is to use Amazon’s Product Advertising API (PA‑API) 5.0. The API returns product data (ASIN, title, price, image, etc.) and a standard Amazon URL, which you turn into an affiliate link by appending your Associate tag.

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1. Prerequisites

Requirement	How to obtain
Amazon Associates account	Sign up at the Amazon Associates program and note your Associate Tag (e.g., mytag-20).
PA‑API access	In the Associates dashboard → Tools → Product Advertising API → create an Access Key ID and Secret Access Key. Approval is required and may depend on recent sales activity.
Compliance	Follow the Associates Operating Agreement and PA‑API usage policy (no scraping, respect rate limits, display product data as returned).

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2. Searching products programmatically

The core operation is SearchItems.

POST https://webservices.amazon.com/paapi5/searchitems
Headers:  Content-Type: application/json
Body (example):
{
  "PartnerTag": "mytag-20",
  "PartnerType": "Associates",
  "Keywords": "wireless headphones",
  "SearchIndex": "All",
  "Resources": [
    "ItemInfo.Title",
    "Images.Primary.Medium",
    "Offers.Listings.Price",
    "DetailPageURL"
  ]
}

• Returns up to 10 items per request.
• Each item includes an ASIN and a DetailPageURL (standard Amazon link).

Reference: 2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SearchItems operation.

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3. Building the affiliate link

The URL returned by PA‑API does not contain your tag, so you add it yourself:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/ASIN?tag=YOUR_ASSOCIATE_TAG

or, if you already have a full URL:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08N5WRKTV?ref=abc123 → https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08N5WRKTV?tag=mytag-20

This simple string manipulation is enough for most use‑cases. Many community scripts automate this step.

Reference: URL‑tagging guidance ⁸.

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4. Automation workflow (example in Python)

import requests, datetime, hashlib, hmac, base64

PAAPI_ENDPOINT = "https://webservices.amazon.com/paapi5/searchitems"
ACCESS_KEY = "AKIA..."
SECRET_KEY = "..."
ASSOC_TAG = "mytag-20"

def sign(payload):
    # Simplified signing – use Amazon's SDK in production
    ...

def search_items(keywords):
    body = {
        "PartnerTag": ASSOC_TAG,
        "PartnerType": "Associates",
        "Keywords": keywords,
        "SearchIndex": "All",
        "Resources": ["ItemInfo.Title","DetailPageURL"]
    }
    headers = {"Content-Type": "application/json"}
    response = requests.post(PAAPI_ENDPOINT, json=body, headers=headers,
                             auth=(ACCESS_KEY, SECRET_KEY))
    data = response.json()
    links = []
    for item in data.get("SearchResult", {}).get("Items", []):
        asin = item["ASIN"]
        url = f"https://www.amazon.com/dp/{asin}?tag={ASSOC_TAG}"
        links.append({"title": item["ItemInfo"]["Title"]["DisplayValue"],
                      "url": url})
    return links

print(search_items("wireless headphones"))

The code uses the PA‑API to fetch items, then builds affiliate URLs.
(For production, use Amazon’s official SDKs for Java, Python, PHP, etc., which handle request signing and retries.)

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5. Alternative approaches

Method	Pros	Cons
Associates Dashboard → Product Linking	No code; quick for a few links.	Manual, not scalable.
Third‑party tools (e.g., Amazon Affiliate Link Maker)	Simple UI; can batch‑convert URLs.	Still requires you to provide base URLs; may have usage limits.
Custom wrapper APIs	Hide PA‑API complexity; may add extra features (caching, bulk search).	Requires own hosting and compliance checks.

References: third‑party tools ⁷, Reddit automation thread ⁵.

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6. Important limits & best practices

• Rate limits: Typically 1 request / second for new accounts; up to 8,640 requests / day for approved accounts. Paginate if you need more results.
• Caching: Responses may be cached for up to 24 h; do not store longer than Amazon allows.
• Link format: Use direct product pages (/dp/ASIN) – indirect links (search results, category pages) may not earn full commission.
• Policy compliance: Do not scrape Amazon pages; always use PA‑API for programmatic access. Ensure the Associate tag is visible in every link.

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7. Quick checklist for implementation

1. Join Amazon Associates → get Associate Tag.
2. Apply for PA‑API → obtain Access Key & Secret Key.
3. Choose a programming language → install Amazon’s SDK or use HTTP calls.
4. Call SearchItems with desired keywords/filters.
5. Extract ASINs and build URLs with ?tag=YOUR_TAG.
6. Render links on your site, respecting Amazon’s display rules.

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8. Summary

Programmatic product search and affiliate link generation are fully supported via the Amazon Product Advertising API. By authenticating with your API credentials and appending your Associate tag, you can automatically produce up‑to‑date product listings and earn commissions without manual copy‑pasting. Ensure you stay within rate limits and follow Amazon’s policies to keep your account in good standing.