WrapSplash++ v1.0.0

WrapSplash++ is a simple, synchronous API wrapper for the popular Unsplash platform. The library is written in C++17, built with CMake, and can be used in any C++ project. This is a C++ port of the popular wrapsplash TypeScript library. Unsplash provides beautiful high quality free images and photos that you can download and use for any project without any attribution.

Before using the Unsplash API, you need to register as a developer and read the API Guidelines.

Note: Every application must abide by the API Guidelines. Specifically, remember to hotlink images and trigger a download when appropriate.

Installation

Install the package using vcpkg:

vcpkg install wrapsplash++

Or using Conan:

conan install wrapsplash++/1.0.0@

Or build from source using CMake:

git clone https://github.com/Sandeepv68/wrapsplash-cpp.git
cd wrapsplash-cpp
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .
cmake --install .

Sample usage

#include <wrapsplash/wrapsplash.hpp>
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    wrapsplash::WrapSplash api;

    api.init({
        .bearer_token = "<bearer-token>"
    });

    try {
        auto result = api.get_photo("<photo-id>");
        std::cout << result.dump(2) << std::endl;
    } catch (const wrapsplash::WrapSplashError& e) {
        std::cerr << e.what() << std::endl;
    }

    return 0;
}

Development

mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DWRAPSLASH_BUILD_TESTS=ON ..
cmake --build .
ctest

Docker

You can build and test the project entirely inside Docker, which avoids installing dependencies on your host machine.

Prerequisites: Docker Desktop must be running.

Build the project:

docker compose run build

Run the tests:

docker compose run test

Build and test in one shot:

docker compose up build test

On subsequent runs, Docker caches the dependency layer and preserves compiled objects in a named volume (build-cache), so only changed source files are recompiled.

How it works:

Dockerfile installs all build dependencies (cmake, g++, curl, nlohmann-json, openssl, googletest) on Ubuntu 24.04.
docker-compose.yml mounts your source code into the container and uses a build-cache volume for the build directory, enabling incremental builds.
.dockerignore keeps the Docker build context small by excluding build/, .git/, IDE files, etc.

New API aliases

The library includes more descriptive convenience methods such as get_photo, get_random_photo, create_collection, and update_collection. The original method names remain available for backward compatibility.

// Using the new aliases
api.create_collection("My Collection", "Description", false);

// Using the original method names (also works)
api.create_new_collection("My Collection", "Description", false);

Dependency

This library depends on libcurl for HTTP requests, nlohmann/json for JSON handling, and OpenSSL for SHA256 request header generation for the Unsplash API.

Changelog

v1.0.0

Initial C++ port of wrapsplash TypeScript library
Synchronous API with exception-based error handling
C++17 with std::optional for optional parameters
CMake build system with vcpkg and Conan package support
Automatic retry with configurable timeout
SHA256 request header verification using OpenSSL
Complete Unsplash API coverage (Users, Photos, Search, Collections, Stats, OAuth)
GoogleTest unit test suite
Cross-platform support (Linux, macOS, Windows)

API Documentation

Schema

Location

The API we are using is https://api.unsplash.com/. Responses are sent as JSON.

Summary objects

When retrieving a list of objects, an abbreviated or summary version of that object is returned - i.e., a subset of its attributes. To get a full detailed version of that object, fetch it individually.

Error messages

If an error occurs, whether on the server or client side, the error message(s) will be returned in an errors array. For example:

422 Unprocessable Entity

{
  "errors": ["Username is missing", "Password cannot be blank"]
}

Authorization

Public Actions

Many actions can be performed without requiring authentication from a specific user. For example, downloading a photo does not require a user to log in. To authenticate requests in this way, pass your application's access key via the HTTP Authorization header:

Authorization: Client-ID YOUR_ACCESS_KEY

You can also pass this value using a client_id query parameter:

https://api.unsplash.com/photos/?client_id=YOUR_ACCESS_KEY

If only your access key is sent, attempting to perform non-public actions that require user authorization will result in a 401 Unauthorized response.

User Authentication

The Unsplash API uses OAuth2 to authenticate and authorize Unsplash users. Unsplash's OAuth2 paths live at https://unsplash.com/oauth/.

Before using wrapsplash++:

Developers are required to create a developer account from Unsplash.
Create a new App from Your Apps page.
Get the Access Key, Secret key, Callback URLs, and Authorization code.
If you have a Bearer Token, then its super, or else you can generate it using wrapsplash++.

Note: Authorization code can be obtained by clicking the Authorize link next to Callback URLs. Also Authorization code is a one-time use code, you have to generate it again, if the action fails!.

WrapSplash init()

WrapSplash++ instance has to be initialized with your credentials obtained from Unsplash developer account for programatic access.These credentials information are passed in to the init() function as options. The following example shows all the available options.

api.init({
    .access_key = "<api-key>",
    .secret_key = "<secret-key>",
    .redirect_uri = "<callback-url>",
    .code = "<authorization-code>",
    .bearer_token = "<bearer-token>"
});

If you have a bearer_token, then only bearer token has to be passed in.

api.init({
    .bearer_token = "<bearer-token>"
});

Generate Bearer Token

A function to generate a Bearer Token for write_access to private data. The init() method in this case requires access_key, secret_key, redirect_uri, and code to generate bearer token.

Note: No Parameters are required for this function.

#include <wrapsplash/wrapsplash.hpp>

wrapsplash::WrapSplash api;

api.init({
    .access_key = "<api-key>",
    .secret_key = "<secret-key>",
    .redirect_uri = "<callback-url>",
    .code = "<authorization-code>"
});

try {
    auto result = api.generate_bearer_token();
    std::cout << result.dump(2) << std::endl;
} catch (const wrapsplash::WrapSplashError& e) {
    std::cerr << e.what() << std::endl;
}

If successful, the response body will be a JSON representation of your user's access token a.k.a bearer token:

{
   "access_token": "091343ce13c8ae780065ecb3b13dc903475dd22cb78a05503c2e0c69c5e98044",
   "token_type": "bearer",
   "scope": "public read_photos write_photos",
   "created_at": 1436544465
}

and once you have your bearer_token you can use it in your app like this:

api.init({
    .bearer_token = "<bearer-token>"
});

Users APIs

Get User's Public Profile

A function to retrieve public details on a given user.

GET /users/:username

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional
username	string	The username of the particular user	no
width	int	Width of the profile picture in pixels	yes
height	int	Height of the profile picture in pixels	yes

Note: When optional height & width are specified the profile image will be included in the "profile_image" object as "custom".

auto profile = api.get_public_profile("<username>", 600, 600);

Get User's Portfolio Link

A function to retrieve a single user's portfolio link.

GET /users/:username/portfolio

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
username	string	The username of the particular user	no

auto portfolio = api.get_user_portfolio("<username>");

Get User's Photos

A function to get a list of photos uploaded by a particular user.

GET /users/:username/photos

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
username	string	The username of the particular user	no
page	int	Page number to retrieve	yes	1
per_page	int	Number of items per page	yes	10
stats	bool	Show the stats for each user's photo	yes	false
resolution	string	The frequency of the stats	yes	days
quantity	int	The amount of for each stat	yes	30
order_by	string	How to sort the photos.(`Valid values: latest, oldest, popular`)	yes	latest

auto photos = api.get_user_photos("<username>", 1, 10, false, "days", 30, "latest");

Get User Liked Photos

A function to get a list of photos liked by a user.

GET /users/:username/likes

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
username	string	The username of the particular user	no
page	int	Page number to retrieve	yes	1
per_page	int	Number of items per page	yes	10
order_by	string	How to sort the photos.(`Valid values: latest, oldest, popular`)	yes	latest

auto liked = api.get_user_liked_photos("<username>", 1, 10, "latest");

Get User's Collections

A function to get a list of collections created by the user.

GET /users/:username/collections

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
username	string	The username of the particular user	no
page	int	Page number to retrieve	yes	1
per_page	int	Number of items per page	yes	10

auto collections = api.get_user_collections("<username>", 1, 10);

Get User's Statistics

A function to get a user's account statistics.

GET /users/:username/statistics

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
username	string	The username of the particular user	no
resolution	string	The frequency of the stats	yes	days
quantity	int	The amount of for each stat	yes	30

auto stats = api.get_user_statistics("<username>", "days", 30);

Photos APIs

List Photos

A function to get a single page from the list of all photos.

GET /photos

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
page	int	Page number to retrieve	yes	1
per_page	int	Number of items per page	yes	10
order_by	string	How to sort the photos.(`Valid values: latest, oldest, popular`)	yes	latest

auto photos = api.list_photos(1, 10, "latest");

List Curated Photos

A function to get a single page from the list of the curated photos.

GET /photos/curated

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
page	int	Page number to retrieve	yes	1
per_page	int	Number of items per page	yes	10
order_by	string	How to sort the photos.(`Valid values: latest, oldest, popular`)	yes	latest

auto photos = api.list_curated_photos(1, 10, "latest");

Get a Photo by Id

A function to retrieve a single photo.

GET /photos/:id

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional
id	string	The photo's ID	no
width	int	Image width in pixels	yes
height	int	Image height in pixels	yes
rect	string	4 comma-separated integers representing x, y, width, height of the cropped rectangle	yes

Note: Supplying the optional width or height parameters will result in the custom photo URL being added to the urls object:

auto photo = api.get_photo("<id of the photo>", 500, 500, "x, y, width, height");

Get a Random Photo

A function to retrieve a single random photo, given optional filters.

GET /photos/random

Parameters

Note: All parameters are optional, and can be combined to narrow the pool of photos from which a random one will be chosen.

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
collections	string	The public collection ID('s) to filter selection. If multiple, comma-separated	yes
featured	bool	Limit selection to featured photos	yes	false
username	string	Limit selection to a single user	yes
query	string	Limit selection to photos matching a search term	yes
width	int	The Image width in pixels	yes
height	int	The Image height in pixels	yes
orientation	string	Filter search results by photo orientation. (`Valid values are landscape, portrait, and squarish`)	yes	landscape
count	int	The number of photos to return. (`max: 30`)	yes	1

Note: You can't use the collections and query parameters in the same request. When supplying a count parameter - and only then - the response will be an array of photos, even if the value of count is 1.

auto photo = api.get_random_photo("", true, "", "nature", 800, 600, "landscape", 1);

Get a Photo's Statistics

A function to retrieve total number of downloads, views and likes of a single photo, as well as the historical breakdown of these stats in a specific timeframe (default is 30 days).

GET /photos/:id/statistics

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
id	string	The photo's ID	no
resolution	string	The frequency of the stats	yes	days
quantity	int	The amount of for each stat	yes	30

Note: Currently, the only resolution param supported is "days". The quantity param can be any number between 1 and 30.

auto stats = api.get_photo_statistics("<photo-id>", "days", 10);

Get a Photo's Download Link

A function to retrieve a single photo's download link. Preferably hit this endpoint if a photo is downloaded in your application for use (example: to be displayed on a blog article, to be shared on social media, to be remixed, etc).

GET /photos/:id/download

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
id	string	The photo's ID	no

Note: This is different than the concept of a view, which is tracked automatically when you hotlink an image.

auto link = api.get_photo_link("<photo-id>");

Update a Photo

A function to update a photo on behalf of the logged-in user. This requires the write_photos scope and bearer_token.

PUT /photos/:id

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional
id	string	The photo's ID	no
location	json	The location object holding location data	yes
exif	json	The exif object holding exif data	yes

Note: Exchangeable image file format (officially Exif, according to JEIDA/JEITA/CIPA specifications) is a standard that specifies the formats for images, sound, and ancillary tags used by digital cameras (including smartphones), scanners and other systems handling image and sound files recorded by digital cameras. Readmore

location & exif objects

object[key]	Description
location[latitude]	The photo location's latitude (Optional)
location[longitude]	The photo location's longitude (Optional)
location[name]	The photo location's name (Optional)
location[city]	The photo location's city (Optional)
location[country]	The photo location's country (Optional)
location[confidential]	The photo location's confidentiality (Optional)
exif[make]	Camera's brand (Optional)
exif[model]	Camera's model (Optional)
exif[exposure_time]	Camera's exposure time (Optional)
exif[aperture_value]	Camera's aperture value (Optional)
exif[focal_length]	Camera's focal length (Optional)
exif[iso_speed_ratings]	Camera's iso (Optional)

json location = {{"country", "INDIA"}};
json exif = {{"make", "Redmi Note 3"}};
api.update_photo("<photo-id>", location, exif);

Like a Photo

A function to like a photo on behalf of the logged-in user. This requires the write_likes scope.

POST /photos/:id/like

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
id	string	The photo's ID	no

Note: This action is idempotent; sending the POST request to a single photo multiple times has no additional effect.

api.like_photo("<photo-id>");

Unlike a Photo

A function to remove a user's like of a photo.

DELETE /photos/:id/like

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
id	string	The photo's ID	no

Note: This action is idempotent; sending the DELETE request to a single photo multiple times has no additional effect.

api.unlike_photo("<photo-id>");

Search APIs

Search Photos

A function to get a single page of photo results for a particular query.

GET /search/photos

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
query	string	The search query	no
page	int	Page number to retrieve	yes	1
per_page	int	Number of items per page	yes	10
collections	string	Collection ID('s) to narrow search. If multiple, comma-separated.	yes
orientation	string	Filter search results by photo orientation. (`Valid values are landscape, portrait, and squarish.`)	yes	landscape

auto results = api.search("cars", 1, 10, "", "landscape");

Search Collections

A function to get a single page of collection results for a query.

GET /search/collections

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
query	string	The search query	no
page	int	Page number to retrieve	yes	1
per_page	int	Number of items per page	yes	10

auto results = api.search_collections("cars", 1, 10);

Search Users

A function to get a single page of user results for a query.

GET /search/users

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
query	string	The search query	no
page	int	Page number to retrieve	yes	1
per_page	int	Number of items per page	yes	10

auto results = api.search_users("<search-keyword>", 1, 10);

Current User APIs

Get User's Profile

A function to get the current User's profile. To access a user's private data, the user is required to authorize the read_user scope. Without it, this request will return a 403 Forbidden response.

GET /me

Note: No Parameters are required.

Note: Without a Bearer token (i.e. using a Client-ID token) this request will return a 401 Unauthorized response.

auto profile = api.get_current_user_profile();

Update User's Profile

A function to update the current User's profile.

PUT /me

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional
username	string	The username of the current user	yes
first_name	string	The first name of the current user	yes
last_name	string	The last name of the current user	yes
email	string	The email id of the current user	yes
url	string	The Portfolio/personal URL of the current user	yes
location	string	The location of the current user	yes
bio	string	The About/bio of the current user	yes
instagram_username	string	The Instagram username of the current user	yes

Note: This action requires the write_user scope. Without it, it will return a 403 Forbidden response.

api.update_current_user_profile("username", "first", "last", "email", "url", "location", "bio", "instagram");

Stats APIs

Stats Totals

A function to get a list of counts for all of Unsplash.

GET /stats/total

auto totals = api.get_stats_totals();

Response

200 OK

{
  "total_stats": {
    "photos": 10000,
    "downloads": 2000,
    "views": 5000,
    "likes": 800,
    "photographers": 100,
    "pixels": 200000,
    "downloads_per_second": 10,
    "views_per_second": 20,
    "developers": 20,
    "applications": 50,
    "requests": 8000
  }
}

Stats Month

A function to get the overall Unsplash stats for the past 30 days.

GET /stats/month

auto month = api.get_stats_month();

Response

200 OK

{
  "month_stats": {
    "downloads": 20,
    "views": 200,
    "likes": 60,
    "new_photos": 10,
    "new_photographers": 5,
    "new_pixels": 2000,
    "new_developers": 8,
    "new_applications": 5,
    "new_requests": 100
  }
}

Collections APIs

Link Relations

Collections have the following link relations:

rel	Description
`self`	API location of this collection
`html`	HTML location of this collection
`photos`	API location of this collection's photos
`related`	API location of this collection's related collections (Non-curated collections only)
`download`	Download location of this collection's zip file (Curated collections only)

List Collections

A function to get a single page from the list of all collections.

GET /collections

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
page	int	Page number to retrieve	yes	1
per_page	int	Number of items per page	yes	10

auto collections = api.list_collections();

List Featured Collections

A function to get a single page from the list of featured collections.

GET /collections/featured

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
page	int	Page number to retrieve	yes	1
per_page	int	Number of items per page	yes	10

auto featured = api.list_featured_collections();

List Curated Collections

A function to get a single page from the list of curated collections.

GET /collections/curated

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
page	int	Page number to retrieve	yes	1
per_page	int	Number of items per page	yes	10

auto curated = api.list_curated_collections();

Get a Collection

A function to retrieve a single collection. To view a user's private collections, the read_collections scope is required.

GET /collections/:id

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
id	string	The Collection ID	no

auto collection = api.get_collection("<collection-id>");

Get a Curated Collection

A function to retrieve a single curated collection. To view a user's private collections, the read_collections scope is required.

GET /collections/curated/:id

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
id	string	The Collection ID	no

auto collection = api.get_curated_collection("<curated-collection-id>");

Get a Collection's Photos

A function to retrieve a collection's photos.

GET /collections/:id/photos

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
id	string	The Collection ID	no
page	int	Page number to retrieve	yes	1
per_page	int	Number of items per page	yes	10

auto photos = api.get_collection_photos("<collection-id>", 1, 10);

Get a Curated Collection's Photos

A function to retrieve a curated collection's photos.

GET /collections/curated/:id/photos

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
id	string	The Collection ID	no
page	int	Page number to retrieve	yes	1
per_page	int	Number of items per page	yes	10

auto photos = api.get_curated_collection_photos("<curated-collection-id>", 1, 10);

List a Collection's Related Collections

A function to retrieve a list of collections related to this one.

GET /collections/:id/related

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
id	string	The Collection ID	no

auto related = api.list_related_collections("<collection-id>");

Create a New Collection

A function to create a new collection. This requires the write_collections scope.

POST /collections

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
title	string	The title of the collection	no
description	string	The collection's description	yes
private	bool	Whether to make this collection private	yes	false

auto collection = api.create_collection("<collection-name>", "<description>", false);

Update an Existing Collection

A function to update an existing collection belonging to the logged-in user. This requires the write_collections scope.

PUT /collections/:id

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
id	string	The collection id	no
title	string	The title of the collection	yes
description	string	The collection's description	yes
private	bool	Whether to make this collection private	yes	false

auto collection = api.update_collection("<collection-id>", "<collection-name>", "<description>", false);

Delete a Collection

A function to delete a collection belonging to the logged-in user. This requires the write_collections scope.

DELETE /collections/:id

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
id	string	The Collection ID	no

api.delete_collection("<collection-id>");

Add a Photo to a Collection

A function to add a photo to one of the logged-in user's collections. Requires the write_collections scope.

POST /collections/:collection_id/add

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
collection_id	string	The Collection ID	no
photo_id	string	The Photo ID	no

Note: If the photo is already in the collection, this action has no effect.

api.add_photo_to_collection("<collection-id>", "<photo-id>");

Remove a Photo from a Collection

A function to remove a photo from one of the logged-in user's collections. Requires the write_collections scope.

DELETE  /collections/:collection_id/remove

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Optional	Default
collection_id	string	The Collection ID	no
photo_id	string	The Photo ID	no

api.remove_photo_from_collection("<collection-id>", "<photo-id>");

Continuous Integration (CI)

This project uses CMake for building and GoogleTest for testing. In CI, run:

mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DWRAPSLASH_BUILD_TESTS=ON ..
cmake --build .
ctest

A minimal GitHub Actions workflow can use the same commands in a standard C++ environment.

Tests

WrapSplash++ uses GoogleTest as the testing framework. Test files are available in the tests/ folder.

License

The MIT License

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Acknowledgements

Thanks, and Kudos to team Unsplash for creating a wonderful platform for sharing beautiful high quality free images and photos.

Made with ❤️ by Sandeep Vattapparambil.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
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.github		.github
assets		assets
cmake		cmake
examples		examples
include/wrapsplash		include/wrapsplash
src		src
tests		tests
.dockerignore		.dockerignore
.gitignore		.gitignore
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CMakeLists.txt		CMakeLists.txt
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md		CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
Dockerfile		Dockerfile
LICENSE		LICENSE
PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md		PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md
README.md		README.md
SECURITY.md		SECURITY.md
SUPPORT.md		SUPPORT.md
conanfile.py		conanfile.py
docker-compose.yml		docker-compose.yml
vcpkg.json		vcpkg.json

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WrapSplash++ v1.0.0

Table of Contents

Installation

Sample usage

Development

Docker

New API aliases

Dependency

Changelog

v1.0.0

API Documentation

Schema

Location

Summary objects

Error messages

Authorization

Public Actions

User Authentication

WrapSplash init()

Generate Bearer Token

Users APIs

Get User's Public Profile

Parameters

Get User's Portfolio Link

Parameters

Get User's Photos

Parameters

Get User Liked Photos

Parameters

Get User's Collections

Parameters

Get User's Statistics

Parameters

Photos APIs

List Photos

Parameters

List Curated Photos

Parameters

Get a Photo by Id

Parameters

Get a Random Photo

Parameters

Get a Photo's Statistics

Parameters

Get a Photo's Download Link

Parameters

Update a Photo

Parameters

location & exif objects

Like a Photo

Parameters

Unlike a Photo

Parameters

Search APIs

Search Photos

Parameters

Search Collections

Parameters

Search Users

Parameters

Current User APIs

Get User's Profile

Update User's Profile

Parameters

Stats APIs

Stats Totals

Response

Stats Month

Response

Collections APIs

Link Relations

List Collections

Parameters

List Featured Collections

Parameters

List Curated Collections