---
title: "Categories"
description: "Walmart categories — accepted parameters and what comes back."
---

```
GET|POST /v1/walmart/categories
```

**Price** $0.001 per call. [List price](https://apinoa.com/en/pricing); the rate steps down above 1,000 calls a day.

| Parameter | Type | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| `categoryId` | string |  | Omit for the 42 departments; give a bare department id (`4171`) or an underscore chain to list that category's children. Unlike `browse`, a bare id is accepted here — descending from one is how a client reaches the chains `browse` takes. |
| `region` | string |  | Buyer country as ISO 3166-1 alpha-2; sets availability, shipping and price. |

The sub-categories under a Walmart category -- **and the way to turn a `cat_id` into something
`browse` accepts.**

```bash
# the departments
curl "https://gateway.apinoa.com/v1/walmart/categories" -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"
# what is under Toys
curl "https://gateway.apinoa.com/v1/walmart/categories?categoryId=4171" -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"
```

Walmart is the one marketplace where the two operations take **different kinds of id**, and this
endpoint is the bridge:

- `search?categoryId=4171` -- a bare department id. Valid.
- `browse?categoryId=4171` -- **not** valid. Toys is not browsable, so it answers
  `400 CATEGORY_NOT_BROWSABLE`.
- `categories?categoryId=4171` -- valid, and every child it returns is an underscore **chain**
  (`4171_4186`), which `browse` does accept.

So: take a `cat_id` from a search response's filter rail, pass it here, and browse what comes back.

Omit `categoryId` for the 42 departments.

Departments do **not** report `browsable`, and that is deliberate rather than an omission: some
departments are not browsable. Electronics (`3944`) lists products, while Toys (`4171`) does not.
Nothing distinguishes them up front, so descend one level and use the chains — those always browse.

If you do browse a department directly, a hub answers `400 CATEGORY_NOT_BROWSABLE` rather than an
empty list, which is the same answer eBay's navigation hubs give.