What does Bilibili's API校验密匙错误 (code -3) mean? (2026)
-3 is the code that comes with Bilibili's message API校验密匙错误 (API key check failed). We found no public explanation from Bilibili, and the reports we read come from third-party clients. If you only use such a client, update it or ask its author. To read Bilibili data from a program, a data API asks for no Bilibili app key: a page of search is $0.0020. DataXAPI reads Bilibili with 9 endpoints, from $0.0020 a call; a failed call is not charged.
Updated 2026-11-04
Where it shows up
In these cases it looks tied to how the client sends its request, not to a ban on your account. That is our reading, not Bilibili's. How a request's sign is worked out is not something we cover.
| Where | What was reported |
|---|---|
| BiliRoaming-Rust-Server issue 102 | A request carrying appkey and sign was answered with code -3 |
| downkyicore issue 504 | Logging in by scan failed with it. One user saw it on the international version and not on the China version; the author could not reproduce it |
| PiliNara issue 55 | Searching live streams with a space in the words gave it; the author found the cause and fixed it in the next version |
If you are reading data from a program
Each job is one call at $0.0020: bilibili.videos.search with a keyword, about 20 a page; bilibili.videos.get with a video's link; bilibili.videos.comments.list for its comments; bilibili.users.videos.list for an account's videos. You send your DataXAPI key and no appkey, sign or cookie. A failed call is not charged, and 1,000 calls come to $2.
Endpoints
Each with its price; every page has the parameters, the fields and a recorded response.
Sources
What this page says of other services is from their own pages and documents, read on 2026-11-04. Prices and features change: check the source before you decide.