Introduction

Learn how to use CodeQR to programmatically create, update, and manage QR Codes at scale.

QR Codes are a core feature of CodeQR.

Everything on CodeQR starts with a QR Code. Whether you’re creating:

• a single QR Code for your marketing campaign
• hundreds of QR Codes for your event registrations
• thousands of QR Codes, programmatically, for your product catalog

In this guide, we’ll cover the QR Code model, how to create QR Codes, and more.

The QR Code model

The QR Code model consists of the following properties:

Property	Description	Example
id	The unique identifier of the QR Code	cm9zsbu1f00019imtllva1p35
url	The destination URL encoded in the QR Code	https://expol.ink/p/rTrlexxQcj
shortLink	The shortened version of the QR Code link	https://expol.ink/zfNIPj8Mv24Q-qr
domain	The domain of the QR Code	expol.ink
key	The unique slug for the QR Code	zfNIPj8Mv24Q-qr
image	The URL of the generated QR Code image	https://res.cloudinary.com/.../qr.png
bgColor	The background color of the QR Code	#ffffff
fgColor	The foreground color of the QR Code	#4a69ff
size	The size of the QR Code in pixels	1024
level	The error correction level of the QR Code	H
showLogo	Whether the QR Code includes a logo	true
scans	The number of times the QR Code has been scanned	1
createdAt	The timestamp when the QR Code was created	2025-04-27T15:09:08.689Z
updatedAt	The timestamp when the QR Code was last updated	2025-04-27T15:09:08.689Z

For more advanced features like custom QR Code designs, scan tracking, and more, see the full list of properties here.

You can use the various CodeQR SDKs to programmatically manage your QR Codes.

Create a QR Code

The url field, representing the destination URL, is the sole mandatory parameter required for the creation of a new QR Code.

cURL

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.codeqr.io/qrcodes \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"url": "https://google.com"}'

Check out the full API reference for the QR Code creation endpoint.

Update a QR Code

An existing QR Code can be updated by providing the id to the update method. This method returns the updated QR Code as a response.

cURL

curl --request PATCH \
  --url https://api.codeqr.io/qrcodes/cm9zsbu1f00019imtllva1p35 \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"url": "https://www.google.uk"}'

Check out the full API reference for the QR Code update endpoint.

Upsert a QR Code

Upserting a QR Code is a combination of creating and updating a QR Code. If a QR Code with the same URL already exists, return it (or update it if there are any changes). Otherwise, a new QR Code will be created.

cURL

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.codeqr.io/qrcodes/update \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"url": "https://google.com"}'

Check out the full API reference for the QR Code upsert endpoint.