Sitemap Extractor API
Extract URLs from XML sitemaps and sitemap index files using a simple HTTP endpoint.
Last Updated: 01 April 2026
The Velohost Sitemap Extractor API provides a lightweight HTTP interface for retrieving URLs from XML sitemap files.
It is designed for developers, scripts, crawlers, and automated SEO tools that require fast, stateless sitemap parsing.
Base API URL
All endpoints listed below are relative to this base URL.
https://api.velohost.co.uk/sitemap-extractor/ Rate Limiting
This API is protected by a global rate limit to ensure fair usage and platform stability.
- Limit: 30 requests per 10 seconds per IP address
- Burst traffic is allowed
- No authentication required
-
Requests exceeding the limit return
HTTP 429
This limit applies across all Velohost public APIs.
Error responses
The API uses standard HTTP status codes to indicate errors.
Returned when the global rate limit is exceeded.
{
"detail": "Rate limit exceeded"
}
Returned when the url parameter is missing or invalid.
Endpoint
Extract sitemap URLs
Retrieves all URLs listed in an XML sitemap or sitemap index file. Accepts URLs with or without protocol and normalises them automatically.
GET /lookup?url=example.com/sitemap.xml
<lbrace>'<lbrace>'<rbrace>
"sitemap_url": "https://example.com/sitemap.xml",
"total_urls": 3,
"urls": [
"https://example.com/",
"https://example.com/about/",
"https://example.com/contact/"
]
<lbrace>'<rbrace>'<rbrace>
Implementation Guidance
For production use, validate input before sending requests, implement retry with exponential backoff on 429 or transient failures, and log normalized responses for trend monitoring.
Learn more
Explore the tool, documentation, and guides.