FionaCDEServiceEngine/sidecar 404

[Mbucari]

I'm trying to use the https://cde-ta-g7g.amazon.com/FionaCDEServiceEngine/sidecar endpoint to retrieve bookmarks and clips, but I'm getting 404 errors. I started using by using AudibleApi project, similar to how this method works.

I used the following path: /FionaCDEServiceEngine/sidecar?type=AUDI&key={asin}, but I got a 404 response.

I then tried with audible-cli using this command:
audible api -m GET -p type=AUDI -p key=B002UUKWCY https://cde-ta-g7g.amazon.com/FionaCDEServiceEngine/sidecar
And I also got a 404.

Am I doing something wrong, or has Audible changed something?

[mkb79]

I‘ve tested it myself with audible api -p type=AUDI -p key=B08M5FQ2CP https://cde-ta-g7g.amazon.com/FionaCDEServiceEngine/sidecar and it will give me a 200 response with the data I requested.

[mkb79]

Oh wait. I'm think 404 in this case means there are no sidecar information available. Do you have heared this book yet?

I‘ve checked my notices and tried myself again. 404 means there are no annotations for the request. I've wrote about these here.

[mkb79]

I tried making one test bookmark on another book, which I have finished listening to, and I can retrieve that bookmark from the api.

In the past I've changed the title of a clip. These changes where on my iOS device. But as I reinstalled the whole app these title are "gone". So I record the traffic to see what happens. As far as I could find out some annotations are not synced (e.g. title changes) and are local only.

[Mbucari]

As far as I could find out some annotations are not synced

That makes a lot of sense. Well actually it makes no sense from a design perspective, but it does explain what I'm seeing. Thank you again for remeasuring me that I'm not making a mistake.

[mkb79]

As far as I could find out some annotations are not synced

That makes a lot of sense. Well actually it makes no sense from a design perspective, but it does explain what I'm seeing. Thank you again for remeasuring me that I'm not making a mistake.

You can try it out yourself and reinstall the app on your device (logout/login is not enough on iOS devices because the db is not deleted). Then you will see if the clip are synced. Or with less work install the app on another device (which can make use of clips) and you will see it too.

[Mbucari]

You can try it out yourself

I believe you. I'm just flabbergasted that Audible allowed this to happen.

[Mbucari]

@mkb79 It appears that this endpoint doesn't return clips. I only see "audible.bookmark", "audible.note", and "audible.last_heard" types.

"audible.note" always returns an endPosition, but it is identical to "startPosition". Is there another endpoint or additional query parameters for getting clip details?

[mkb79]

You can try it out with a new book which already have a clip set via app and try again. The book I used had a clip present before I add a new one via the api.

[Mbucari]

Good idea. I have a book with a clip that was added August 6, 2022. That clip is not returned by the query. Maybe a different endpoint is used for clips in US? I never managed to successfully man-in-the-middle the Audible app, so maybe I need to try that again and see exactly where it's getting the data from.

[mkb79]

I've an US account. Will try out tomorrow if there are any differences.

[mkb79]

One idea for today. The full url requested by the app is e.g. https://cde-ta-g7g.amazon.com/FionaCDEServiceEngine/sidecar?format=AAX_44_128&guid=CR!JXYV7SZVQN381CD856CFJXHGHHPM:23555421&key=B08M5FQ2CP&type=AUDI. Maybe you have to provide a format and guid query param. There are new formats beginning with M4A_AAX_44_64. But these are not used by the app. Maybe the format must be the same like in your post.

[Mbucari]

No luck. I tried with url "/FionaCDEServiceEngine/sidecar?type=AUDI&key=B017WJ5ZK6&guid=CR!FK7N7VFNKN03D6KYAD52P8H3CFNR:10748071&format=M4A_AAX", and I still only get bookmarks and notes. I tried setting a clip with a notice like in your example. The note is returned by sidecar, but the clip isn't.

There are new formats beginning with M4A_AAX_44_64

I'm using M4A_AAX as the format because it is what's returned in content_metadata. So far I have not seen any format strings that include bitrate information like M4A_AAX_44_64

[mkb79]

This is the response

{'content_metadata': {'content_reference': {'acr': 'CR!CZE5DS4AJ9577545Q0D779EGVGPN', 'asin': 'B08M5FQ2CP', 'codec': 'mp4a.40.2', 'content_format': 'M4A_AAX_44_64', 'content_size_in_bytes': 313872825, 'file_version': '1', 'marketplace': 'AN7V1F1VY261K', 'sku': 'BK_ADOP_301368', 'tempo': '1.0', 'version': '23555421'}}, 'response_groups': ['always-returned', 'content_reference']}

There seams to be a new codec and content_format naming scheme.

Edit:
Here with the right acr

{'content_metadata': {'content_reference': {'acr': 'CR!JXYV7SZVQN381CD856CFJXHGHHPM', 'asin': 'B08M5FQ2CP', 'codec': 'mp4a.40.2', 'content_format': 'AAX_44_128', 'content_size_in_bytes': 631947313, 'file_version': '2', 'marketplace': 'AN7V1F1VY261K', 'sku': 'BK_ADOP_301368', 'tempo': '1.0', 'version': '23555421'}}, 'response_groups': ['always-returned', 'content_reference']}

[Mbucari]

@mkb79 I want to thank you again for all of your help. I've been exploring this endpoint, and I think I've found the minimum amount of information required to create each of the four record types (last_heard, bookmark, note, and clip). Version appears to be optional, and "_LATEST_" is a valid guid.

This is a valid request:

<annotations version="1.0" timestamp="2023-01-04T16:57:31-0700">
  <book key="B017WJ5ZK6" type="AUDI" guid="_LATEST_">
    <last_heard action="modify" begin="6000000" timestamp="2023-01-04T16:57:29-0700" />
    <clip action="create" begin="5000000" end="5030000" timestamp="2023-01-04T16:57:27-0700">
      <metadata><![CDATA[{"note":"Clip Note","title":"Clip Title"}]]></metadata>
    </clip>
    <note action="create" begin="6000000" end="6000000" timestamp="2023-01-04T16:57:28-0700">Standalone Note</note>
    <bookmark action="create" begin="7000000" timestamp="2023-01-04T16:57:28-0700" />
  </book>
</annotations>

And this is returned by the query:

{
    "md5": "XXX",
    "payload": {
        "type": "AUDI",
        "key": "B017WJ5ZK6",
        "acr": null,
        "records": [
            {
                "startPosition": "5000000",
                "creationTime": "2023-01-04 23:58:43.0",
                "annotationId": "XXX",
                "type": "audible.bookmark",
                "lastModificationTime": "2023-01-04 23:58:43.0"
            },
            {
                "startPosition": "5000000",
                "creationTime": "2023-01-04 23:57:55.0",
                "annotationId": "XXX",
                "type": "audible.clip",
                "endPosition": "5030000",
                "metadata": {
                    "note": "Clip Note",
                    "title": "Clip Title"
                },
                "lastModificationTime": "2023-01-04 23:57:55.0"
            },
            {
                "startPosition": "5000000",
                "creationTime": "2023-01-04 23:58:43.0",
                "annotationId": "XXX",
                "text": "Clip Note",
                "type": "audible.note",
                "endPosition": "5000000",
                "lastModificationTime": "2023-01-04 23:58:43.0"
            },
            {
                "startPosition": "6000000",
                "creationTime": "2023-01-04 23:57:56.0",
                "annotationId": "XXX",
                "text": "Standalone Note",
                "type": "audible.note",
                "endPosition": "6000000",
                "lastModificationTime": "2023-01-04 23:57:56.0"
            },
            {
                "startPosition": "6000000",
                "creationTime": "2023-01-04 23:57:57.0",
                "type": "audible.last_heard"
            },
            {
                "startPosition": "7000000",
                "creationTime": "2023-01-04 23:57:56.0",
                "annotationId": "XXX",
                "type": "audible.bookmark",
                "lastModificationTime": "2023-01-04 23:57:56.0"
            }
        ],
        "guid": "_LATEST_"
    }
}

Note: These two records are created automatically by Audible from the clip. Sometimes it took several seconds for them to be returned by the query after the clip was created, other times they were created instantly. The other 4 records were returned by the query immediately after creation.

           {
                "startPosition": "5000000",
                "creationTime": "2023-01-04 23:58:43.0",
                "annotationId": "XXX",
                "type": "audible.bookmark",
                "lastModificationTime": "2023-01-04 23:58:43.0"
            },
            {
                "startPosition": "5000000",
                "creationTime": "2023-01-04 23:58:43.0",
                "annotationId": "XXX",
                "text": "Clip Note",
                "type": "audible.note",
                "endPosition": "5000000",
                "lastModificationTime": "2023-01-04 23:58:43.0"
            },

[Mbucari]

Additionally, all 6 of those records may be deleted in one action using the following XML

<annotations version="1.0" timestamp="2023-01-04T17:09:31-0700">
  <book key="B017WJ5ZK6" type="AUDI" guid="_LATEST_">
    <bookmark action="delete" begin="5000000" timestamp="2023-01-04T17:09:31-0700" />
    <clip action="delete" begin="5000000" timestamp="2023-01-04T17:09:31-0700" end="5030000" />
    <note action="delete" begin="5000000" timestamp="2023-01-04T17:09:31-0700" end="5000000" />
    <note action="delete" begin="6000000" timestamp="2023-01-04T17:09:31-0700" end="6000000" />
    <last_heard action="delete" begin="6000000" timestamp="2023-01-04T17:09:31-0700" />
    <bookmark action="delete" begin="7000000" timestamp="2023-01-04T17:09:31-0700" />
  </book>
</annotations>

EDIT* Actually, the bookmark and note that were created automatically from the clip remained after this delete action. I had to run a second delete on those 2 to remove them. I think their clip must be deleted before they can be deleted.

[mkb79]

I'm thank you for your work! This will hopefully enrich the use of Libation! If you need help in the future for other things feel free to contact me.