> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://hianime.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

> A step by step guide to get started with Hianime

<Card title="Quickstart" href="/quickstart" icon="rocket" horizontal>
  Quickstart guide for Hianime
</Card>

## What is Hianime?

Hianime is an unofficial Node.js/TypeScript library that scrapes publicly available pages on [hianime.to](https://hianime.to) to retrieve anime data such as popular lists, TV shows, titles, and other metadata. It is a personal project intended for learning and tooling.

## What you can scrape

* Most popular lists and other discovery feeds
* TV shows and other category pages
* Title pages and basic metadata (e.g., synopsis, genres, type)
* Pagination info (page, totalPage, hasNextPage)
* Episode lists and language availability (sub/dub) when exposed on page

## How it works (high level)

* Makes HTTP requests to public pages on hianime.to and parses the HTML.
* Selectors and structures can change; version changes on the site may break scraping until updated.
* Some pages may apply anti-bot measures; set realistic headers, add delays, and backoff on errors.

## Core concepts

* **Pagination**: Responses include `page`, `totalPage`, and `hasNextPage`. Use these to paginate safely.
* **IDs**: Items may have a human-readable `id` (often a path) and a numeric `dataId` used internally by the site.
* **Language counts**: `language.sub` / `language.dub` are counts reported by the site and may be strings.
* **Types**: `type` values (e.g., "TV", "Movie") reflect site labels and can vary by entry.

## Usage guidelines

* Add rate limiting and retries with exponential backoff to avoid stressing the site.
* Send a realistic User-Agent and required headers where necessary.
* Expect occasional breaking changes; handle errors and validate outputs.
* Use only for educational/personal purposes and abide by the site’s Terms of Service.

<Warning>
  Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by HiAnime or any third‑party
  streaming service This library only scrapes publicly accessible pages; use for
  educational/personal purposes Respect the website’s Terms of Service and
  robots.txt Do not download, redistribute, or commercialize copyrighted content
  Site structure may change at any time and break the scraper.
</Warning>

## Important Notes

* **Rate limiting**: Add delays between requests to avoid overwhelming the server
* **Error handling**: Always wrap API calls in try-catch blocks
* **Respect ToS**: Use this library responsibly and respect HiAnime's terms of service
* **Site changes**: The scraper may break if the site structure changes