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Caching of AscendAPI data is only permitted if your current plan explicitly allows it. If you are unsure whether your plan includes caching rights, check the features listed on your product page or contact us before implementing any caching layer.

What to Cache

If your plan does not permit caching, you must not store any data returned by the API. All requests must be made in real-time. If your plan permits caching, refer to the recommended TTL values below:
Data TypeChanges How OftenRecommended TTL
Exercise IDRarely7 days or longer
Body parts, muscles, equipment listsRarely7 days or longer
Muscle visualization imagesPer requestDuration of subscription
Media asset URLs (images, GIFs, videos)Weekly (Monday 00:00 UTC)Under 7 days

ExerciseDB V1 and V2

Exercise IDs are stable and do not rotate. You may treat them as permanent identifiers. Media asset URLs rotate every week on Monday at 00:00 UTC.
  • If your plan does not permit caching, media URLs can change at any time and should never be stored. Always fetch fresh URLs with every request.
  • If your plan permits caching, you may cache media URLs, but you must set your TTL to expire before Monday 00:00 UTC to prevent broken links (404 errors).
Even if your plan allows caching, never store media asset URLs permanently. Always respect the weekly rotation and refresh them before Monday 00:00 UTC.

Media Assets

Media assets (images, GIFs, and videos) are served directly from our CDN. You should reference the URLs returned by the API in your application. You do not need to proxy or re-host them under standard plans. Because media URLs rotate every Monday at 00:00 UTC, plans that allow caching must still refresh these URLs weekly.

Muscle Visualizer

Generated muscle visualization images can be cached on your server for the duration of your active subscription if your plan permits caching. Caching these images helps avoid regenerating the same visualization on every request.
Cached Muscle Visualizer assets must not be served after your subscription ends.

Important Note

We reserve the right to change or remove any cached data at any time for users on plans that do not explicitly permit caching (both free and paid plans). For requirements such as persistent storage, bulk downloads, custom cache invalidation, dedicated CDN endpoints, whitelabel URLs, or SLA-backed availability, please contact us at hello@ascendapi.com.
Last modified on March 30, 2026