Face API - v1.0

This API is currently available in:

  • Australia East - australiaeast.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • Brazil South - brazilsouth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • Canada Central - canadacentral.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • Central India - centralindia.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • Central US - centralus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • East Asia - eastasia.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • East US - eastus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • East US 2 - eastus2.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • France Central - francecentral.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • Japan East - japaneast.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • Japan West - japanwest.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • Korea Central - koreacentral.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • North Central US - northcentralus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • North Europe - northeurope.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • South Africa North - southafricanorth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • South Central US - southcentralus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • Southeast Asia - southeastasia.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • UK South - uksouth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • West Central US - westcentralus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • West Europe - westeurope.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • West US - westus.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • West US 2 - westus2.api.cognitive.microsoft.com
  • UAE North - uaenorth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com

Face - Find Similar

Given query face's faceId, to search the similar-looking faces from a faceId array, a face list or a large face list. faceId array contains the faces created by Face - Detect, which will expire 24 hours after creation. A "faceListId" is created by FaceList - Create containing persistedFaceIds that will not expire. And a "largeFaceListId" is created by LargeFaceList - Create containing persistedFaceIds that will also not expire. Depending on the input the returned similar faces list contains faceIds or persistedFaceIds ranked by similarity.

Find similar has two working modes, "matchPerson" and "matchFace". "matchPerson" is the default mode that it tries to find faces of the same person as possible by using internal same-person thresholds. It is useful to find a known person's other photos. Note that an empty list will be returned if no faces pass the internal thresholds. "matchFace" mode ignores same-person thresholds and returns ranked similar faces anyway, even the similarity is low. It can be used in the cases like searching celebrity-looking faces.

The 'recognitionModel' associated with the query face's faceId should be the same as the 'recognitionModel' used by the target faceId array, face list or large face list.

Http Method

POST

Select the testing console in the region where you created your resource:

West US West US 2 East US East US 2 West Central US South Central US West Europe North Europe Southeast Asia East Asia Australia East Brazil South Canada Central Central India UK South Japan East Central US France Central Korea Central Japan West North Central US South Africa North UAE North Norway East West US 3 Jio India West

Request URL

Request headers

string
Media type of the body sent to the API.
string
Subscription key which provides access to this API. Found in your Cognitive Services accounts.

Request body

JSON fields in request body:

Fields Type Description
faceId String faceId of the query face. User needs to call Face - Detect first to get a valid faceId. Note that this faceId is not persisted and will expire 24 hours after the detection call.
faceListId String An existing user-specified unique candidate face list, created in FaceList - Create. Face list contains a set of persistedFaceIds which are persisted and will never expire. Parameter faceListId, largeFaceListId and faceIds should not be provided at the same time.
largeFaceListId String An existing user-specified unique candidate large face list, created in LargeFaceList - Create. Large face list contains a set of persistedFaceIds which are persisted and will never expire. Parameter faceListId, largeFaceListId and faceIds should not be provided at the same time.
faceIds Array An array of candidate faceIds. All of them are created by Face - Detect and the faceIds will expire 24 hours after the detection call. The number of faceIds is limited to 1000. Parameter faceListId, largeFaceListId and faceIds should not be provided at the same time.
maxNumOfCandidatesReturned (optional) Number Optional parameter.
The number of top similar faces returned.
The valid range is [1, 1000].It defaults to 20.
mode (optional) String Optional parameter.
Similar face searching mode. It can be "matchPerson" or "matchFace". It defaults to "matchPerson".		 

{
    "faceId": "c5c24a82-6845-4031-9d5d-978df9175426",
    "largeFaceListId": "sample_list",
    "maxNumOfCandidatesReturned": 10,
    "mode": "matchPerson"
}

Response 200

A successful call returns an array of the most similar faces represented in faceId if the input parameter is faceIds or persistedFaceId if the input parameter is faceListId or largeFaceListId.

JSON fields in response body:

FieldsTypeDescription
persistedFaceIdStringpersistedFaceId of candidate face when find by faceListId or largeFaceListId. persistedFaceId in face list/large face list is persisted and will not expire. As showed in below response.
faceIdStringfaceId of candidate face when find by faceIds. faceId is created by Face - Detect and will expire 24 hours after the detection call.
confidenceNumberSimilarity confidence of the candidate face. The higher confidence, the more similar. Range between [0,1].
 

[
    {
        "persistedFaceId" : "015839fb-fbd9-4f79-ace9-7675fc2f1dd9",
        "confidence" : 0.82
    },
    ...
]

Response 400

Error code and message returned in JSON:

Error CodeError Message Description
BadArgumentInvalid request body.
BadArgumentMode is invalid.
BadArgumentThe argument maxNumOfCandidatesReturned is not valid.
BadArgumentThe length of faceIds is not in a valid range.
BadArgumentLargeFaceListId, faceListId and faceIds, not exactly one of them is valid.
BadArgumentFace list ID is invalid.
BadArgumentLarge face list ID is invalid.
BadArgumentLargeFaceListId, faceListId and faceIds are all null.
BadArgument2 or more of largeFaceListId, faceListId and faceIds are not null.
BadArgument'recognitionModel' is incompatible.
FaceNotFoundQuery face cannot be found.
FaceListNotFoundFace list is not found.
LargeFaceListNotFoundLarge face list is not found.
LargeFaceListNotTrainedLarge face list is not trained.
FaceListNotReadyFace list is empty.
LargeFaceListTrainingNotFinishedLarge face list training is not finished.
 

{
    "error": {
        "code": "BadArgument",
        "message": "Request body is invalid."
    }
}

Response 401

Error code and message returned in JSON:

Error CodeError Message Description
UnspecifiedInvalid subscription Key or user/plan is blocked.
 

{
    "error": {
        "code": "Unspecified",
        "message": "Access denied due to invalid subscription key. Make sure you are subscribed to an API you are trying to call and provide the right key."
    }
}

Response 403

{
    "error": {
        "statusCode": 403,
        "message": "Out of call volume quota. Quota will be replenished in 2 days."
    }
}

Response 415

Unsupported media type error. Only "application/json" is valid for this API.

{
    "error": {
        "code": "BadArgument",
        "message": "Invalid Media Type."
    }
}

Response 429

{
    "error": {
        "statusCode": 429,
        "message": "Rate limit is exceeded. Try again in 26 seconds."
    }
}

Code samples

@ECHO OFF

curl -v -X POST "https://uaenorth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/face/v1.0/findsimilars"
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
-H "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: {subscription key}"

--data-ascii "{body}" 

using System;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Text;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Web;

namespace CSHttpClientSample
{
    static class Program
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            MakeRequest();
            Console.WriteLine("Hit ENTER to exit...");
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
        
        static async void MakeRequest()
        {
            var client = new HttpClient();
            var queryString = HttpUtility.ParseQueryString(string.Empty);

            // Request headers
            client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key", "{subscription key}");

            var uri = "https://uaenorth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/face/v1.0/findsimilars?" + queryString;

            HttpResponseMessage response;

            // Request body
            byte[] byteData = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("{body}");

            using (var content = new ByteArrayContent(byteData))
            {
               content.Headers.ContentType = new MediaTypeHeaderValue("< your content type, i.e. application/json >");
               response = await client.PostAsync(uri, content);
            }

        }
    }
}	
// // This sample uses the Apache HTTP client from HTTP Components (http://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-client-ga/)
import java.net.URI;
import org.apache.http.HttpEntity;
import org.apache.http.HttpResponse;
import org.apache.http.client.HttpClient;
import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpGet;
import org.apache.http.client.utils.URIBuilder;
import org.apache.http.impl.client.HttpClients;
import org.apache.http.util.EntityUtils;

public class JavaSample 
{
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    {
        HttpClient httpclient = HttpClients.createDefault();

        try
        {
            URIBuilder builder = new URIBuilder("https://uaenorth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/face/v1.0/findsimilars");


            URI uri = builder.build();
            HttpPost request = new HttpPost(uri);
            request.setHeader("Content-Type", "application/json");
            request.setHeader("Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key", "{subscription key}");


            // Request body
            StringEntity reqEntity = new StringEntity("{body}");
            request.setEntity(reqEntity);

            HttpResponse response = httpclient.execute(request);
            HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity();

            if (entity != null) 
            {
                System.out.println(EntityUtils.toString(entity));
            }
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            System.out.println(e.getMessage());
        }
    }
}


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>JSSample</title>
    <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.0/jquery.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>

<script type="text/javascript">
    $(function() {
        var params = {
            // Request parameters
        };
      
        $.ajax({
            url: "https://uaenorth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/face/v1.0/findsimilars?" + $.param(params),
            beforeSend: function(xhrObj){
                // Request headers
                xhrObj.setRequestHeader("Content-Type","application/json");
                xhrObj.setRequestHeader("Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key","{subscription key}");
            },
            type: "POST",
            // Request body
            data: "{body}",
        })
        .done(function(data) {
            alert("success");
        })
        .fail(function() {
            alert("error");
        });
    });
</script>
</body>
</html>

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

int main(int argc, const char * argv[])
{
    NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];
    
    NSString* path = @"https://uaenorth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/face/v1.0/findsimilars";
    NSArray* array = @[
                         // Request parameters
                         @"entities=true",
                      ];
    
    NSString* string = [array componentsJoinedByString:@"&"];
    path = [path stringByAppendingFormat:@"?%@", string];

    NSLog(@"%@", path);

    NSMutableURLRequest* _request = [NSMutableURLRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:path]];
    [_request setHTTPMethod:@"POST"];
    // Request headers
    [_request setValue:@"application/json" forHTTPHeaderField:@"Content-Type"];
    [_request setValue:@"{subscription key}" forHTTPHeaderField:@"Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key"];
    // Request body
    [_request setHTTPBody:[@"{body}" dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
    
    NSURLResponse *response = nil;
    NSError *error = nil;
    NSData* _connectionData = [NSURLConnection sendSynchronousRequest:_request returningResponse:&response error:&error];

    if (nil != error)
    {
        NSLog(@"Error: %@", error);
    }
    else
    {
        NSError* error = nil;
        NSMutableDictionary* json = nil;
        NSString* dataString = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:_connectionData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
        NSLog(@"%@", dataString);
        
        if (nil != _connectionData)
        {
            json = [NSJSONSerialization JSONObjectWithData:_connectionData options:NSJSONReadingMutableContainers error:&error];
        }
        
        if (error || !json)
        {
            NSLog(@"Could not parse loaded json with error:%@", error);
        }
        
        NSLog(@"%@", json);
        _connectionData = nil;
    }
    
    [pool drain];

    return 0;
}

<?php
// This sample uses the Apache HTTP client from HTTP Components (http://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-client-ga/)
require_once 'HTTP/Request2.php';

$request = new Http_Request2('https://uaenorth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/face/v1.0/findsimilars');
$url = $request->getUrl();

$headers = array(
    // Request headers
    'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
    'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key' => '{subscription key}',
);

$request->setHeader($headers);

$parameters = array(
    // Request parameters
);

$url->setQueryVariables($parameters);

$request->setMethod(HTTP_Request2::METHOD_POST);

// Request body
$request->setBody("{body}");

try
{
    $response = $request->send();
    echo $response->getBody();
}
catch (HttpException $ex)
{
    echo $ex;
}

?>
########### Python 2.7 #############
import httplib, urllib, base64

headers = {
    # Request headers
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key': '{subscription key}',
}

params = urllib.urlencode({
})

try:
    conn = httplib.HTTPSConnection('uaenorth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com')
    conn.request("POST", "/face/v1.0/findsimilars?%s" % params, "{body}", headers)
    response = conn.getresponse()
    data = response.read()
    print(data)
    conn.close()
except Exception as e:
    print("[Errno {0}] {1}".format(e.errno, e.strerror))

####################################

########### Python 3.2 #############
import http.client, urllib.request, urllib.parse, urllib.error, base64

headers = {
    # Request headers
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key': '{subscription key}',
}

params = urllib.parse.urlencode({
})

try:
    conn = http.client.HTTPSConnection('uaenorth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com')
    conn.request("POST", "/face/v1.0/findsimilars?%s" % params, "{body}", headers)
    response = conn.getresponse()
    data = response.read()
    print(data)
    conn.close()
except Exception as e:
    print("[Errno {0}] {1}".format(e.errno, e.strerror))

####################################
require 'net/http'

uri = URI('https://uaenorth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/face/v1.0/findsimilars')


request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri.request_uri)
# Request headers
request['Content-Type'] = 'application/json'
# Request headers
request['Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key'] = '{subscription key}'
# Request body
request.body = "{body}"

response = Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port, :use_ssl => uri.scheme == 'https') do |http|
    http.request(request)
end

puts response.body