The collection/NFT endpoint returns an empty orders array for some API keys, which looks exactly like “nothing is listed”

I first treated the orders field on OpenSea’s collection/NFT response as listing state. That was a mistake.

For some API keys, the response contains this:

{ "nft" : { "identifier" : "..." }, "orders" : [] }

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The misleading field is orders . Its reported count is the length of an empty array, even when OpenSea’s UI shows an active listing for the same token.

That makes the failure difficult to detect. The request succeeds, the JSON parses, and the field has the expected type. There is no authentication error or warning saying that orders were omitted.

My decision rule is now: never interpret an empty orders array from the collection/NFT endpoint as proof that a token is unlisted. It only proves that this response returned no orders.

This matters to my restocking daemon.…