Making Your First API Call 🗄️ Archived

Step-by-step tutorial for making your first API request

This tutorial walks you through making your first successful API call.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

An API key or access token
A tool like cURL, Postman, or a programming language SDK
Basic understanding of HTTP requests

Step 1: Authenticate

First, obtain your authentication credentials:

curl -X POST https://api.example.com/v1/auth/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "your-email@example.com",
    "password": "your-password"
  }'

Save the access_token from the response.

Step 2: Make a Simple GET Request

Retrieve a list of resources:

curl -X GET https://api.example.com/v1/resources \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"

Expected Response

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "res_1",
      "name": "First Resource",
      "created_at": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z"
    },
    {
      "id": "res_2",
      "name": "Second Resource",
      "created_at": "2025-01-16T11:00:00Z"
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "page": 1,
    "total": 2
  }
}

Step 3: Create a Resource

Make a POST request to create a new resource:

curl -X POST https://api.example.com/v1/resources \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "My New Resource",
    "description": "Created via API"
  }'

Using Different Languages

Python

import requests

url = "https://api.example.com/v1/resources"
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
data = response.json()
print(data)

JavaScript

fetch('https://api.example.com/v1/resources', {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  }
})
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data))
  .catch(error => console.error('Error:', error));

Go

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "io/ioutil"
)

func main() {
    client := &http.Client{}
    req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.example.com/v1/resources", nil)
    req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN")
    
    resp, err := client.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()
    
    body, _ := ioutil.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

401 Unauthorized

Check that your access token is valid
Ensure the token hasn’t expired
Verify the Authorization header format

429 Too Many Requests

You’ve hit the rate limit
Wait before making more requests
Implement exponential backoff

400 Bad Request

Validate your request body
Check required fields
Ensure proper JSON formatting

Next Steps

Now that you’ve made your first API call:

Creating and Managing Resources