DEV Community: Jenpo Zhan

How to Download Historical Exchange Rates as CSV with a Free API

Jenpo Zhan — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 09:01:49 +0000

Developers and spreadsheet users often need historical exchange rates for reporting, bookkeeping, ecommerce reconciliation, or dashboards.

The usual workflow is awkward:

Search a currency converter.
Copy a single number.
Repeat for many dates.
Paste everything into a spreadsheet.

This tutorial shows a simpler workflow using FXpeek's free JSON and CSV endpoints.

1. Get The Latest Reference Rate

curl 'https://fxpeek.com/api/rates?from=CNY&to=TRY'

Example response:

{
  "from": "CNY",
  "to": "TRY",
  "rate": 6.789,
  "timestamp": 1780576363130
}

2. Get A Historical Series

curl 'https://fxpeek.com/api/history?from=CNY&to=TRY&days=365'

Use this when you want to build:

A chart
A dashboard
A report
A validation script
A lightweight finance tool

3. Download CSV For Excel Or Google Sheets

curl -L 'https://fxpeek.com/api/csv?from=CNY&to=TRY&days=365' \
  -o cny-try-history.csv

CSV output:

date,base,target,rate
2026-05-28,CNY,TRY,6.7699
2026-05-29,CNY,TRY,6.7811
2026-06-01,CNY,TRY,6.7839

4. Use It In JavaScript

async function getHistory(from, to, days = 365) {
  const url = new URL('https://fxpeek.com/api/history');
  url.searchParams.set('from', from);
  url.searchParams.set('to', to);
  url.searchParams.set('days', String(days));

  const res = await fetch(url);
  if (!res.ok) {
    throw new Error(`FX API error: ${res.status}`);
  }
  return res.json();
}

const history = await getHistory('CNY', 'TRY', 30);
console.log(history.rates);

5. Use It In Python

import requests
import pandas as pd

url = "https://fxpeek.com/api/history"
params = {"from": "CNY", "to": "TRY", "days": 365}

data = requests.get(url, params=params, timeout=20).json()
df = pd.DataFrame(data["rates"])
df.to_csv("cny-try-history.csv", index=False)

Notes

FXpeek provides reference rates for historical lookup, spreadsheets, reports, and lightweight apps. These are not transaction quotes.

API docs:

https://fxpeek.com/en/api?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fxpeek_wave1_api_csv&utm_content=csv_tutorial

Example pair page:

https://fxpeek.com/en/cny-to-try?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fxpeek_wave1_api_csv&utm_content=pair_page

Good Next Steps

Add a date picker.
Cache the API result.
Build a chart with Recharts or Chart.js.
Export monthly averages.
Combine rates with ecommerce order data.

A Historical FX Reference Report for CSV, API, and Spreadsheet Workflows

Jenpo Zhan — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 02:28:02 +0000

Most currency tools answer the current-rate question.

For reporting, the harder question is usually historical:

What was this pair worth on the invoice date?
Can I export the rows into Excel, Google Sheets, or pandas?
Is there a simple JSON endpoint for a dashboard or internal report?
Can a finance blog or spreadsheet template embed a lightweight lookup widget?

FXpeek now has a 2026 Historical FX Reference Report for those workflows.

Report page:

https://fxpeek.com/en/reports/2026-historical-fx-reference?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fxpeek_wave1_api_csv&utm_content=annual_fx_report

PDF:

https://fxpeek.com/reports/2026-historical-fx-reference-report.pdf?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fxpeek_wave1_api_csv&utm_content=annual_fx_report_pdf

What the report covers

The report is designed for practical historical FX use cases:

dated lookup for invoices, travel notes, ecommerce orders, and bookkeeping records
regional and long-tail currency-pair workflows
CSV exports for spreadsheet and analysis work
lightweight JSON endpoints for apps and dashboards
disclaimers around reference-rate usage

FXpeek keeps the first production batch narrow on purpose. It publishes data-backed pair pages instead of generating a large number of unsupported thin pages.

Example API calls

Latest reference rate:

curl 'https://fxpeek.com/api/rates?from=CNY&to=TRY'

Historical JSON:

curl 'https://fxpeek.com/api/history?from=CNY&to=TRY&days=365'

CSV export:

curl -L 'https://fxpeek.com/api/csv?from=CNY&to=TRY&days=365' \
  -o cny-try-history.csv

API docs:

https://fxpeek.com/en/api?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fxpeek_wave1_api_csv&utm_content=annual_fx_report_api

Embeddable widget

For blogs, finance pages, spreadsheet templates, or small dashboards, FXpeek also has a copyable widget:

https://fxpeek.com/en/widget?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fxpeek_wave1_api_csv&utm_content=annual_fx_report_widget

Basic embed:

<div
  data-fxpeek-widget
  data-from="USD"
  data-to="IDR"
  data-amount="100"
  data-locale="en"
></div>
<script async src="https://fxpeek.com/embed/fxpeek-widget.js"></script>

AI and citation file

FXpeek also exposes an AI-friendly discovery file with primary pages, API endpoints, locale entry points, and citation guidance:

https://fxpeek.com/llms.txt?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fxpeek_wave1_api_csv&utm_content=annual_fx_report_llms

Data note

FXpeek rates are reference data for historical lookup, reporting, spreadsheet workflows, and lightweight API examples. They are not transaction quotes, settlement rates, tax advice, trading signals, or financial advice.

Embed a Historical Exchange Rate Widget in Any Blog or Dashboard

Jenpo Zhan — Sat, 20 Jun 2026 02:12:41 +0000

Finance blogs, spreadsheet templates, travel-money pages, and internal dashboards often need a small historical exchange rate lookup without building a full currency tool from scratch.

FXpeek now has an embeddable widget that can be added with one div and one script tag.

Quick embed

<div
  data-fxpeek-widget
  data-from="USD"
  data-to="IDR"
  data-amount="100"
  data-locale="en"
></div>
<script async src="https://fxpeek.com/embed/fxpeek-widget.js"></script>

The script creates a lightweight iframe with:

amount input
from and to currency selectors
a reference conversion result
links back to the matching FXpeek history chart and API docs

Live widget page

You can test the widget here:

https://fxpeek.com/en/widget?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fxpeek_wave1_api_csv&utm_content=embeddable_fx_widget

Available options

Attribute	Example	Notes
`data-from`	`USD`	Base currency code.
`data-to`	`IDR`	Target currency code.
`data-amount`	`100`	Amount to convert.
`data-locale`	`en`	Supported values: `en`, `zh`, `id`, `vi`, `th`, `tl`.
`data-height`	`360`	Optional iframe height in pixels.
`data-max-width`	`520px`	Optional iframe max width.

Basic demo page

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
    <title>FXpeek Widget Demo</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>USD to IDR reference widget</h1>

    <div
      data-fxpeek-widget
      data-from="USD"
      data-to="IDR"
      data-amount="100"
      data-locale="en"
    ></div>
    <script async src="https://fxpeek.com/embed/fxpeek-widget.js"></script>
  </body>
</html>

GitHub examples

The public widget repo includes a README and a basic HTML demo:

https://github.com/Jenpo/fxpeek-exchange-rate-widget

API docs

If you would rather build your own chart or table, use the JSON and CSV endpoints:

https://fxpeek.com/en/api?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fxpeek_wave1_api_csv&utm_content=embeddable_fx_widget_api

Data note

FXpeek rates are reference data for historical lookup, reporting, spreadsheet, and lightweight API workflows. They are not transaction quotes, settlement rates, tax advice, trading signals, or financial advice.

Copyable JavaScript and Python snippets for historical exchange rate CSV data

Jenpo Zhan — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 01:30:07 +0000

When you need historical exchange rates inside a report or spreadsheet workflow, the useful part is usually not a large SDK. It is a small, copyable request that can be scheduled, cached, and checked.

This post collects three minimal FXpeek examples:

fetch a JSON history series in JavaScript
save a CSV file in Python
download a CSV file with curl

FXpeek provides reference exchange rates for lookup, charting, CSV export, and lightweight reporting workflows. These are not transaction quotes.

JavaScript: fetch 30 days of history

async function getFxHistory(from, to, days = 30) {
  const url = new URL('https://fxpeek.com/api/history');
  url.searchParams.set('from', from);
  url.searchParams.set('to', to);
  url.searchParams.set('days', String(days));

  const res = await fetch(url);
  if (!res.ok) {
    throw new Error(`FXpeek API error: ${res.status}`);
  }

  return res.json();
}

const data = await getFxHistory('CNY', 'TRY', 30);
console.log(data.rates.slice(0, 3));

Use this when you want to power a small chart, report preview, internal reconciliation tool, or spreadsheet add-on.

Python: save a CSV file

import requests

url = "https://fxpeek.com/api/csv"
params = {"from": "CNY", "to": "TRY", "days": 365}

res = requests.get(url, params=params, timeout=20)
res.raise_for_status()

with open("cny-try-365d.csv", "wb") as f:
    f.write(res.content)

The CSV format is intentionally simple:

date,base,target,rate
2026-05-28,CNY,TRY,6.7699
2026-05-29,CNY,TRY,6.7811
2026-06-01,CNY,TRY,6.7839

That makes it easy to import into Excel, Google Sheets, pandas, or BI tools.

Shell: quick CSV download

curl -L 'https://fxpeek.com/api/csv?from=CNY&to=TRY&days=365' \
  -o cny-try-365d.csv

API docs and examples

API docs:

https://fxpeek.com/en/api?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fxpeek_wave1_api_csv&utm_content=code_snippets

Public GitHub examples:

https://github.com/Jenpo/historical-exchange-rate-api-examples

Public Gist:

https://gist.github.com/Jenpo/f2b04bb5416d503641fb3da94861f533

Notes

Rates are reference data, not executable transaction quotes.
The first public batch focuses on data-backed currency pairs.
For trading, settlement, tax filing, or regulated accounting, validate your source and licensing requirements first.

How to Download Historical Exchange Rates as CSV with a Free API

Jenpo Zhan — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 01:18:44 +0000

Developers and spreadsheet users often need historical exchange rates for reporting, bookkeeping, ecommerce reconciliation, or dashboards.

The usual workflow is awkward:

Search a currency converter.
Copy a single number.
Repeat for many dates.
Paste everything into a spreadsheet.

This tutorial shows a simpler workflow using FXpeek's free JSON and CSV endpoints.

1. Get The Latest Reference Rate

curl 'https://fxpeek.com/api/rates?from=CNY&to=TRY'

Example response:

{
  "from": "CNY",
  "to": "TRY",
  "rate": 6.789,
  "timestamp": 1780576363130
}

2. Get A Historical Series

curl 'https://fxpeek.com/api/history?from=CNY&to=TRY&days=365'

Use this when you want to build:

A chart
A dashboard
A report
A validation script
A lightweight finance tool

3. Download CSV For Excel Or Google Sheets

curl -L 'https://fxpeek.com/api/csv?from=CNY&to=TRY&days=365' \
  -o cny-try-history.csv

CSV output:

date,base,target,rate
2026-05-28,CNY,TRY,6.7699
2026-05-29,CNY,TRY,6.7811
2026-06-01,CNY,TRY,6.7839

4. Use It In JavaScript

async function getHistory(from, to, days = 365) {
  const url = new URL('https://fxpeek.com/api/history');
  url.searchParams.set('from', from);
  url.searchParams.set('to', to);
  url.searchParams.set('days', String(days));

  const res = await fetch(url);
  if (!res.ok) {
    throw new Error(`FX API error: ${res.status}`);
  }
  return res.json();
}

const history = await getHistory('CNY', 'TRY', 30);
console.log(history.rates);

5. Use It In Python

import requests
import pandas as pd

url = "https://fxpeek.com/api/history"
params = {"from": "CNY", "to": "TRY", "days": 365}

data = requests.get(url, params=params, timeout=20).json()
df = pd.DataFrame(data["rates"])
df.to_csv("cny-try-history.csv", index=False)

Notes

FXpeek provides reference rates for historical lookup, spreadsheets, reports, and lightweight apps. These are not transaction quotes.

API docs:

https://fxpeek.com/en/api?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fxpeek_wave1_api_csv&utm_content=csv_tutorial

Example pair page:

https://fxpeek.com/en/cny-to-try?utm_source=devto&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=fxpeek_wave1_api_csv&utm_content=pair_page

Good Next Steps

Add a date picker.
Cache the API result.
Build a chart with Recharts or Chart.js.
Export monthly averages.
Combine rates with ecommerce order data.