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🚀 Getting Started with the Dev.to API

#code #learn #api #free

🚀 Getting Started with the Dev.to API

"If content is king, then automation is the kingdom." — Probably a developer on Dev.to

🤔 What is the Dev.to API?

The Dev.to API is a RESTful API provided by DEV Community that allows developers to interact with their content programmatically.

You can:

  • Read articles
  • Publish new posts
  • Update existing posts
  • Manage comments
  • And more...

Yes, that means you can post blog entries straight from your CLI or your CI pipeline. Nerd paradise.

🧰 Prerequisites

  • A Dev.to account
  • An API key from your account settings
  • A tool like curl, Postman, or any HTTP client in your favorite language

🔐 Authentication

The API uses a bearer token.

Example: 

curl -H "api-key: YOUR_DEVTO_API_KEY" https://dev.to/api/articles/me
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Replace YOUR_DEVTO_API_KEY with your personal API key.

📝 Creating an Article

Here’s how to create a draft article using curl:

curl -X POST https://dev.to/api/articles \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "api-key: YOUR_DEVTO_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "article": {
      "title": "Why Coffee Should Be a Frontend Framework ☕",
      "published": false,
      "body_markdown": "# CoffeeScript returns\n\nWe were wrong to abandon it..."
    }
  }'
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If "published" is set to true, the post goes live immediately. Boom.

📖 Fetching Your Articles

Want to retrieve all of your articles?

curl -H "api-key: YOUR_DEVTO_API_KEY" https://dev.to/api/articles/me
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Need just one?

curl -H "api-key: YOUR_DEVTO_API_KEY" https://dev.to/api/articles/123456
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✏️ Updating an Article 

curl -X PUT https://dev.to/api/articles/123456 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "api-key: YOUR_DEVTO_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "article": {
      "title": "Updated Title",
      "body_markdown": "# New body\nUpdated with automation!"
    }
  }'
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🗑️ Deleting an Article

You can delete an article by hitting:

curl -X DELETE https://dev.to/api/articles/123456 \
  -H "api-key: YOUR_DEVTO_API_KEY"
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No takesies backsies. 💀

🔄 Bonus: Automate Your Blog Workflow

You can use:

  • Python + requests
  • Node.js + axios
  • GitHub Actions
  • Bash + cronjobs

...to automate publishing your blogs, syncing content from GitHub, or triggering posts based on events.

📚 Resources

💡 Final Thought

"A real developer posts blogs with curl."

Now go forth and blog like a dev god. 🛠️📤

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