APIs are fun to tinker with while learning and can also save you huge amounts of time while building new products or features.
Every week I scour the web for new and interesting APIs. Here are 3 I found recently:
Smart Reply API
This API essentially auto creates replies to messages for you. You give it a message (text message, comment, email, etc.) and it generates a reply for you. If you've use Gmail, you'll likely have seen a Smart Reply type feature in action already.
// Example request and response
// GET request with these params
{
"text": "I love your shirt.",
"domain": "socialmedia",
"language": "en",
"limit": "1"
}
// Response
{
4 items
"generationId": 10 "language": "en"
"smartReplies": [1 item
0: {
2 items "reply": "Thanks! It's from J. Crew!"
"score": 0.9463478434695229
}
]
"text": "I love your shirt."
}
Sendblue
This simple API essentially lets you send iMessages. If you try sending to a number that doesn't support iMessage, it's sent as a regular SMS.
// Example request and response
// POST request with these params
{
number: '+19998887777',
content: 'Hello world!',
statusCallback: 'https://example.com/message-status/1234abcd',
}
// Posted to the callback URL
{
"accountEmail": "support@sendblue.co",
"content": "Hello world!",
"is_outbound": true,
"status": "DELIVERED",
"error_code": null,
"error_message": null,
"message_handle": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxx",
"date_sent": "2020-09-10T06:15:05.962Z",
"date_updated": "2020-09-10T06:15:14.115Z",
"from_number": "+15122164639",
"number": "+19998887777",
"to_number": "+19998887777",
"was_downgraded": false,
"plan": "blue"
}
SerpApi
This API returns Google search results as JSON. The powerful part is that it lets you specify which countries to return the search results from.
// Example request and response
// GET request with these params
{
q: "Coffee",
location: "Austin, Texas, United States",
hl: "en",
gl: "us",
google_domain: "google.com",
api_key: "secret_api_key"
}
// Response
{
"search_metadata": {
"id": "5f74b763ca38dc4c78553613",
"status": "Success",
"json_endpoint": "https://serpapi.com/searches/22885aeb222d98c2/5f74b763ca38dc4c78553613.json",
"created_at": "2020-09-30 16:50:43 UTC",
"processed_at": "2020-09-30 16:50:43 UTC",
"google_url": "https://www.google.com/search?q=Coffee&oq=Coffee&uule=w+CAIQICIaQXVzdGluLFRleGFzLFVuaXRlZCBTdGF0ZXM&hl=en&gl=us&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8",
"raw_html_file": "https://serpapi.com/searches/22885aeb222d98c2/5f74b763ca38dc4c78553613.html",
"total_time_taken": 2.76
},
"search_parameters": {
"engine": "google",
"q": "Coffee",
"location_requested": "Austin, Texas, United States",
"location_used": "Austin,Texas,United States",
"google_domain": "google.com",
"hl": "en",
"gl": "us",
"device": "desktop"
},
"search_information": {
"organic_results_state": "Results for exact spelling",
"total_results": 3090000000,
"time_taken_displayed": 0.88,
"query_displayed": "Coffee"
},
"local_map": {
"link": "https://www.google.com/search?gl=us&hl=en&q=Coffee&npsic=0&rflfq=1&rldoc=1&rlha=0&rllag=30267376,-97742553,138&tbm=lcl&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwip4-2cq5HsAhVvkuAKHVHlCaEQtgN6BAgdEAc",
"gps_coordinates": {
"latitude": 30.267376,
"longitude":
-97.742553,
"altitude": 138
}
},
"local_results": {
"more_locations_link": "https://www.google.com/search?gl=us&hl=en&q=Coffee&npsic=0&rflfq=1&rldoc=1&rlha=0&rllag=30267376,-97742553,138&tbm=lcl&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwip4-2cq5HsAhVvkuAKHVHlCaEQjGp6BAgdEFA",
"places": [{
"position": 1,
"title": "Starbucks",
"place_id": "10605736027611436825",
"lsig": "AB86z5XTJ_Io_anVBu2fU6Zaqu3b",
"place_id_search": "https://serpapi.com/search.json?device=desktop&engine=google&gl=us&google_domain=google.com&hl=en&location=Austin%2C+Texas%2C+United+States&lsig=AB86z5XTJ_Io_anVBu2fU6Zaqu3b&ludocid=10605736027611436825&q=Coffee&tbm=lcl",
"rating": 4.1,
"reviews": 480,
"price": "$$",
"type": "Coffee shop",
"address": "600 Congress Ave Ste. G-270",
"thumbnail": ,
"service_options": {
"dine_in": false,
"takeout": true,
"delivery": true
},
"gps_coordinates": {
"latitude": 30.268272,
"longitude":
-97.74294
}
},
{
"position": 2,
"title": "Houndstooth Coffee",
"place_id": "11265938073076301333",
"lsig": "AB86z5Vdw6C2pJpM0xQ6JUx2KONU",
"place_id_search": "https://serpapi.com/search.json?device=desktop&engine=google&gl=us&google_domain=google.com&hl=en&location=Austin%2C+Texas%2C+United+States&lsig=AB86z5Vdw6C2pJpM0xQ6JUx2KONU&ludocid=11265938073076301333&q=Coffee&tbm=lcl",
"rating": 4.6,
"reviews": 703,
"price": "$$",
"type": "Coffee shop",
"address": "401 Congress Ave #100c · In Frost Bank Tower",
"thumbnail": ,
"service_options": {
"dine_in": false,
"takeout": true,
"delivery": false
},
"gps_coordinates": {
"latitude": 30.26618,
"longitude":
-97.742905
}
}
// ...... (too long to share the full response, but you get the point)
I'm not affiliated with any of these APIs, but I have started a newsletter where I share new & interesting APIs I come across. If you've recently come across an API that other developers would find interesting, please let me know
Oldest comments (2)
Cool Article! Me and a few other people have been building disease.sh for the last couple of months! You might wanna check it out :)
Thanks - will check this out :-)