nyldn Public API Lookup
Search the public-apis catalog — 1400+ free APIs across 50+ categories. Results are cached locally for 5 minutes.
How to search
Run scripts/search_apis.py (Python 3, zero dependencies).
# Keyword search
python3 scripts/search_apis.py --search "weather"
# Browse a category
python3 scripts/search_apis.py --category "Finance"
# Filter by auth, HTTPS, CORS
python3 scripts/search_apis.py --auth none --https yes --cors yes
# Limit results
python3 scripts/search_apis.py --search "image" --limit 5
# Random APIs (great for "surprise me" or "suggest something")
python3 scripts/search_apis.py --random 3
# Combine everything
python3 scripts/search_apis.py --category "Weather" --auth none --limit 5
# List all categories with counts
python3 scripts/search_apis.py --categories
Output is JSON to stdout. Each API has: name, description, auth, https, cors, url, category.
How to present results
Always format as a markdown table with clickable links:
| API | Description | Auth | HTTPS | CORS | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open-Meteo | Open-source weather API | No | Yes | Yes | Link |
When the user has a specific project in mind, don't just list APIs — recommend the best fit:
- Pick the top 1-3 APIs that match their use case
- Explain why each is a good fit (e.g., "No auth needed so you can start immediately", "CORS enabled so it works from the browser")
- Mention trade-offs (e.g., "Rate-limited but free", "Requires API key but has richer data")
When the user is browsing or exploring, show more results (5-10) grouped by category. Use --limit to avoid overwhelming output.
When the user says "surprise me" or "suggest something", use --random 3 to pick random APIs and describe each one with a fun one-liner about what you could build with it.
Categories (51 total)
Animals, Anime, Anti-Malware, Art & Design, Authentication & Authorization, Blockchain, Books, Business, Calendar, Cloud Storage & File Sharing, Continuous Integration, Cryptocurrency, Currency Exchange, Data Validation, Development, Dictionaries, Documents & Productivity, Email, Entertainment, Environment, Events, Finance, Food & Drink, Games & Comics, Geocoding, Government, Health, Jobs, Machine Learning, Music, News, Open Data, Open Source Projects, Patent, Personality, Phone, Photography, Programming, Science & Math, Security, Shopping, Social, Sports & Fitness, Test Data, Text Analysis, Tracking, Transportation, URL Shorteners, Vehicle, Video, Weather