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Quotable

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Quotable is a free, open source quotations API. It was originally built as part of a FreeCodeCamp project. If you are interested in contributing, please check out the Contributors Guide.

Rate Limit

There is a rate limit of 180 requests per minute, per IP address. If you exceed the rate limit, the API will respond with a 429 error.

API Servers

https://api.quotable.io

Postman

You can try out the API on our public Postman workspace.

Run in Postman

API Reference <!-- omit in toc -->

Examples <!-- omit in toc -->

Get random quote

GET /random

Returns a single random quote from the database

⛔️ This method is deprecated in favor of Get Random Quotes

Query parameters

paramtypeDescription
maxLengthIntThe maximum Length in characters ( can be combined with minLength )
minLengthIntThe minimum Length in characters ( can be combined with maxLength )
tagsStringGet a random quote with specific tag(s). This takes a list of one or more tag names, separated by a comma (meaning AND) or a pipe (meaning OR). A comma separated list will match quotes that have all of the given tags. While a pipe (|) separated list will match quotes that have any one of the provided tags. Tag names are not case-sensitive. Multi-word tags can be kebab-case ("tag-name") or space separated ("tag name")
authorStringGet a random quote by one or more authors. The value can be an author name or slug. To include quotes by multiple authors, provide a pipe-separated list of author names/slugs.
authorIdStringdeprecated <br> Same as author param, except it uses author _id instead of slug

Response

{
  _id: string
  // The quotation text
  content: string
  // The full name of the author
  author: string
  // The `slug` of the quote author
  authorSlug: string
  // The length of quote (number of characters)
  length: number
  // An array of tag names for this quote
  tags: string[]
}
<br>

Get Random Quotes

GET /quotes/random

Get one or more random quotes from the database. This method supports several filters that can be used to get random quotes with specific properties (ie tags, quote length, etc.)

By default, this methods returns a single random quote. You can specify the number of random quotes to return via the limit parameter.

⚠️ This method is equivalent to the /random endpoint. The only difference is the response format: Instead of retuning a single Quote object, this method returns an Array of Quote objects.

<br>
paramtypeDescription
limitIntdefault: 1   min: 1   max: 50 <br> The number of random quotes to retrieve.
maxLengthIntThe maximum Length in characters ( can be combined with minLength )
minLengthIntThe minimum Length in characters ( can be combined with maxLength )
tagsStringGet a random quote with specific tag(s). This takes a list of one or more tag names, separated by a comma (meaning AND) or a pipe (meaning OR). A comma separated list will match quotes that have all of the given tags. While a pipe (|) separated list will match quotes that have any one of the provided tags. Tag names are not case-sensitive. Multi-word tags can be kebab-case ("tag-name") or space separated ("tag name")
authorStringGet a random quote by one or more authors. The value can be an author name or slug. To include quotes by multiple authors, provide a pipe-separated list of author names/slugs.
authorIdStringdeprecated <br>Same as author param, except it uses author _id instead of slug

Response

// An array containing one or more Quotes
Array<{
  _id: string
  // The quotation text
  content: string
  // The full name of the author
  author: string
  // The `slug` of the quote author
  authorSlug: string
  // The length of quote (number of characters)
  length: number
  // An array of tag names for this quote
  tags: string[]
}>

Examples

Get random quote try in browser

GET /quotes/random

Get 5 random quotes try in browser

GET /quotes/random?limit=3

Random Quote with tags "technology" AND "famous-quotes" try in browser

GET /quotes/random?tags=technology,famous-quotes

Random Quote with tags "History" OR "Civil Rights" try in browser

GET /quotes/random?tags=history|civil-rights

Random Quote with a maximum length of 50 characters try in browser

GET /quotes/random?maxLength=50

Random Quote with a length between 100 and 140 characters try in browser

GET /quotes/random?minLength=100&maxLength=140
<br>

List Quotes

GET /quotes

Get all quotes matching a given query. By default, this will return a paginated list of all quotes, sorted by _id. Quotes can also be filter by author, tag, and length.

Query parameters

paramtypeDescription
maxLengthIntThe maximum Length in characters ( can be combined with minLength )
minLengthIntThe minimum Length in characters ( can be combined with maxLength )
tagsStringFilter quotes by tag(s). Takes a list of one or more tag names, separated by a comma (meaning AND) or a pipe (meaning OR). A comma separated list will match quotes that have all of the given tags. While a pipe (|) separated list will match quotes that have either of the provided tags. Tag names are not case-sensitive. Multi-word tags can be kebab-case ("tag-name") or space separated ("tag name")
authorStringGet quotes by a specific author. The value can be an author name or slug. To get quotes by multiple authors, provide a pipe separated list of author names/slugs.
authorIdStringdeprecated <br> Same as author param, except it uses author _id instead of slug
sortByenumDefault: "dateAdded"   values: "dateAdded", "dateModified", "author", "content" <br> The field used to sort quotes
orderenumvalues: "asc", "desc"   default: depends on sortBy <br> The order in which results are sorted. The default order depends on the sortBy field. For string fields that are sorted alphabetically, the default order is ascending. For number and date fields, the default order is descending.
limitIntMin: 1   Max: 150   Default: 20 <br> Sets the number of results per page.
pageIntMin: 1   Default: 1 <br> The page of results to return. If the value is greater than the total number of pages, request will not return any results

Response

{
  // The number of quotes returned in this response
  count: number
  // The total number of quotes matching this query
  totalCount: number
  // The current page number
  page: number
  // The total number of pages matching this request
  totalPages: number
  // The 1-based index of the last result included in the current response.
  lastItemIndex: number
  // The array of quotes
  results: Array<{
    _id: string
    // The quotation text
    content: string
    // The full name of the author
    author: string
    // The `slug` of the quote author
    authorSlug: string
    // The length of quote (number of characters)
    length: number
    // An array of tag names for this quote
    tags: string[]
  }>
}

Examples

Get the first page of quotes, with 20 results per page try in browser

GET /quotes?page=1

Get the second page of quotes, with 20 results per page try in browser

GET /quotes?page=2

Get all quotes with the tags love OR happiness try in browser

GET /quotes?tags=love|happiness

Get all quotes with the tags technology AND famous-quotes try in browser

GET /quotes?tags=technology,famous-quotes

Get all quotes by author, using the author's slug. try in browser

GET /quotes?author=albert-einstein
<br>

Get Quote By ID

GET /quotes/:id

Get a quote by its ID

Response

{
  _id: string
  // The quotation text
  content: string
  // The full name of the author
  author: string
  // The length of quote (number of characters)
  length: number
  // An array of tag names for this quote
  tags: string[]
}
<br>

List Authors

GET /authors

Get all authors matching the given query. This endpoint can be used to list authors, with several options for sorting and filter. It can also be used to get author details for one or more specific authors, using the author slug or ids.

Query parameters

paramtypeDescription
slugstringFilter authors by slug. The value can be one or more author slugs. To get multiple authors by slug, the value should be a pipe separated list of slugs.
sortByenumDefault: "name"   values: "dateAdded", "dateModified", "name", "quoteCount" <br> The field used to sort authors.
orderenumvalues: "asc", "desc" <br> The order in which results are sorted. The default order depends on the sortBy field. For string fields that are sorted alphabetically (ie name), the default order is ascending. For number and date fields (ie quoteCount) the default order is descending.
limitIntMin: 1   Max: 150   Default: 20 <br> Sets the number of results per page.
pageIntMin: 1   Default: 1 <br> The page of results to return. If the value is greater than the total number of pages, request will not return any results

Response

{
  // The number of results included in this response.
  count: number
  // The total number of results matching this request.
  totalCount: number
  // The current page number
  page: number
  // The total number of pages matching this request
  totalPages: number
  // The 1-based index of the last result included in this response. This shows the
  // current pagination offset.
  lastItemIndex: number | null
  // The array of authors
  results: Array<{
    // A unique id for this author
    _id: string
    // A brief, one paragraph bio of the author. Source: wiki API
    bio: string
    // A one-line description of the author. Typically it is the person's primary
    // occupation or what they are know for.
    description: string
    // The link to the author's wikipedia page or official website
    link: string
    // The authors full name
    name: string
    // A slug is a URL-friendly ID derived from the authors name. It can be used as
    slug: string
    // The number of quotes by this author
    quoteCount: string
  }>
}

Examples

Get all authors, sorted alphabetically by name try in browser

GET /authors?sortBy=name

Get all authors, sorted by number of quotes in descending order try in browser

GET /authors?sortBy=quoteCount&order=desc

Get a single author by slug. try in browser

GET /authors?slug=albert-einstein

Get multiple authors by slug. In this case, you provide a pipe-separated list of slugs try in browser

GET /authors?slug=albert-einstein|abraham-lincoln
<br>

Search Quotes (beta)

GET /search/quotes

This endpoint allows you to search for quotes by keywords, content, and/or author name. Unlike the List Quotes endpoint, this method is powered by Atlas Search and is designed to power a search bar UI.

Query Params

ParamTypeDescription
queryStringThe search string. The query can be wrapped in quotes to search for an exact phrase.
fieldsStringDefault: "content,author,tags" <br> Specify the fields to search by. This takes a comma separated list of field names. Supported search fields are "content", "author", "tags". By default, it will search by all fields simultaneously.
fuzzyMaxEditsIntMin: 0   Max: 2   Default: 0 <br> The maximum number of single-character edits required to match the specified search term. Setting this to zero disables fuzzy matching.
fuzzyMaxExpansionsIntMax: 150   Min: 0   Default: 50 <br> When fuzzy search is enabled, this is the maximum number of variations to generate and search for. This limit applies on a per-token basis.
limitIntMin: 0   Max: 150   Default: 20 <br> The maximum number of results per page
pageIntMin: 1   Default: 1 <br> Sets the page number for pagination

Response

{
  // The number of results included in this response.
  count: number
  // The total number of results matching this request.
  totalCount: number
  // The current page number
  page: number
  // The total number of pages matching this request
  totalPages: number
  // The 1-based index of the last result included in this response. This shows the
  // current pagination offset.
  lastItemIndex: number | null
  // The array of authors
  results: Array<{
    // A unique id for this author
    _id: string
    // A brief, one paragraph bio of the author. Source: wiki API
    bio: string
    // A one-line description of the author. Typically it is the person's primary
    // occupation or what they are know for.
    description: string
    // The link to the author's wikipedia page or official website
    link: string
    // The authors full name
    name: string
    // A slug is a URL-friendly ID derived from the authors name. It can be used as
    slug: string
    // The number of quotes by this author
    quoteCount: string
  }>
}

Examples

Search for "every good technology is basically magic" (try in browser)

GET /search/quotes?query=every good technology is basically magic

Results:

Search for the phrase "divided house"

GET /search/quotes?query=divided house

Results

Search for quotes with the keywords "life" or "happiness" (try in browser)

GET /search/quotes?query=life happiness

Search for quotes by an author named "kennedy" (try in browser)

GET /search/quotes?query=Kennedy&fields=author
<br>

Search Authors (beta)

GET  /search/authors

This endpoint allows you search for authors by name. It is designed to power a search bar for authors that displays autocomplete suggests as the user types.

Example
query="John F. Kennedy"
terms=["john", "kennedy"]

 term      term
  |         |
John  F.  Kennedy  Jr.
      |             |
   initial        suffix

Example
query="Saint Augustine of Hippo"
terms=["Augustine", "Hippo"]

        term        term
          |          |
 Saint Augustine of Hippo
   |             |
prefix        stopword

Query Parameters

ParamTypeDescription
queryStringThe search query
autocompleteBooleandefault: true <br> Enables autocomplete matching
matchThresholdIntMin: 1   Max: 3   Default: 2 <br> Sets the minimum number of search terms (words) that must match for an author to be included in results. Basically, if this is set to 1, the results will include all authors that match at least one part of the name. So query="John F. Kennedy" the results would include all authors that match either "john" OR "kennedy". <br> If this is set to 2: when the search query includes two or more "terms", at least two of those terms must match. So query="John F. Kennedy" would only return authors that match "John" AND "Kennedy".
limitIntMin:   Max: 150   Default: 20 <br> Maximum number of results per page
pageIntMin: 1   Default: 1 <br> Sets the page number for pagination

Response

{
  // The number of results included in this response.
  count: number
  // The total number of results matching this request.
  totalCount: number
  // The current page number
  page: number
  // The total number of pages matching this request
  totalPages: number
  // The 1-based index of the last result included in this response. This shows the
  // current pagination offset.
  lastItemIndex: number | null
  // The array of authors
  results: Array<{
    // A unique id for this author
    _id: string
    // A brief, one paragraph bio of the author. Source: wiki API
    bio: string
    // A one-line description of the author. Typically it is the person's primary
    // occupation or what they are know for.
    description: string
    // The link to the author's wikipedia page or official website
    link: string
    // The authors full name
    name: string
    // A slug is a URL-friendly ID derived from the authors name. It can be used as
    slug: string
    // The number of quotes by this author
    quoteCount: string
  }>
}

Examples

Search for author named "Einstein" (try in browser)

GET /search/authors?query=Einstein

Results:

Autocomplete search for "Einstein" (try in browser)

GET /search/authors?query=Einst

Results:

Search for "John Adams" (try in browser)

GET /search/authors?query=john adams

Results

Search for "John Quincy Adams" (try in browser)

GET /search/authors?query=john quincy adams

Results:

<br>

Get Author By Slug

Get a single Author by slug. This method can be used to get author details such as bio, website link, and profile image.

If you want to get all quotes by a specific author, use the /quotes endpoint and filter by author author name/slug.

If you want to get multiple authors by slug in a single request, use the /authors endpoint and filter by slug.

GET /authors/:id

Response

{
  // A unique id for this author
  _id: string
  // A brief, one paragraph bio of the author. Source wiki API.
  bio: string
  // A one-line description of the author.
  description: string
  // The link to the author's wikipedia page or official website
  link: string
  // The authors full name
  name: string
  // A slug is a URL-friendly ID derived from the authors name. It can be used as
  slug: string
  // The number of quotes by this author
  quoteCount: string
}
<br>

List Tags

GET /tags

Get a list of all tags

Query parameters

paramtypeDescription
sortByenumDefault: "name"   values: "dateAdded", "dateModified", "name", "quoteCount" <br> The field used to sort tags.
orderenumvalues: "asc", "desc" <br> The order in which results are sorted. The default order depends on the sortBy field. For string fields that are sorted alphabetically, the default order is ascending. For number and date fields, the default order is descending.

Response

{
  // The number of all tags by this request
  count: number
  // The array of tags
  results: Array<{
    _id: string
    name: string
  }>
}