First Api Request

Making Your First API Request

Now that you have your API credentials, let's make your first API request to retrieve data from your Tadabase application. This guide uses simple examples you can try immediately.

What We'll Build

In this tutorial, you'll:

1. List all data tables in your application
2. Retrieve records from a specific table
3. Understand the response format
4. Handle common errors

Example 1: List All Tables

The simplest first request is to list all data tables in your application. This helps you find the table IDs you'll need for other operations.

Request

GET https://api.tadabase.io/api/v1/data-tables

Headers:
  X-Tadabase-App-id: your_app_id
  X-Tadabase-App-Key: your_app_key
  X-Tadabase-App-Secret: your_app_secret

Using curl

curl --location 'https://api.tadabase.io/api/v1/data-tables' \
--header 'X-Tadabase-App-id: your_app_id' \
--header 'X-Tadabase-App-Key: your_app_key' \
--header 'X-Tadabase-App-Secret: your_app_secret'

Using JavaScript (fetch)

fetch('https://api.tadabase.io/api/v1/data-tables', {
  method: 'GET',
  headers: {
    'X-Tadabase-App-id': 'your_app_id',
    'X-Tadabase-App-Key': 'your_app_key',
    'X-Tadabase-App-Secret': 'your_app_secret'
  }
})
.then(response => response.json())
.then(data => console.log(data))
.catch(error => console.error('Error:', error));

Using Python (requests)

import requests

url = "https://api.tadabase.io/api/v1/data-tables"

headers = {
    "X-Tadabase-App-id": "your_app_id",
    "X-Tadabase-App-Key": "your_app_key",
    "X-Tadabase-App-Secret": "your_app_secret"
}

response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
data = response.json()
print(data)

Expected Response

{
  "type": "success",
  "data_tables": [
    {
      "id": "lGArg7rmR6",
      "name": "Customers"
    },
    {
      "id": "mH8s2pQtS9",
      "name": "Orders"
    },
    {
      "id": "nK9t3qRuT0",
      "name": "Products"
    }
  ],
  "total_items": 3
}

🎉 Congratulations! You just made your first successful API request. The response shows all tables in your application with their IDs.

Example 2: Get Records from a Table

Now that you have a table ID, let's retrieve records from that table. We'll use the Customers table from the previous example (ID: lGArg7rmR6).

Request

GET https://api.tadabase.io/api/v1/data-tables/lGArg7rmR6/records

Headers:
  X-Tadabase-App-id: your_app_id
  X-Tadabase-App-Key: your_app_key
  X-Tadabase-App-Secret: your_app_secret

Using curl

curl --location 'https://api.tadabase.io/api/v1/data-tables/lGArg7rmR6/records' \
--header 'X-Tadabase-App-id: your_app_id' \
--header 'X-Tadabase-App-Key: your_app_key' \
--header 'X-Tadabase-App-Secret: your_app_secret'

Expected Response

{
  "type": "success",
  "items": [
    {
      "id": "5e3f4a2b1c9d8e7f",
      "first_name": "John",
      "last_name": "Doe",
      "email": "john@example.com",
      "status": "Active",
      "created_at": "2024-01-14 10:30:00"
    },
    {
      "id": "6f4g5b3c2d0e9f8g",
      "first_name": "Jane",
      "last_name": "Smith",
      "email": "jane@example.com",
      "status": "Active",
      "created_at": "2024-01-15 14:22:00"
    }
  ],
  "total_items": 150,
  "total_pages": 2,
  "current_page": 1,
  "limit": 100
}

Understanding the Response

Response Structure

All successful API responses follow this general structure:

Field	Type	Description
type	string	Either "success" or "error"
items	array	Array of records (for list endpoints)
item	object	Single record (for single record endpoints)
total_items	number	Total count of records matching query
total_pages	number	Number of pages available
current_page	number	Current page number
limit	number	Records per page

Response Headers

Pay attention to these response headers - they provide important information:

Header	Description
X-RateLimit-Limit	Your per-minute rate limit
X-RateLimit-Remaining	Requests remaining this minute
X-RateLimit-Reset	Unix timestamp when limit resets
Content-Type	Always application/json

Adding Query Parameters

You can customize your requests with query parameters. Here are some common ones:

Limit Number of Records

GET https://api.tadabase.io/api/v1/data-tables/lGArg7rmR6/records?limit=10

This returns only 10 records instead of the default 100.

Get a Specific Page

GET https://api.tadabase.io/api/v1/data-tables/lGArg7rmR6/records?page=2&limit=50

This returns records 51-100 (page 2, with 50 records per page).

Select Specific Fields

GET https://api.tadabase.io/api/v1/data-tables/lGArg7rmR6/records?fields=first_name,email

This returns only the first_name and email fields, reducing response size.

Sort Records

GET https://api.tadabase.io/api/v1/data-tables/lGArg7rmR6/records?order=last_name&order_by=asc

This sorts records by last name in ascending order.

Common Errors and Solutions

401 Unauthorized

{
  "type": "error",
  "msg": "API Not Found",
  "status": 401
}

Cause: Invalid API credentials
Solution: Verify your App ID, App Key, and App Secret are correct

404 Not Found

{
  "type": "error",
  "msg": "Table Not Found",
  "status": 404
}

Cause: Invalid table ID in the URL
Solution: Use the /data-tables endpoint to get correct table IDs

429 Too Many Requests

{
  "type": "error",
  "msg": "Too Many Attempts In Minute",
  "status": 429
}

Cause: Exceeded rate limit
Solution: Wait for the rate limit to reset (check X-Retry-After header)

Testing with the API Tester

Instead of writing code, you can test these requests in our built-in API Tester:

1. Go to /api in your Tadabase instance
2. Enter your API credentials (they'll be saved in your browser)
3. Select GET /api/v1/data-tables from the dropdown
4. Click "Send Request"
5. View the response

The API Tester is perfect for:

• Testing endpoints before writing code
• Debugging API issues
• Exploring your data structure
• Exporting requests as curl or Postman collections

Next Steps

Now that you can make basic API requests, let's learn about the different authentication methods available:

→ Authentication Methods Explained

Understand API key authentication vs. bearer token authentication, and when to use each.

Complete Working Example

Here's a complete Node.js script you can run to list tables and fetch records:

const axios = require('axios');

const API_BASE = 'https://api.tadabase.io/api/v1';
const headers = {
  'X-Tadabase-App-id': 'your_app_id',
  'X-Tadabase-App-Key': 'your_app_key',
  'X-Tadabase-App-Secret': 'your_app_secret'
};

async function getTables() {
  try {
    const response = await axios.get(`${API_BASE}/data-tables`, { headers });
    console.log('Tables:', response.data.data_tables);
    return response.data.data_tables;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error:', error.response?.data || error.message);
  }
}

async function getRecords(tableId) {
  try {
    const response = await axios.get(
      `${API_BASE}/data-tables/${tableId}/records`,
      { headers }
    );
    console.log(`Records from table ${tableId}:`, response.data.items);
    return response.data.items;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error:', error.response?.data || error.message);
  }
}

// Run the examples
(async () => {
  const tables = await getTables();
  if (tables && tables.length > 0) {
    await getRecords(tables[0].id);
  }
})();

Save this as test-api.js, install axios (npm install axios), update the credentials, and run with node test-api.js.