A robust, developer-friendly API for serving inspirational and thought-provoking quotes with powerful filtering capabilities.
- Overview
- Features
- Getting Started
- API Reference
- Usage Examples
- Error Handling
- Rate Limiting
- Technical Details
- Contributing
- License
QuoteSlate API is a lightweight, high-performance API that provides access to a curated collection of inspirational quotes. Built as an open-source RESTful service, it offers flexible filtering options, making it perfect for applications ranging from personal development apps to educational platforms.
Base URL: https://quoteslate.vercel.app
- 🎲 Random Quote Generation: Fetch random quotes from a diverse collection
- 📦 Bulk Retrieval: Get up to 50 quotes in a single request
- 🔍 Advanced Filtering: Filter quotes by author, length, and tags
- 📊 Metadata Access: Retrieve complete lists of authors and tags
- 🔄 Real-time Updates: Regular updates to the quote database
- ⚡ High Performance: Optimized for quick response times
- 🛡️ Rate Limiting: 100 requests per 15 minutes per IP
- 🌐 CORS Support: Access from any origin
- 🔒 Input Validation: Robust parameter validation
- 📝 Detailed Error Messages: Clear, actionable error responses
- 🔄 RESTful Architecture: Clean, predictable API endpoints
- 📖 Open Source: Fully transparent and community-driven
No API key is required. Simply make HTTP requests to the endpoints using your preferred method.
// Fetch a random quote
fetch('https://quoteslate.vercel.app/api/quotes/random')
.then(response => response.json())
.then(data => console.log(data));Follow these steps to run the API on your local machine:
-
Prerequisites
- Node.js (v14 or higher)
- npm (Node Package Manager)
-
Clone the Repository
git clone https://github.com/Musheer360/QuoteSlate.git cd QuoteSlate -
Install Dependencies
npm install
-
Required Files Ensure you have the following JSON files in your root directory:
quotes.json- Contains the quotes dataauthors.json- Contains author names and their quote countstags.json- Contains available tags
-
Start the Server
npm start
The API will be available at
http://localhost:3000 -
Development Mode For development with auto-reload:
npm run dev
-
Testing the Installation
curl http://localhost:3000/api/quotes/random
Ensure your JSON files follow these formats:
quotes.json:
[
{
"id": 1,
"quote": "Quote text here",
"author": "Author Name",
"length": 123,
"tags": ["tag1", "tag2"]
}
]authors.json:
{
"Author Name": 5,
"Another Author": 3
}tags.json:
["motivation", "wisdom", "life"]GET /api/quotes/randomGET /api/authorsResponse format:
{
"Avery Brooks": 1,
"Ayn Rand": 3,
"Babe Ruth": 4,
// ... more authors with their quote counts
}GET /api/tagsResponse format:
[
"motivation",
"inspiration",
"life",
"wisdom",
// ... more tags
]| Parameter | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
authors |
string | Comma-separated list of author names | authors=Babe%20Ruth,Ayn%20Rand |
count |
integer | Number of quotes to return (1-50) | count=5 |
maxLength |
integer | Maximum character length of quotes | maxLength=150 |
minLength |
integer | Minimum character length of quotes | minLength=50 |
tags |
string | Comma-separated list of tags | tags=motivation,wisdom |
{
"id": 498,
"quote": "Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.",
"author": "Babe Ruth",
"length": 51,
"tags": ["wisdom"]
}[
{
"id": 498,
"quote": "Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.",
"author": "Babe Ruth",
"length": 51,
"tags": ["wisdom"]
},
{
"id": 120,
"quote": "All great achievements require time.",
"author": "Maya Angelou",
"length": 36,
"tags": ["motivation"]
}
// ... more quotes
]-
Single Random Quote
GET /api/quotes/random
-
Multiple Random Quotes
GET /api/quotes/random?count=5
-
Quotes by Specific Authors
GET /api/quotes/random?authors=Babe%20Ruth,Maya%20Angelou&count=3
-
Quotes with Specific Tags
GET /api/quotes/random?tags=motivation,wisdom&count=2
-
Length-Constrained Quotes
GET /api/quotes/random?minLength=50&maxLength=150
-
Combined Filters
GET /api/quotes/random?authors=Babe%20Ruth&tags=wisdom&count=3&minLength=50
| Status Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 200 | Successful request |
| 400 | Invalid parameters or incompatible filters |
| 404 | No matching quotes found |
| 429 | Rate limit exceeded |
| 500 | Internal server error |
{
"error": "Detailed error message here"
}-
Invalid authors:
{ "error": "Invalid author(s): Unknown Author, Another Invalid" } -
Invalid tags:
{ "error": "Invalid tag(s): invalid1, invalid2" } -
Count validation:
{ "error": "Count must be a number between 1 and 50." }
- Limit: 100 requests per 15 minutes
- Scope: Per IP address
- Headers: Standard rate limit headers included in responses
- Recovery: Limits reset automatically after the 15-minute window
- Built with Express.js
- RESTful API design principles
- Stateless request handling
- JSON-based data storage and responses
- Supports cross-origin requests from any domain
- Includes necessary CORS headers in responses
- OPTIONS requests handled automatically
- Response times typically under 100ms
- Efficient caching of author and tag data
- Optimized random quote selection algorithm
- Proxy-aware configuration for accurate rate limiting
- Input sanitization and validation
- Protection against common attack vectors
- Rate limiting to prevent abuse
- Author name normalization and validation
- Tag validation against predefined list
QuoteSlate is open source and we welcome contributions! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests to the repository.
Distributed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for more information.
Made with ❤️ by Musheer360