Understanding API Response Formats

Guide to parsing and handling API responses

Updated: March 14, 2025

3 min read

Beginner

#api #responses #parsing

Learn how to interpret and work with different API response formats, including JSON parsing and error handling.

Response Structure

Understand the typical structure of API responses, including success and error response formats.

Standard Response Format

Successful responses follow this general structure:

json
{

"data": {

// Response data varies by endpoint

},

"meta": {

"request_id": "req_12345",

"processing_time": 0.153

}

}

The data object contains the actual response content, while the meta object provides request metadata.

Pagination

Endpoints that return multiple items use cursor-based pagination:

json
{

"data": [

// Array of items

],

"meta": {

"request_id": "req_12345"

},

"pagination": {

"next_cursor": "cursor_abcdef",

"has_more": true

}

}

To fetch the next page, include the cursor parameter in your next request: ?cursor=cursor_abcdef

Response Headers

Important response headers include:

X-Request-ID: Unique identifier for the request (useful for support)
X-RateLimit-*: Rate limiting information
Content-Type: Always application/json unless requesting other formats

Handling Different Data Types

Our API uses standard JSON data types:

Strings: Text values enclosed in double quotes
Numbers: Integer or decimal values without quotes
Booleans: true or false values
Arrays: Ordered lists in square brackets []
Objects: Key-value pairs in curly braces {}
Null: Represented as null

Dates and times are formatted as ISO 8601 strings: "2025-03-14T15:53:20Z"

Working with Binary Data

For endpoints that return binary data (like file downloads), we use Base64 encoding in JSON or set the appropriate Content-Type header for direct binary responses.