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.
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.
⛔️ This method is deprecated in favor of Get Random Quotes
Query parameters
param
type
Description
maxLength
Int
The maximum Length in characters ( can be combined with minLength )
minLength
Int
The minimum Length in characters ( can be combined with maxLength )
tags
String
Get 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 (`\
author
{% raw %}String
Get 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.
authorId
String
deprecated Same as author param, except it uses author _id instead of slug
Response
{_id:string// The quotation textcontent:string// The full name of the authorauthor:string// The `slug` of the quote authorauthorSlug:string// The length of quote (number of characters)length:number// An array of tag names for this quotetags:string[]}
\
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.
\
param
type
Description
limit
Int
default: 1min: 1max: 50 The number of random quotes to retrieve.
maxLength
Int
The maximum Length in characters ( can be combined with minLength )
minLength
Int
The minimum Length in characters ( can be combined with maxLength )
tags
String
Get 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 (`\
author
{% raw %}String
Get 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.
authorId
String
deprecated Same as author param, except it uses author _id instead of slug
Response
// An array containing one or more QuotesArray<{_id:string// The quotation textcontent:string// The full name of the authorauthor:string// The `slug` of the quote authorauthorSlug:string// The length of quote (number of characters)length:number// An array of tag names for this quotetags:string[]}>
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
\
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
param
type
Description
maxLength
Int
The maximum Length in characters ( can be combined with minLength )
minLength
Int
The minimum Length in characters ( can be combined with maxLength )
tags
String
Filter 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 (`\
author
{% raw %}String
Get 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.
authorId
String
deprecated Same as author param, except it uses author _id instead of slug
sortBy
enum
Default: "dateAdded"values: "dateAdded", "dateModified", "author", "content" The field used to sort quotes
order
enum
values: "asc", "desc"default: depends on sortBy 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.
limit
Int
Min: 1Max: 150Default: 20 Sets the number of results per page.
page
Int
Min: 1Default: 1 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 responsecount:number// The total number of quotes matching this querytotalCount:number// The current page numberpage:number// The total number of pages matching this requesttotalPages:number// The 1-based index of the last result included in the current response.lastItemIndex:number// The array of quotesresults:Array<{_id:string// The quotation textcontent:string// The full name of the authorauthor:string// The `slug` of the quote authorauthorSlug:string// The length of quote (number of characters)length:number// An array of tag names for this quotetags: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 loveORhappinesstry in browser
GET /quotes?tags=love|happiness
Get all quotes with the tags technologyANDfamous-quotestry 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
\
Get Quote By ID
GET /quotes/:id
Get a quote by its ID
Response
{_id:string// The quotation textcontent:string// The full name of the authorauthor:string// The length of quote (number of characters)length:number// An array of tag names for this quotetags:string[]}
\
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
param
type
Description
slug
string
Filter 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.
sortBy
enum
Default: "name"values: "dateAdded", "dateModified", "name", "quoteCount" The field used to sort authors.
order
enum
values: "asc", "desc" 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.
limit
Int
Min: 1Max: 150Default: 20 Sets the number of results per page.
page
Int
Min: 1Default: 1 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 numberpage:number// The total number of pages matching this requesttotalPages: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 authorsresults:Array<{// A unique id for this author_id:string// A brief, one paragraph bio of the author. Source: wiki APIbio: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 websitelink:string// The authors full namename:string// A slug is a URL-friendly ID derived from the authors name. It can be used asslug:string// The number of quotes by this authorquoteCount: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 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
\
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.
Search results are sorted by score
The query can be wrapped in quotes to search for an exact phrase. In this case, results will only include quotes that match the query exactly.
Supports fuzzy search (optional). This allows for minor typos and misspelling in the search query. For more info on how this works, refer to the Atlas docs
Query Params
Param
Type
Description
query
String
The search string. The query can be wrapped in quotes to search for an exact phrase.
fields
String
Default: "content,author,tags" 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.
fuzzyMaxEdits
Int
Min: 0Max: 2Default: 0 The maximum number of single-character edits required to match the specified search term. Setting this to zero disables fuzzy matching.
fuzzyMaxExpansions
Int
Max: 150Min: 0Default: 50 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.
limit
Int
Min: 0Max: 150Default: 20 The maximum number of results per page
page
Int
Min: 1Default: 1 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 numberpage:number// The total number of pages matching this requesttotalPages: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 authorsresults:Array<{// A unique id for this author_id:string// A brief, one paragraph bio of the author. Source: wiki APIbio: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 websitelink:string// The authors full namename:string// A slug is a URL-friendly ID derived from the authors name. It can be used asslug:string// The number of quotes by this authorquoteCount:string}>}
Examples
Search for "every good technology is basically magic" (try in browser)
GET /search/quotes?query=every good technology is basically magic
Results:
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is equivalent to magic."
Search for the phrase "divided house"
GET /search/quotes?query=divided house
Results
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
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
\
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.
Parses the query into "terms". Things like initials, prefixes, suffixes, and stopwords are not considered search terms. They will still impact the score of a result, but are not required to match.
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
Param
Type
Description
query
String
The search query
autocomplete
Boolean
default: true Enables autocomplete matching
matchThreshold
Int
Min: 1Max: 3Default: 2 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". 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".
limit
Int
Min:Max: 150Default: 20 Maximum number of results per page
page
Int
Min: 1Default: 1 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 numberpage:number// The total number of pages matching this requesttotalPages: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 authorsresults:Array<{// A unique id for this author_id:string// A brief, one paragraph bio of the author. Source: wiki APIbio: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 websitelink:string// The authors full namename:string// A slug is a URL-friendly ID derived from the authors name. It can be used asslug:string// The number of quotes by this authorquoteCount:string}>}
Get a singleAuthor 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 websitelink:string// The authors full namename:string// A slug is a URL-friendly ID derived from the authors name. It can be used asslug:string// The number of quotes by this authorquoteCount:string}
\
List Tags
GET /tags
Get a list of all tags
Query parameters
param
type
Description
sortBy
enum
Default: "name"values: "dateAdded", "dateModified", "name", "quoteCount" The field used to sort tags.
order
enum
values: "asc", "desc" 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 requestcount:number// The array of tagsresults:Array<{_id:stringname:string}>}