Using our API

To enable cross-service communication, we have an API. Said API allows us to access our databases without having our apps connect to our databases themselves. Thus, having a centralised place to deal with most database traffic. For transparency, parts of our API are open to the public. We've opened parts of our API up to allow the general public to see basic statistics about our service and other users. Until now, our API has been 🔓 unlocked. Effectively meaning that use of our API was unmetered and unmonitored. We feel this freedom is a little far, so have decided to lockdown our entire API, and lock it behind authentication. Whilst the API now requires authentication, it still remains free. You can use our API by creating an API account here and then successfully authenticating. Alongside authentication, we've also added api-wide request monitoring and metering. With this change, every request made by you is recorded. We record every request made authenticated or otherwise. We meter requests by implementing a standard rate limit across the board of 100 hits an hour. Unsuccessful hits also count towards this limit - unless stated otherwise. Depending on your intended use case, you may be able to request an extension to the standard rate limit. We're open to offering appropriate limits for appropriate use cases. You may also request an automatic increase should you meet any of these criteria:

• Valid API use for the past 30 days;

• Clean API use history (not bans, excessive rate limits)

If you meet these requirements, you may request your increase via the API dashboard. This increase is applied automatically once requested, and will increase your hourly limit to double whatever it currently is. You can view your current API usage both on the dashboard itself and in more detail here.