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GET
/
status
API Status
curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/status
{
  "status": "operational",
  "last_update": "2025-09-01T06:17:41.202Z",
  "stale": false,
  "next_update_expected": "2025-09-02T06:00:00.000Z"
}

​
Overview

The status endpoint provides real-time information about the API’s operational status and data freshness. This endpoint is public and doesn’t require authentication.
This endpoint is perfect for health checks and monitoring integrations. It’s unlimited and cached at the edge for optimal performance.

​
Request

curl https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/status

​
Response

{
  "status": "operational",
  "last_update": "2025-09-01T06:17:41.202Z",
  "stale": false,
  "next_update_expected": "2025-09-02T06:00:00.000Z"
}
​
status
string
required
Current operational status of the APIPossible values:
  • operational - API is fully functional
  • degraded - API is experiencing issues but functional
  • outage - API is experiencing a full outage
​
last_update
string
required
ISO 8601 timestamp of when RBA data was last successfully fetched and processed
​
stale
boolean
required
Indicates if the current data is stale (older than expected)
  • false - Data is fresh (within expected timeframe)
  • true - Data is stale (RBA update may have failed)
​
next_update_expected
string
required
ISO 8601 timestamp of when the next RBA data update is expected (4 PM AEST next business day)

​
Status Codes

StatusDescription
operationalAll systems functioning normally
degradedMinor issues detected, API still functional
outageMajor issues, API may not be functioning

​
Data Freshness

The Exchange Rates API fetches RBA data daily at 4:00 PM AEST. The stale field helps you understand data freshness:

​
Fresh Data (stale: false)

  • Last update was within expected timeframe (within 26 hours of last business day 4 PM AEST)
  • RBA data fetch was successful
  • All systems operating normally

​
Stale Data (stale: true)

  • Last update was longer ago than expected (over 26 hours)
  • May indicate RBA website issues or weekend/holiday delay
  • Data is still valid but older than usual
  • Additional headers will be present on rate endpoints:
    • X-Data-Stale: true
    • X-RBA-Source-Date: YYYY-MM-DD

​
Monitoring Integration

​
Health Check Example

async function healthCheck() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch('https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/status');
    const data = await response.json();
    
    if (data.status === 'operational' && !data.stale) {
      return { healthy: true, message: 'API operational with fresh data' };
    } else if (data.status === 'operational' && data.stale) {
      return { 
        healthy: true, 
        warning: 'API operational but data may be stale',
        lastUpdate: data.last_update 
      };
    } else {
      return { 
        healthy: false, 
        error: `API status: ${data.status}`,
        lastUpdate: data.last_update
      };
    }
  } catch (error) {
    return { healthy: false, error: 'Failed to reach API' };
  }
}

​
Nagios/Zabbix Integration

#!/bin/bash
# Health check script for monitoring systems

STATUS=$(curl -s https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/status | jq -r '.status')

case $STATUS in
  "operational")
    echo "OK - Exchange Rates API is operational"
    exit 0
    ;;
  "degraded")
    echo "WARNING - Exchange Rates API is degraded"
    exit 1
    ;;
  "outage")
    echo "CRITICAL - Exchange Rates API is experiencing an outage"
    exit 2
    ;;
  *)
    echo "UNKNOWN - Could not determine API status"
    exit 3
    ;;
esac

​
Response Headers

HTTP/2 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json
Cache-Control: no-store
X-Request-Id: 123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000
X-Response-Time: 45ms
CF-Cache-Status: MISS
CF-Ray: 8a1b2c3d4e5f6789-SYD
The status endpoint returns Cache-Control: no-store to ensure you always get current status information rather than cached responses.

​
Use Cases

​
Application Health Checks

Monitor your application’s dependency on the Exchange Rates API: 
// Check API health before making rate requests
const statusCheck = await fetch('https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/status');
const status = await statusCheck.json();

if (status.status !== 'operational') {
  console.warn('Exchange Rates API is not operational, using cached rates');
  return getCachedRates();
}

​
Status Page Integration

Display API status on your own status page: 
async function getAPIStatus() {
  const response = await fetch('https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/status');
  const data = await response.json();
  
  return {
    service: 'Exchange Rates API',
    status: data.status,
    lastUpdate: data.last_update,
    isStale: data.stale,
    nextUpdate: data.next_update_expected
  };
}

​
Scheduled Monitoring

Set up automated monitoring to track API reliability: 
import requests
import time
from datetime import datetime

def monitor_api():
    try:
        response = requests.get('https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/status', timeout=30)
        data = response.json()
        
        log_entry = {
            'timestamp': datetime.now().isoformat(),
            'status': data['status'],
            'stale': data['stale'],
            'response_time': response.elapsed.total_seconds(),
            'next_update': data['next_update_expected']
        }
        
        # Log to your monitoring system
        print(f"API Status: {data['status']} | Stale: {data['stale']} | Response: {response.elapsed.total_seconds()}s")
        
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Failed to check API status: {e}")

# Run every 5 minutes
while True:
    monitor_api()
    time.sleep(300)

​
Error Responses

While the status endpoint is highly reliable, it may occasionally return errors: 
{
  "success": false,
  "error": {
    "code": 503,
    "type": "service_unavailable", 
    "info": "Status service temporarily unavailable"
  }
}
In such cases, you should assume the API may be experiencing issues and implement appropriate fallback logic in your applications.

Response

API status information

​
status
enum<string>
required

Current API status

Available options:
operational,
degraded
​
last_update
string
required

Last successful data update timestamp or 'unknown'

​
stale
boolean
required

Whether the data is considered stale

​
next_update_expected
string
required

ISO 8601 timestamp of when next RBA update is expected