cURL Examples - Exchange Rates API

Quick Examples

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer your_api_key_here" \
     https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/latest

The official cURL SDK/wrapper is coming soon! For now, use the native cURL examples below or create your own shell scripts.

Authentication

Bearer Token

# Set your API key as an environment variable
export EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY="buderim_your_api_key_here"

# Use in requests
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY" \
     https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/latest

Response Format

{
  "success": true,
  "timestamp": 1725148800,
  "base": "AUD",
  "date": "2025-09-01",
  "rates": {
    "USD": 0.643512,
    "EUR": 0.582341,
    "GBP": 0.492847
  }
}

Endpoints

Latest Rates

# All currencies
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY" \
     https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/latest

# Specific currency
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY" \
     https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/latest/USD

Currency Conversion

# Convert AUD to USD
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY" \
     "https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/convert?from=AUD&to=USD&amount=100"

# Historical conversion
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY" \
     "https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/convert?from=AUD&to=USD&amount=100&date=2024-01-01"

Historical Rates

# All currencies for specific date
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY" \
     https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/2024-01-01

# Specific currency for specific date
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY" \
     https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/2024-01-01/USD

Time Series Data

# All currencies over date range
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY" \
     "https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/timeseries?start_date=2024-01-01&end_date=2024-01-31"

# Specific currencies
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY" \
     "https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/timeseries?start_date=2024-01-01&end_date=2024-01-31&symbols=USD,EUR,GBP"

Shell Scripts

Rate Checker Script

#!/bin/bash
# rate-checker.sh - Check current exchange rates

set -e

API_KEY="${EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY:-}"
BASE_URL="https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au"

if [ -z "$API_KEY" ]; then
    echo "Error: EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY environment variable not set"
    exit 1
fi

# Function to make API requests
make_request() {
    local endpoint="$1"
    curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
         -H "User-Agent: RateChecker/1.0" \
         "$BASE_URL$endpoint"
}

# Check API status
echo "Checking API status..."
status_response=$(make_request "/status")
echo "$status_response" | jq -r '.status // "unknown"'

# Get latest rates
echo -e "\nFetching latest rates..."
rates_response=$(make_request "/latest")

if echo "$rates_response" | jq -e '.success' > /dev/null; then
    echo "Base currency: $(echo "$rates_response" | jq -r '.base')"
    echo "Date: $(echo "$rates_response" | jq -r '.date')"
    echo -e "\nMajor currencies:"
    
    for currency in USD EUR GBP JPY; do
        rate=$(echo "$rates_response" | jq -r ".rates.$currency")
        printf "  %-3s: %s\n" "$currency" "$rate"
    done
else
    echo "Error: $(echo "$rates_response" | jq -r '.error.info')"
    exit 1
fi

Currency Converter Script

#!/bin/bash
# converter.sh - Convert between currencies

set -e

API_KEY="${EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY:-}"
BASE_URL="https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au"

if [ "$#" -ne 3 ]; then
    echo "Usage: $0 <from_currency> <to_currency> <amount>"
    echo "Example: $0 AUD USD 100"
    exit 1
fi

FROM_CURRENCY="$1"
TO_CURRENCY="$2"
AMOUNT="$3"

if [ -z "$API_KEY" ]; then
    echo "Error: EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY environment variable not set"
    exit 1
fi

# Validate amount is numeric
if ! [[ "$AMOUNT" =~ ^[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?$ ]]; then
    echo "Error: Amount must be a number"
    exit 1
fi

# Make conversion request
response=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
               -H "User-Agent: CurrencyConverter/1.0" \
               "$BASE_URL/convert?from=$FROM_CURRENCY&to=$TO_CURRENCY&amount=$AMOUNT")

if echo "$response" | jq -e '.success' > /dev/null; then
    result=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.result')
    rate=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.info.rate')
    date=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.date')
    
    echo "Conversion Result:"
    echo "  $AMOUNT $FROM_CURRENCY = $result $TO_CURRENCY"
    echo "  Exchange Rate: $rate (as of $date)"
else
    error_info=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.error.info')
    echo "Error: $error_info"
    exit 1
fi

Daily Rate Logger

#!/bin/bash
# daily-logger.sh - Log daily exchange rates to CSV

set -e

API_KEY="${EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY:-}"
BASE_URL="https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au"
LOG_FILE="${1:-exchange_rates.csv}"

if [ -z "$API_KEY" ]; then
    echo "Error: EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY environment variable not set"
    exit 1
fi

# Create CSV header if file doesn't exist
if [ ! -f "$LOG_FILE" ]; then
    echo "Date,USD,EUR,GBP,JPY,CNY,Timestamp" > "$LOG_FILE"
fi

# Fetch latest rates
response=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
               -H "User-Agent: DailyLogger/1.0" \
               "$BASE_URL/latest")

if echo "$response" | jq -e '.success' > /dev/null; then
    date=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.date')
    timestamp=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.timestamp')
    usd=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.rates.USD')
    eur=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.rates.EUR')
    gbp=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.rates.GBP')
    jpy=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.rates.JPY')
    cny=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.rates.CNY')
    
    # Append to CSV
    echo "$date,$usd,$eur,$gbp,$jpy,$cny,$timestamp" >> "$LOG_FILE"
    echo "Logged rates for $date to $LOG_FILE"
else
    error_info=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.error.info')
    echo "Error: $error_info"
    exit 1
fi

Error Handling

Check Response Status

# Function to check if response is successful
check_response() {
    local response="$1"
    
    if echo "$response" | jq -e '.success' > /dev/null; then
        return 0  # Success
    else
        local error_code=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.error.code // 0')
        local error_info=$(echo "$response" | jq -r '.error.info // "Unknown error"')
        echo "API Error $error_code: $error_info" >&2
        return 1  # Failure
    fi
}

# Usage
response=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
               "$BASE_URL/latest")

if check_response "$response"; then
    echo "Request successful!"
    # Process response...
else
    echo "Request failed"
    exit 1
fi

Rate Limit Headers

# Check rate limit headers
check_rate_limits() {
    curl -i -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
         "$BASE_URL/latest" | head -20
}

# Extract specific headers
get_remaining_requests() {
    curl -s -I -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
         "$BASE_URL/latest" | \
    grep -i "x-ratelimit-remaining-daily" | \
    cut -d: -f2 | tr -d ' \r'
}

echo "Remaining requests today: $(get_remaining_requests)"

Advanced Usage

Batch Processing

#!/bin/bash
# batch-historical.sh - Get historical rates for multiple dates

API_KEY="${EXCHANGE_RATES_API_KEY:-}"
BASE_URL="https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au"

# Array of dates to fetch
dates=(
    "2024-01-01"
    "2024-01-15"
    "2024-01-31"
)

currencies=("USD" "EUR" "GBP")

echo "Date,Currency,Rate"

for date in "${dates[@]}"; do
    response=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
                   "$BASE_URL/$date")
    
    if echo "$response" | jq -e '.success' > /dev/null; then
        for currency in "${currencies[@]}"; do
            rate=$(echo "$response" | jq -r ".rates.$currency")
            echo "$date,$currency,$rate"
        done
    else
        echo "Error fetching $date: $(echo "$response" | jq -r '.error.info')" >&2
    fi
    
    # Be nice to the API
    sleep 0.1
done

JSON Processing

# Pretty print JSON response
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
     https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/latest | jq '.'

# Extract specific values
USD_RATE=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
               https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/latest | \
           jq -r '.rates.USD')

echo "Current USD rate: $USD_RATE"

# Filter currencies
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
     https://api.exchangeratesapi.com.au/latest | \
jq '{date: .date, major_currencies: {USD: .rates.USD, EUR: .rates.EUR, GBP: .rates.GBP}}'

Next Steps

Python SDK

Python examples and best practices

PHP SDK

PHP examples and Laravel integration

JavaScript SDK

JavaScript/Node.js examples and React hooks

API Reference

Complete API documentation

Client Libraries

​Quick Examples

​Authentication

​Bearer Token

​Response Format

​Endpoints

​Latest Rates

​Currency Conversion

​Historical Rates

​Time Series Data

​Shell Scripts

​Rate Checker Script

​Currency Converter Script

​Daily Rate Logger

​Error Handling

​Check Response Status

​Rate Limit Headers

​Advanced Usage

​Batch Processing

​JSON Processing

​Next Steps

Python SDK

PHP SDK

JavaScript SDK

API Reference

Quick Examples

Authentication

Bearer Token

Response Format

Endpoints

Latest Rates

Currency Conversion

Historical Rates

Time Series Data

Shell Scripts

Rate Checker Script

Currency Converter Script

Daily Rate Logger

Error Handling

Check Response Status

Rate Limit Headers

Advanced Usage

Batch Processing

JSON Processing

Next Steps