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Getting Started Overview

Welcome to Trading Card API! This guide will help you get up and running quickly, whether you're building your first trading card application or integrating our API into an existing system.

🎯 What You'll Learn​

By the end of this getting started guide, you'll:

  • Have a working API authentication setup
  • Make your first successful API call
  • Understand how to navigate our JSON:API responses
  • Know the common patterns for building card applications

📋 Prerequisites​

To get started with Trading Card API, you'll need:

  • Basic programming knowledge in one of our supported languages (PHP, JavaScript, Python, or cURL)
  • An active internet connection for making API calls
  • A development environment set up for your chosen language

No prior experience with trading cards or card data is required!

🚀 5-Minute Quick Start​

Step 1: Get Your API Key​

Create an account and generate your API key. It's free to get started!

Step 2: Test Your Connection​

Make a simple API call to verify everything works:

curl -X GET "https://api.tradingcardapi.com/cards?page[limit]=1" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.api+json"

Step 3: Explore the Data​

Use our interactive API explorer to browse available endpoints and test requests.

Step 4: Build Your Application​

Follow our guides to build common trading card applications.

🏗️ API Architecture​

Trading Card API is built on modern REST principles with JSON:API specification:

JSON:API Specification​

We follow the JSON:API specification, which provides:

  • Consistent response structure across all endpoints
  • Relationship management between resources
  • Advanced querying with filtering, sorting, and sparse fieldsets
  • Standardized error handling

Core Resources​

Our API is organized around these main resources:

Cards ──┬── Sets
        ├── Players
        ├── Teams
        ├── Attributes
        └── OnCard Relationships

Example Response Structure​

{
  "data": {
    "type": "cards",
    "id": "01234567-89ab-cdef-0123-456789abcdef",
    "attributes": {
      "name": "1989 Topps Ken Griffey Jr. #336",
      "number": "336",
      "year": 1989
    },
    "relationships": {
      "set": {
        "data": { "type": "sets", "id": "..." }
      }
    }
  },
  "included": [...],
  "meta": { "total": 1247831 }
}

🔐 Authentication Flow​

Trading Card API uses OAuth 2.0 for secure authentication:

  1. Register for an account
  2. Create an application to get client credentials
  3. Request an access token using client credentials flow
  4. Include the token in API requests
Pro Tip

Use our authentication guide for detailed setup instructions and code examples.

📊 Rate Limits & Pricing​

Free Tier​

  • 1,000 requests/hour
  • 10,000 requests/month
  • All endpoints available
  • Community support

Usage-Based Pricing​

  • $0.001 per request above free tier
  • No monthly commitments
  • Automatic scaling
  • Email support

Enterprise Plans​

  • Custom rate limits
  • Dedicated infrastructure
  • SLA guarantees
  • Phone support

View detailed pricing →

Need More Details?

For complete rate limiting information, code examples, and best practices, see our API Rate Limits Guide.

🛠️ Development Tools​

SDKs & Libraries​

Testing Tools​

Development Environment​

📖 Next Steps​

Now that you understand the basics, dive deeper:

  1. Set up authentication →
  2. Make your first request →
  3. Explore examples →
  4. Build a card tracker →

💡 Learning Path​

Beginner​

  • Complete authentication setup
  • Make first API call
  • Understand JSON:API responses
  • Explore available endpoints

Intermediate​

  • Implement filtering and sorting
  • Use relationship includes
  • Handle pagination
  • Build error handling

Advanced​

  • Optimize API performance
  • Implement caching strategies
  • Use webhooks for real-time updates
  • Build complex applications

❓ Getting Help​

Stuck? We're here to help:

Ready to dive in? Let's set up your authentication!