Dining API

CS50’s Dining API provides programmatic access via HTTP to data from Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS), including menus for undergraduate dining halls, graduate dining halls, and some cafes on campus. The API provides endpoints for:

• Categories

• Locations

• Menus

• Recipes

Categories

Getting Categories

GET /dining/categories

Synopsis:

Returns a JSON array of objects, each of which represents a category of food. For example, https://api.cs50.io/dining/categories.

Status Codes:

• 200 OK – Always returned.

Response JSON Array of Objects:

• id (integer) – A category’s unique identifer. Usable as a primary key in a databse.

• name (string) – A category’s name.

Example: Getting All Categories

https://api.cs50.io/dining/categories

PythoncURL

import requests

# Get categories
response = requests.get("https://api.cs50.io/dining/categories")

# Convert JSON to list of dicts
categories = response.json()

# Print each category's name
for category in categories:
    print(category["name"])

Getting a Category

GET /dining/categories/(id)

Synopsis:

Returns a JSON object that represents a category, where id is that category’s unique identifier. For example, https://api.cs50.io/dining/categories/32 represents Fresh Fruit, whereas https://api.cs50.io/dining/categories/62 represents Daily Soups. Yum!

Parameters:

• id – A location’s unique identifier.

Status Codes:

• 200 OK – Returned if a category with id exists.

• 404 Not Found – Returned if no category with id exists.

Response JSON Object:

• id (integer) – A category’s unique identifer. Usable as a primary key in a databse.

• name (string) – A category’s name.

Example: Getting Fresh Fruit

https://api.cs50.io/dining/categories/32

PythoncURL

import requests

# Get category
response = requests.get("https://api.cs50.io/dining/categories/32")

# Convert JSON to dict
category = response.json()

# Print category's name
print(category["name"])

Locations

Getting Locations

GET /dining/locations

Synopsis:

Returns a JSON array of objects, each of which represents a location. For example, https://api.cs50.io/dining/locations.

Status Codes:

• 200 OK – Always returned.

Response JSON Array of Objects:

• id (integer) – A location’s unique identifer. Usable as a primary key in a databse.

• name (string) – A location’s name.

Example: Getting All Locations

https://api.cs50.io/dining/locations

PythoncURL

import requests

# Get locations
response = requests.get("https://api.cs50.io/dining/locations")

# Convert JSON to list of dicts
locations = response.json()

# Print each location's name
for location in locations:
    print(location["name"])

Getting a Location

GET /dining/locations/(id)

Synopsis:

Returns a JSON object that represents a location, where id is that location’s unique identifier. For example, https://api.cs50.io/dining/locations/30 represents Annenberg Hall, while https://api.cs50.io/dining/locations/7 represents Dunster and Mather House. Because some dining halls (e.g., Dunster’s and Mather’s) share kitchens (and thus menus), they also share an id (and name) in the API.

Parameters:

• id – A location’s unique identifier.

Status Codes:

• 200 OK – Returned if a location with id exists.

• 404 Not Found – Returned if no location with id exists.

Response JSON Object:

• id (integer) – A location’s unique identifer. Usable as a primary key in a databse.

• name (string) – A location’s name.

Example: Getting Annenberg Hall

https://api.cs50.io/dining/locations/7

PythoncURL

import requests

# Get location
response = requests.get("https://api.cs50.io/dining/locations/30")

# Convert JSON to dict
location = response.json()

# Print location's name
print(location["name"])

Menus

Note

Each query parameter can have multiple values, as by including it in a URL multiple times.

Getting Menus

GET /dining/menus

Synopsis:

Returns a JSON array of objects, each of which represents a menu item (i.e., a recipe being served in some category for some meal at one or more locations). For example, https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus represents today’s menus. Within each of those objects, the value of category is the id of a category, the value of location is the id of a location, the value of meal is the id of a meal, and the value of recipe is the id of a recipe. Any of the query parameters can be used together. For example, https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus?location=5&location=38&meal=0 represents today’s breakfast menus at Cabot and Pforzheimer House as well as Currier House.

Query Parameters:

• date – The date for a menu, formatted as YYYY-MM-DD. Defaults to today’s date (in Eastern Time). For example, https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus represents today’s menus, whereas https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus?date=2019-12-02 represents menus for 2 December 2019, and https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus?date=2019-12-02&date=2019-12-03 represents menus for 2 December 2019 and 3 December 2019.

• meal – The unique identifier of a meal. For example, https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus?meal=1 represents today’s lunch menus, whereas https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus?meal=1&meal=2 represents today’s lunch and dinner menus.

• location – The unique identifier of a location. For example, https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus?location=7 represents today’s menu at Dunster and Mather House, whereas https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus?location=5&location=38 represents today’s menus at Cabot and Pforzheimer House as well as Currier House.

• category – The unique identifier of a category. For example, https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus?category=32 represents today’s menus, if any, with Fresh Fruit, whereas https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus?category=32&category=15 represents today’s menus, if any, with Fresh Fruit or Vegetables.

• recipe – The unique identifier of a recipe. For example, https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus?recipe=22011 represents today’s menus, if any, with Kabocha Squash Soup, whereas https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus?recipe=22011&recipe=22045 represents today’s menus with Kabocha Squash Soup or Wheat Tortillas.

Status Codes:

• 200 OK – Returned if endpoint is used properly, even if no menus match the query parameters.

• 400 Bad Request – Returned if endpoint isn’t used properly.

Response JSON Array of Objects:

• id (integer) – A recipe’s unique identifer. Usable as a primary key in a databse.

• name (string) – A recipe’s name.

Example: Getting Annenberg Hall’s Lunch Menu for 2 December 2019

https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus?date=2019-12-02&location=7&meal=1

PythoncURL

import requests

# Get Annenberg Hall's lunch menu for 2019-12-02
response = requests.get("https://api.cs50.io/dining/menus", {"date": "2019-12-02", "location": 7, "meal": 1})

# Convert JSON to list of dicts
menu = response.json()

# Print number of recipes on menu
print(len(menu))

Recipes

Getting Recipes

GET /dining/recipes

Synopsis:

Returns a JSON array of objects, each of which represents a recipe. For example, https://api.cs50.io/dining/recipes.

Status Codes:

• 200 OK – Always returned.

Response JSON Array of Objects:

• id (integer) – A recipe’s unique identifer. Usable as a primary key in a databse.

• name (string) – A recipe’s name.

Example: Getting All Recipes

https://api.cs50.io/dining/recipes

PythoncURL

import requests

# Get categories
response = requests.get("https://api.cs50.io/dining/recipes")

# Convert JSON to list of dicts
recipes = response.json()

# Print each recipe's name
for recipe in recipes:
    print(recipe["name"])

Getting a Recipe

GET /dining/recipes/(id)

Synopsis:

Returns a JSON object that represents a recipe, where id is that recipe’s unique identifier. For example, https://api.cs50.io/dining/recipes/22011 represents Kabocha Squash Soup, whereas https://api.cs50.io/dining/recipes/22045 represents Wheat Tortillas. Yum!

Parameters:

• id – A recipe’s unique identifier.

Status Codes:

• 200 OK – Returned if a recipe with id exists.

• 404 Not Found – Returned if no recipe with id exists.

Response JSON Object:

• id (integer) – A recipe’s unique identifer. Usable as a primary key in a databse.

• name (string) – A recipe’s name.

Example: Getting Kabocha Squash Soup

https://api.cs50.io/dining/recipes/22011

PythoncURL

import requests

# Get recipe
response = requests.get("https://api.cs50.io/dining/recipes/22011")

# Convert JSON to dict
recipe = response.json()

# Print recipe's name
print(recipe["name"])

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to CS50’s friends at HUDS and HUIT for this API’s data!