Consuming APIs with PHP 🌐

<?php
// The simplest way to fetch a URL: file_get_contents().
// It downloads the body of the page (or API response) as a string.

$url  = "https://api.github.com/repos/php/php-src";
$json = file_get_contents($url);   // returns the raw JSON text, or false on failure

// json_decode turns that JSON text into PHP data.
// The second argument 'true' gives you an ASSOCIATIVE ARRAY (not an object).
$data = json_decode($json, true);

echo "Repo:  " . $data["full_name"] . "\n";   // dig into the decoded array by key
echo "Stars: " . $data["stargazers_count"] . "\n";
echo "Lang:  " . $data["language"] . "\n";
?>

Repo:  php/php-src
Stars: 38000
Lang:  C

<?php
// Many APIs reject a request with no User-Agent, or need a header/timeout.
// file_get_contents accepts a "stream context" so you can set those.

$options = [
    "http" => [
        "method"  => "GET",
        "header"  => "User-Agent: my-app\r\n" .   // GitHub REQUIRES a User-Agent
                     "Accept: application/json\r\n",
        "timeout" => 5,                            // give up after 5 seconds
        "ignore_errors" => true,                   // still read the body on 404/500
    ],
];
$context = stream_context_create($options);        // build the context object

$url  = "https://api.github.com/repos/php/php-src";
$body = file_get_contents($url, false, $context);  // pass the context as 3rd arg

// $http_response_header is auto-filled by PHP with the response status line.
echo $http_response_header[0] . "\n";              // e.g. HTTP/1.1 200 OK

$data = json_decode($body, true);
echo "Open issues: " . $data["open_issues_count"] . "\n";
?>

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Open issues: 350

<?php
// cURL is the standard, fully-featured way to talk to APIs in PHP.
// Four steps every time: init -> setopt -> exec -> close.

$ch = curl_init("https://api.github.com/repos/php/php-src");  // 1) init with the URL

// 2) setopt — configure the request
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);   // return the body as a string (don't print it)
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 10);            // hard limit: 10 seconds total
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, [            // request headers, one string each
    "User-Agent: my-app",
    "Accept: application/json",
]);

$body   = curl_exec($ch);                                  // 3) exec — actually send the request
$status = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);           // read the HTTP status code (200, 404…)
curl_close($ch);                                           // 4) close — free the handle

echo "HTTP status: " . $status . "\n";

$data = json_decode($body, true);                          // JSON text -> PHP array
echo "Repo:  " . $data["full_name"] . "\n";
echo "Forks: " . $data["forks_count"] . "\n";
?>

HTTP status: 200
Repo:  php/php-src
Forks: 7600

<?php
// A POST request with a Bearer token, JSON body, and full error handling.

$token   = getenv("API_TOKEN");                  // read the secret from the environment
$payload = ["title" => "Buy milk", "done" => false];

$ch = curl_init("https://api.example.com/v1/todos");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);            // make this a POST
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, json_encode($payload));  // the JSON body
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, [
    "Authorization: Bearer " . $token,           // bearer-token auth
    "Content-Type: application/json",            // tell the server we're sending JSON
]);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 10);

$body   = curl_exec($ch);
$status = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);

if ($body === false) {                           // network/timeout failure
    echo "Request failed: " . curl_error($ch) . "\n";
} elseif ($status >= 200 && $status < 300) {     // 2xx = success
    $data = json_decode($body, true);
    echo "Created todo #" . $data["id"] . " (status " . $status . ")\n";
} else {                                          // 4xx / 5xx = the server said no
    echo "API error: HTTP " . $status . "\n";
}
curl_close($ch);
?>

Created todo #42 (status 201)

<?php
// 🎯 YOUR TURN — fetch a JSON API and pull two values out of the response.
// Fill in each blank marked ___ , then run it.

$body = file_get_contents("https://api.github.com/repos/php/php-src", false,
    stream_context_create(["http" => ["header" => "User-Agent: my-app\r\n"]]));

// 1) Turn the JSON text into a PHP associative array
$data = json_decode($body, ___);     // 👉 pass true so you get an ARRAY, not an object

// 2) Read the "full_name" key out of $data
echo "Repo: " . ___ . "\n";          // 👉 e.g.  $data["full_name"]

// ✅ Expected output:
//    Repo: php/php-src
?>

Repo: php/php-src

<?php
// 🎯 YOUR TURN — only call json_decode when the request actually succeeded.
// A 404 or a timeout returns junk, so guard on the status code FIRST.

$ch = curl_init("https://api.github.com/repos/php/php-src");
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, ["User-Agent: my-app"]);
$body   = curl_exec($ch);
$status = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
curl_close($ch);

// Only decode on a successful 2xx response
if (___) {                            // 👉 check $status is 200 (or "< 300")
    $data = json_decode($body, true);
    echo "OK: " . $data["full_name"] . "\n";
} else {
    echo "Request failed with status " . $status . "\n";
}

// ✅ Expected output (when the call succeeds):
//    OK: php/php-src
?>

OK: php/php-src