CoinAPI Data Source
CoinAPI
Create a New Data Flow
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To create a new data flow, navigate to the Integrate section, and click the New Data Flow button. Then, select the desired flow type from the list, and click the Create button.
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Select the CoinAPI connector tile from the list of available connectors. Then, select the credential that will be used to connect to the CoinAPI instance, and click Next; or, create a new CoinAPI credential for use in this flow.
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In Nexla, CoinAPI data sources can be created using pre-built endpoint templates, which expedite source setup for common CoinAPI endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding CoinAPI endpoint, making source configuration easy and efficient.
• To configure this source using a template, follow the instructions in Configure Using a Template.CoinAPI sources can also be configured manually, allowing you to ingest data from CoinAPI endpoints not included in the pre-built templates or apply further customizations to exactly suit your needs.
• To configure this source manually, follow the instructions in Configure Manually.
Configure Using a Template
Nexla provides pre-built templates that can be used to rapidly configure data sources to ingest data from common CoinAPI endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding CoinAPI endpoint, making data source setup easy and efficient.
Endpoint Settings
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Select the endpoint from which this source will fetch data from the Endpoint pulldown menu. Available endpoint templates are listed in the expandable boxes below. Click on an endpoint to see more information about it and how to configure your data source for this endpoint.
Endpoint Testing
Once the selected endpoint template has been configured, Nexla can retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched according to the current settings. This allows users to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.
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To test the current endpoint configuration, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu. Sample data will be fetched & displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right.
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If the sample data is not as expected, review the selected endpoint and associated settings, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, click the Test button again, and check the sample data to ensure that the correct information is displayed.
Configure Manually
CoinAPI data sources can be manually configured to ingest data from any valid CoinAPI REST API endpoint. Manual configuration provides maximum flexibility for accessing endpoints not covered by pre-built templates or when you need custom API configurations.
With manual configuration, you can also create more complex CoinAPI sources, such as sources that use chained API calls to fetch data from multiple endpoints or sources that require custom authentication headers or request parameters.
API Method
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To manually configure this source, select the Advanced tab at the top of the configuration screen.
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Select the API method that will be used for calls to the CoinAPI API from the Method pulldown menu. CoinAPI's Market Data REST API exclusively uses GET for data retrieval. The most common methods are:
- GET: For retrieving data from the API (used by all CoinAPI Market Data endpoints)
- POST: Not used for standard CoinAPI Market Data queries
API Endpoint URL
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Enter the URL of the CoinAPI API endpoint from which this source will fetch data in the Set API URL field. The CoinAPI base URL is
https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/. Some example endpoint URLs include:- OHLCV data:
https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/ohlcv/COINBASE_SPOT_BTC_USD/history?period_id=1DAY&time_start=2024-01-01 - Latest trades:
https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/trades/BINANCE_SPOT_ETH_USDT/latest - Exchange rate:
https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/exchangerate/BTC/USD - Symbol list:
https://rest.coinapi.io/v1/symbols?filter_exchange_id=COINBASE
- OHLCV data:
CoinAPI also provides region-specific endpoints to reduce latency. If your use case requires lower latency, consult the CoinAPI documentation at docs.coinapi.io/market-data/rest-api/ for available regional endpoint URLs.
Date/Time Macros (API URL)
Optionally, the API URL can be customized using macros—all macros added to the API URL will be converted into values when Nexla executes the API call. Macros are dynamic placeholders that allow you to create flexible API endpoints that can adapt to different time periods or data requirements.
Date/time macros are especially useful for CoinAPI endpoints that accept time_start and time_end query parameters, enabling you to configure incremental data pulls that automatically advance with each execution.
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To add a macro, type
{at the appropriate position in the API URL (within the Set API URL field), and select the desired macro from the dropdown list.{now}– The current datetime{now-1}– The datetime one time unit before the current datetime{now+1}– The datetime one time unit after the current datetimecustom– Datetime macros can reference any number of time units before or after the current datetime—for example, enter(now-4)to indicate the datetime four time units before the current datetime
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Select the format that will be applied to datetime macros from the Date Format for Date/Time Macro pulldown menu. This format will be applied to the base datetime value of the macro—i.e., the value of
{now}in{now-1}. CoinAPI accepts ISO 8601 format (for example,yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss). -
Select the datetime unit that will be used to perform mathematical operations in the included macro(s) from the Time Unit for Operations pulldown menu—for example, for the macro
{now-1}, whenDayis selected,{now-1}will be converted to the datetime one day before the current datetime.
Lookup-Based Macros (API URL)
Column values from existing lookups can also be included as macros in the API URL. Lookup-based macros allow you to reference data from previously configured data sources or lookups, enabling dynamic API endpoints that can adapt based on existing data.
Lookup-based macros are useful when, for example, you need to iterate over a list of symbol IDs retrieved from the List Symbols endpoint to fetch OHLCV or trade data for each one.
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To include a lookup column value macro, select the relevant lookup from the Add Lookups to Supported Macros pulldown menu.
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Type
{at the appropriate position in the API URL, and select the lookup column-based macro from the dropdown list. Lookup-based macros are automatically populated into the macro list when a lookup is selected in the Add Lookups to Supported Macros pulldown menu.
Path to Data
If only a subset of the data that will be returned by API endpoint is needed, you can designate the part(s) of the response that should be included in the Nexset(s) produced from this source by specifying the path to the relevant data within the response. This is particularly useful when CoinAPI responses contain metadata, pagination information, or other data that you don't need for your analysis.
For example, CoinAPI's OHLCV endpoint returns a JSON array at the top level where each element is a candle record. By setting the path to data, you can configure Nexla to treat each array element as an individual record.
Path to Data is essential when API responses have nested structures. Without specifying the correct path, Nexla might not be able to properly parse and organize your data into usable records.
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To specify which data should be treated as relevant in responses from this source, enter the path to the relevant data in the Set Path to Data in Response field.
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For responses in JSON format enter the JSON path that points to the object or array that should be treated as relevant data. JSON paths use dot notation (for example,
$[*]to access a top-level array, or$.data[*]to access an array nested under adatakey). -
For responses in XML format, enter the XPath that points to the object/array containing relevant data.
Path to Data Example:CoinAPI OHLCV and trade responses return a top-level JSON array where each element is a record. The path to the relevant data in these responses would be entered as
$[*]. -
Autogenerate Path Suggestions
Nexla can also autogenerate data path suggestions based on the response from the API endpoint. These suggested paths can be used as-is or modified to exactly suit your needs.
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To use this feature, click the Test button next to the Set API URL field to fetch a sample response from the API endpoint. Suggested data paths generated based on the content & format of the response will be displayed in the Suggestions box below the Set Path to Data in Response field.
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Click on a suggestion to automatically populate the Set Path to Data in Response field with the corresponding path. The populated path can be modified directly within the field if further customization is needed.
Metadata
If metadata is included in the response but is located outside of the defined path to relevant data, you can configure Nexla to include this data as common metadata in each record. This is useful when you want to preserve important contextual information that applies to all records but isn't part of the main data array.
For example, some CoinAPI endpoints include top-level fields such as symbol_id or time_period_start alongside the data array. If you have specified the path to the relevant data array but want to include those top-level fields with each record, you can specify a metadata path to capture them.
Metadata paths are particularly useful for preserving API response context like request IDs, timestamps, or summary statistics that apply to all records in the response.
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To specify the location of metadata that should be included with each record, enter the path to the relevant metadata in the Path to Metadata in Response field.
- For responses in JSON format, enter the JSON path to the object or array that contains the metadata, and for responses in XML format, enter the XPath.
Request Headers
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If Nexla should include any additional request headers in API calls to this source, enter the headers & corresponding values as comma-separated pairs in the Request Headers field (for example,
header1:value1,header2:value2). Additional headers are often required for API versioning, content type specifications, or custom authentication requirements.You do not need to include the
X-CoinAPI-Keyauthentication header here — that header is added automatically by Nexla using the credentials configured for this data source. You also do not need to setAccept: application/jsonas that is added automatically. A common reason to add a custom header for CoinAPI is to request responses in a specific data format, such asAccept: text/csvfor CSV output on supported endpoints.
Endpoint Testing
After configuring all settings for the selected endpoint, Nexla can retrieve a sample of the data that will be fetched according to the current configuration. This allows users to verify that the source is configured correctly before saving.
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To test the current endpoint configuration, click the Test button to the right of the endpoint selection menu. Sample data will be fetched & displayed in the Endpoint Test Result panel on the right.
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If the sample data is not as expected, review the selected endpoint and associated settings, and make any necessary adjustments. Then, click the Test button again, and check the sample data to ensure that the correct information is displayed.
Save & Activate the Source
- Once all of the relevant steps in the above sections have been completed, click the Create button in the upper right corner of the screen to save and create the new CoinAPI data source. Nexla will now begin ingesting data from the configured endpoint and will organize any data that it finds into one or more Nexsets.