CoinGecko Data Source
CoinGecko
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 CoinGecko connector tile from the list of available connectors. Then, select the credential that will be used to connect to the CoinGecko API, and click Next; or, create a new CoinGecko credential for use in this flow.
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In Nexla, CoinGecko data sources can be created using pre-built endpoint templates, which expedite source setup for common CoinGecko endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding CoinGecko endpoint, making data source setup easy and efficient.
• To configure this source using a template, follow the instructions in Configure Using a Template.CoinGecko sources can also be configured manually, allowing you to ingest data from CoinGecko 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 CoinGecko endpoints. Each template is designed specifically for the corresponding CoinGecko 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
CoinGecko sources can also be manually configured to ingest data from any valid CoinGecko API endpoint. The CoinGecko REST API is organized around standard HTTP GET requests and returns all responses as JSON. Manual configuration provides maximum flexibility for accessing endpoints not covered by pre-built templates — including using date/time macros to fetch data for specific time ranges, referencing lookup values to dynamically construct endpoint URLs, or specifying a JSON path to extract only the relevant portion of the API response.
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 method that will be used for calls to the CoinGecko API from the Method pulldown menu. CoinGecko is a read-only API, so GET is the appropriate method for all standard data retrieval operations.
API Endpoint URL
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Enter the URL of the CoinGecko API endpoint from which this source will fetch data in the Set API URL field. This should be the complete URL including the protocol (
https://) and any required path or query parameters.Common CoinGecko base URLs include:
- Pro API:
https://pro-api.coingecko.com/api/v3/ - Demo API:
https://api.coingecko.com/api/v3/
Examples of complete endpoint URLs:
- Coin list with market data:
https://pro-api.coingecko.com/api/v3/coins/markets?vs_currency=usd&order=market_cap_desc&per_page=100&page=1 - Coin price by ID:
https://pro-api.coingecko.com/api/v3/simple/price?ids=bitcoin,ethereum&vs_currencies=usd - OHLC chart data for a coin:
https://pro-api.coingecko.com/api/v3/coins/bitcoin/ohlc?vs_currency=usd&days=30 - Exchange list:
https://pro-api.coingecko.com/api/v3/exchanges?per_page=100&page=1
- Pro API:
Ensure the API endpoint URL matches your CoinGecko plan. Demo plan keys must use api.coingecko.com as the base domain; Pro plan keys must use pro-api.coingecko.com. Using the wrong base URL will result in authentication errors. For a full list of available endpoints and their parameters, see the CoinGecko API Endpoint Overview.
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.
This is particularly useful for CoinGecko endpoints that accept date range parameters, such as the historical market chart endpoint (/coins/{id}/market_chart/range), which requires from and to Unix timestamp parameters.
Macros are particularly useful for APIs that require date ranges, pagination parameters, or other dynamic values that change between data ingestion runs. For example, you can use {now-1} with a "Day" time unit to always fetch the previous day's market data.
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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}. -
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 you need to create API endpoints that reference specific coin IDs, exchange IDs, or other identifiers sourced from another Nexla dataset. For example, you can use a lookup to dynamically set the coin ID in /coins/{id}/market_chart based on a list of coins maintained in another Nexset.
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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 returned by the CoinGecko 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.
CoinGecko API responses frequently return arrays of coin or market objects nested within a JSON structure. For example, the /coins/markets endpoint returns a top-level JSON array where each element is a coin record. The /coins/{id}/market_chart endpoint returns an object with keys such as prices, market_caps, and total_volumes, each containing arrays of data points.
Path to Data is essential for CoinGecko endpoints that return nested structures. For instance, to extract the list of price data points from a market chart response, you would set the path to $.prices[*].
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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 (e.g.,
$.data.items[*]to access an array of items within a data object). -
For responses in XML format, enter the XPath that points to the object/array containing relevant data. XPath uses slash notation (e.g.,
/response/data/itemto access item elements within a data element).
Path to Data Example:For the CoinGecko
/coins/marketsendpoint, the response is a top-level JSON array. To treat each element as a separate record, enter$[*]as the path to data.For the
/coins/{id}/market_chartendpoint, to extract price data points, enter$.prices[*]. -
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, the CoinGecko /coins/markets endpoint includes pagination-related information alongside the main data array. If you have set the path to the coin records array, you can specify a separate metadata path to capture additional context from the response.
Metadata paths are particularly useful for preserving API response context like request timestamps, total record counts, 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 (e.g.,
header1:value1,header2:value2).For CoinGecko, you may need to add a plan-specific authentication header if your credential does not already supply it:
- Demo plan:
x-cg-demo-api-key:{your_api_key} - Pro plan:
x-cg-pro-api-key:{your_api_key}
You do not need to include any headers already present in the credentials. Common headers like Authorization, Content-Type, and Accept are typically handled automatically by Nexla based on your credential configuration.
- Demo plan:
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.
CoinGecko enforces rate limits based on your API plan. The Demo plan allows up to 100 calls per minute; paid plans allow 300 calls per minute or more depending on the tier. If you receive a 429 Too Many Requests error during testing, wait a moment before retrying. For details, see the CoinGecko Common Errors & Rate Limit documentation.
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 CoinGecko 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.