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Data Source

The Google Fonts API connector enables you to ingest the complete Google Fonts catalog metadata into Nexla, including font family names, style variants, supported Unicode subsets, file URLs, and category classifications. Follow the instructions below to create a new data flow that ingests data from a Google Fonts API source in Nexla.
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Google Fonts API

Create a New Data Flow​

  1. 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.

  2. Select the Google Fonts API connector tile from the list of available connectors. Then, select the credential that will be used to connect to the Google Fonts API instance, and click Next; or, create a new Google Fonts API credential for use in this flow.

  3. In Nexla, Google Fonts API data sources can be created using a pre-built endpoint template for the Google Fonts catalog, which expedites source setup. The template is designed specifically for the Google Fonts Developer API, making source configuration easy and efficient.
    • To configure this source using a template, follow the instructions in Configure Using a Template.

    Google Fonts API sources can also be configured manually, allowing you to apply further customizations or access alternate API versions to exactly suit your needs.
    • To configure this source manually, follow the instructions in Configure Manually.

Configure Using a Template​

Nexla provides a pre-built template for ingesting the complete Google Fonts catalog metadata. The template is designed to retrieve structured font family records directly from the Google Fonts Developer API.

Endpoint Settings​

  • Select the endpoint from which this source will fetch data from the Endpoint pulldown menu. The available endpoint template is listed in the expandable box below. Click on the endpoint to see more information about it and how to configure your data source for this endpoint.

List Webfonts

Retrieves the complete list of font families currently served by the Google Fonts Developer API, including all available style variants, supported Unicode subsets, font file download URLs, designer attribution, and category classifications (serif, sans-serif, display, monospace, handwriting). Use this endpoint to ingest a full snapshot of the Google Fonts catalog for auditing, font picker tooling, or design asset management.

  • Optionally, select a sort order for the returned font families using the Sort parameter. Available sort options are:

    • alpha — Sort families alphabetically by name.
    • date — Sort by the date the font family was added to Google Fonts, with the most recently added families first.
    • popularity — Sort by usage popularity across the web, with the most widely used families first. This is the default sort order used by the Google Fonts website.
    • style — Sort by the number of available style variants, with families offering the most variants first.
    • trending — Sort by families currently seeing the most growth in usage.

  • Optionally, select a font file capability using the Capability parameter to control what font file URLs are included in the response. Available options are:

    • CAPABILITY_UNSPECIFIED — Returns static TTF font file URLs (default behavior when no capability is specified).
    • WOFF2 — Returns WOFF2 (Web Open Font Format 2) font file URLs, which are compressed and optimized for web delivery.
    • VF — Returns variable font file URLs instead of static fonts instantiated at standard weights, where available.
    • FAMILY_TAGS — Includes classification tags that apply to the entire font family in addition to the standard font metadata.

The Google Fonts Developer API returns all font families in a single response — there is no pagination. Each record in the Nexset produced from this source corresponds to one font family and includes its variants, subsets, files, and metadata. For additional details about the API response structure, refer to the Google Fonts Developer API documentation.

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.

  • 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.

  • 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​

Google Fonts API data sources can be manually configured to send requests to any valid Google Fonts Developer API endpoint URL. Manual configuration provides maximum flexibility for applying custom query parameters, accessing alternate API versions, or constructing specialized requests.

API Method​

  1. To manually configure this source, select the Advanced tab at the top of the configuration screen.

  2. Select the API method from the Method pulldown menu. The Google Fonts Developer API uses GET for all read requests, so select GET for standard font catalog queries.

API Endpoint URL​

  1. Enter the URL of the Google Fonts Developer API endpoint in the Set API URL field. The base URL for the Webfonts list endpoint is:

    https://www.googleapis.com/webfonts/v1/webfonts

    You may append optional query parameters to filter or sort results. For example, to retrieve fonts sorted by popularity:

    https://www.googleapis.com/webfonts/v1/webfonts?sort=popularity

    Do not include the key query parameter in the URL — Nexla automatically appends your API key from the configured credential to every request. Additional details about available query parameters are available in the Google Fonts Developer API documentation.

Date/Time Macros (API URL)​

Optional

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 not commonly used with the Google Fonts API since it returns the current catalog state rather than time-scoped data. However, they may be useful if you are routing requests through a custom proxy or intermediary that accepts time-based parameters.

  1. 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 datetime
    • custom – 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

  2. 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}.

  3. 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}, when Day is selected, {now-1} will be converted to the datetime one day before the current datetime.

Lookup-Based Macros (API URL)​

Optional

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 IDs, values, or parameters from other data sources in your Nexla environment.

  1. To include a lookup column value macro, select the relevant lookup from the Add Lookups to Supported Macros pulldown menu.

  2. 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​

Optional

If only a subset of the data that will be returned by the 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.

The Google Fonts Developer API returns a JSON response with a top-level items array containing one object per font family. To configure Nexla to treat each font family object as a separate record, enter the path to the items array in the Set Path to Data in Response field.

  • 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.

    • For the standard Google Fonts API response, enter $.items[*] to access each font family as an individual record.
    Path to Data Example:

    The Google Fonts API response is structured as {"kind": "webfonts#webfontList", "items": [...]} where each element of items is a font family record. Enter $.items[*] in the Set Path to Data in Response field so that Nexla creates one record per font family.

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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

    PathSuggestions.png

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.

For example, the Google Fonts API response includes a top-level kind field (webfonts#webfontList) outside the items array. If you want to preserve this context alongside each font family record, you can specify a path to that metadata.

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.

  • 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.

Request Headers​

Optional

  • 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). Additional headers are often required for API versioning, content type specifications, or custom authentication requirements.

    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.

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.

  • 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.

  • 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​

  1. 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 Google Fonts API 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.