NPR Listening Service

npr · Media

Media No Auth Free & Open entertainment

Audio recommendations tailored to a user's preferences

Authentication

No authentication requiredFree to use with no key needed.

Sample Requests

GET Get the list of available channels

These channels allow the user to specify a focus for the content returned in the recommendations endpoint.

https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/channels?exploreOnly=false

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

Headers — extra info sent with the request

Authorization

example

curl -X GET "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/channels?exploreOnly=false" \
  -H "Authorization: example"

import requests
params = {
    "exploreOnly": "false"
}
headers = {
    "Authorization": "example"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/channels",
    params=params,
    headers=headers,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/channels');
url.searchParams.set('exploreOnly', 'false');

const response = await fetch(url, {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'example'
  },
}); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/channels")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("exploreOnly", "false")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)
	req.Header.Set("Authorization", "example")

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/channels")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "exploreOnly" => "false"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["Authorization"] = "example"

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/channels?" . http_build_query([
    "exploreOnly" => "false"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
    "header" => implode("\r\n", [
        "Authorization: example"
    ]),
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Get a list of media for the logged-in user from NPR's recommendation engine

This endpoint returns a list of audio recommendations. It is designed to be used for an initial list of recommendations, and then `POST /v2/ratings?recommend=true` should be used for subsequent requests for recommendations. A fully-populated link to the ratings endpoint is returned with each indivi

https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/recommendations?channel=npr&sharedMediaId=example&notifiedMediaId=example

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

Headers — extra info sent with the request

Authorization

example

curl -X GET "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/recommendations?channel=npr&sharedMediaId=example&notifiedMediaId=example" \
  -H "Authorization: example"

import requests
params = {
    "channel": "npr",
    "sharedMediaId": "example",
    "notifiedMediaId": "example"
}
headers = {
    "Authorization": "example"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/recommendations",
    params=params,
    headers=headers,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/recommendations');
url.searchParams.set('channel', 'npr');
url.searchParams.set('sharedMediaId', 'example');
url.searchParams.set('notifiedMediaId', 'example');

const response = await fetch(url, {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'example'
  },
}); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/recommendations")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("channel", "npr")
	q.Set("sharedMediaId", "example")
	q.Set("notifiedMediaId", "example")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)
	req.Header.Set("Authorization", "example")

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/recommendations")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "channel" => "npr",
  "sharedMediaId" => "example",
  "notifiedMediaId" => "example"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["Authorization"] = "example"

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/recommendations?" . http_build_query([
    "channel" => "npr",
    "sharedMediaId" => "example",
    "notifiedMediaId" => "example"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
    "header" => implode("\r\n", [
        "Authorization: example"
    ]),
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Get a list of recent audio and aggregation items associated with search terms

In the schema shown below, SearchItemDocument is not an actual type of returned object; the object returned by a search will be either an AggregationAudioItemListDocument or an AudioItemDocument.

https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/search/recommendations?searchTerms=example

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

Headers — extra info sent with the request

Authorization

example

curl -X GET "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/search/recommendations?searchTerms=example" \
  -H "Authorization: example"

import requests
params = {
    "searchTerms": "example"
}
headers = {
    "Authorization": "example"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/search/recommendations",
    params=params,
    headers=headers,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/search/recommendations');
url.searchParams.set('searchTerms', 'example');

const response = await fetch(url, {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'example'
  },
}); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/search/recommendations")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("searchTerms", "example")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)
	req.Header.Set("Authorization", "example")

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/search/recommendations")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "searchTerms" => "example"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
req["Authorization"] = "example"

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/npr.org/listening/2/v2/search/recommendations?" . http_build_query([
    "searchTerms" => "example"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
    "header" => implode("\r\n", [
        "Authorization: example"
    ]),
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

Postman Setup Guide

Get Postman ↗

See official documentation for authentication and setup.

What can you build with NPR Listening Service?

NPR Listening Service is a Media API. Developers commonly use media APIs for:

storing and delivering images, video, and audio
building digital asset management and media libraries
transcoding and optimising media for the web
adding video streaming and playback to your app
automating content tagging and metadata extraction

No authentication required. This API is open — no signup or key needed. Ideal for quick prototypes and public-facing features. NPR Listening Service is free to use, making it a low-risk choice to experiment with.

New to APIs? Read our beginner's guide

Open documentation ↗