Overview
chucknorris.io is a free JSON API serving a curated database of Chuck Norris jokes, with endpoints for fetching random jokes, filtering by category, and searching joke text. All requests are unauthenticated, responses are immediate, and the API supports CORS for direct browser use. It is a classic beginner-friendly API used in tutorials for its simplicity and humor.
Beginner Tip
chucknorris.io is perfect for a first API project — no sign-up, no API key, and you can test every endpoint directly in your browser. Start with https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/random to see a joke immediately, then explore categories with /jokes/categories.
Measurement Record
What actually happened when we called this API from our own infrastructure. Every value below was recorded by the request, not copied from the provider's documentation.
- Request
- GET https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/random
- Result
- HTTP 200 · application/json · 358 bytes · compressed
- Response time
- 1074 ms (median of 3) · fastest 257 ms
- Transport
- TLSv1.3 · TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 · certificate issued by Google Trust Services
- Browser CORS
- Allowed — Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
- Served by
- cloudflare
- Recorded
- 2026-08-10
Fields Returned
Top-level fields present in the response we captured, with the type and value we actually received.
| Field | Type | Value received |
|---|---|---|
| categories | array | [0 items] |
| created_at | string (date) | 2020-01-05 13:42:19.104863 |
| icon_url | string (url) | https://api.chucknorris.io/img/avatar/chuck-n… |
| id | string | 6Gmu4wB-QO60anyd6UuZWA |
| updated_at | string (date) | 2020-01-05 13:42:19.104863 |
| url | string (url) | https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/6Gmu4wB-QO60… |
| value | string | Chuck Norris' beard does not hide his secret … |
Captured Response
Captured from a real request to https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/random on 2026-08-10. Long arrays and nested objects are truncated to keep the shape readable.
{
"categories": [],
"created_at": "2020-01-05 13:42:19.104863",
"icon_url": "https://api.chucknorris.io/img/avatar/chuck-norris.png",
"id": "6Gmu4wB-QO60anyd6UuZWA",
"updated_at": "2020-01-05 13:42:19.104863",
"url": "https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/6Gmu4wB-QO60anyd6UuZWA",
"value": "Chuck Norris' beard does not hide his secret smile. It hides another, angrier beard."
} Field Reference
id Unique identifier for the joke, usable to construct a direct permalink URL value The full text of the Chuck Norris joke url Canonical permalink URL for this specific joke on chucknorris.io categories List of category labels assigned to this joke (e.g., ["science", "money"]); empty array if uncategorized created_at Date when this joke was added to the database icon_url URL to the Chuck Norris avatar image associated with this joke Implementation Example
Calls a real endpoint of this API. Replace any placeholder credentials with your own key.
const url = "https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/random";
const response = await fetch(url);
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data); What Can You Build?
Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.
How This API Fails
We deliberately sent this API a broken request and recorded exactly what came back on 2026-08-10. Knowing the shape of an error before you hit it makes error handling much easier to write.
{
"timestamp": "2026-08-10T19:56:17.077Z",
"status": 404,
"error": "Not Found",
"path": "/jokes/random/apisscore-nonexistent-path"
} Common Errors & Troubleshooting
Generated guidance based on this API's documentation, not observed by us. Treat it as a starting point and check against the provider's own error reference.
Measured Score Breakdown
Live HTTP request to the API endpoint
Fully tested on Aug 10, 2026
Technical Specifications
Related Tags
Similar APIs
View All →Corporate Buzz Words
⭐ Beginner's PickCorporate Buzz Words is a fun REST API that generates random corporate jargon and business buzzwords.
Fun Fact
⭐ Beginner's PickFun Fact API randomly selects and returns a true, interesting fact from the FFA (Fun Facts Archive) database.
Imgflip
⭐ Beginner's PickImgflip API lets you retrieve a list of popular meme templates and programmatically create memes by adding captions to them.
Meme Maker
⭐ Beginner's PickMeme Maker API is a simple REST interface for creating custom memes by combining images with user-supplied text.
Techy
⭐ Beginner's PickTechy API generates random tech-savvy-sounding phrases that are perfect for populating placeholder content, building parody apps, or adding humor to developer tools.