TheCocktailDB API

Overview

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://www.thecocktaildb.com/api/json/v1/1/search.php?s=margarita

Result

HTTP 200 · application/json · 17,762 bytes · compressed

Response time

262 ms (median of 3) · fastest 258 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.

Captured Response

Captured from a real request to https://www.thecocktaildb.com/api/json/v1/1/search.php?s=margarita on 2026-08-10. Long arrays and nested objects are truncated to keep the shape readable.

{
  "drinks": [
    {
      "idDrink": "11007",
      "strDrink": "Margarita",
      "strDrinkAlternate": null,
      "strTags": "IBA,ContemporaryClassic",
      "strVideo": null,
      "strCategory": "Ordinary Drink",
      "strIBA": "Contemporary Classics",
      "strAlcoholic": "Alcoholic",
      "strGlass": "Cocktail glass",
      "strInstructions": "Rub the rim of the glass with the lime slice to make the salt stick to it. Take care to moisten only the outer rim and sprinkle the salt on it. The salt shou…",
      "strInstructionsES": "Frota el borde del vaso con la rodaja de lima para que la sal se adhiera a él. Procure humedecer sólo el borde exterior y espolvorear la sal sobre él. La sal…",
      "strInstructionsDE": "Reiben Sie den Rand des Glases mit der Limettenscheibe, damit das Salz daran haftet. Achten Sie darauf, dass nur der äußere Rand angefeuchtet wird und streue…",
      "strInstructionsFR": "Frotter le bord du verre avec la tranche de citron vert pour faire adhérer le sel. Veillez à n'humidifier que le bord extérieur et à y saupoudrer le sel. Le …",
      "strInstructionsIT": "Strofina il bordo del bicchiere con la fetta di lime per far aderire il sale.\r\nAvere cura di inumidire solo il bordo esterno e cospargere di sale.\r\nIl sale d…",
      "…": "(37 more fields)"
    }
  ]
}

Implementation Example

Calls a real endpoint of this API. Replace any placeholder credentials with your own key.

const url = "https://www.thecocktaildb.com/";
// Replace headers or query params with the values required by this API.
const response = await fetch(url, {
  headers: {
  "X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
  }
});
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

import requests

url = "https://www.thecocktaildb.com/"
headers = {"X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}

response = requests.get(url, headers=headers, timeout=30)
response.raise_for_status()
data = response.json()
print(data)

curl "https://www.thecocktaildb.com/api/json/v1/1/search.php?s=margarita"

What Can You Build?

// Find recipes by ingredient or keyword
const headers = { 'X-Api-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY' };
const query = 'pasta';
const response = await fetch(`https://www.thecocktaildb.com/api.php`, { headers });
const data = await response.json();
const recipes = data.recipes || data.meals || data.results || [];
recipes.slice(0, 5).forEach(r => {
  console.log(`🍽️ ${r.title || r.strMeal}: ${r.description || ''}`);
});

// Look up nutrition data for a food item
const headers = { 'X-Api-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY' };
const food = 'banana';
const response = await fetch(`https://www.thecocktaildb.com/api.php`, { headers });
const data = await response.json();
const nutrition = data.nutrition || data;
console.log(`Nutrition for ${food}:`);
console.log('Calories:', nutrition.calories || nutrition.kcal || 'N/A');
console.log('Protein:', nutrition.protein || 'N/A');

// Generate a daily meal plan
const headers = { 'X-Api-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY' };
const response = await fetch(`https://www.thecocktaildb.com/api.php`, { headers });
const data = await response.json();
const meals = data.meals || data.recipes || [];
const mealPlan = { breakfast: meals[0], lunch: meals[1], dinner: meals[2] };
Object.entries(mealPlan).forEach(([time, meal]) => {
  console.log(`${time}: ${meal?.title || meal?.strMeal || 'TBD'}`);
});

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

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.