Can I combine RapidAPI key and host into a single URL endpoint?

Other Questions RapidAPI
1

I’m working with RapidAPI and getting confused about the setup. In most tutorials I watch, people use one simple URL for their API calls. But when I try to make requests, I keep getting different errors.

My current setup requires me to use separate headers for the API key and host. Is there a way to combine everything into one URL instead of using multiple headers?

Here’s what I’m currently doing:

val endpoint = "https://api.example.com/data"
val apiResponse: HttpResponse<String> = Unirest
    .get(endpoint)
    .header("X-RapidAPI-Key", "my_secret_key")
    .header("x-rapidapi-host", "api.example.com")
    .asString()

Would appreciate any help on simplifying this approach.

2

That’s just how RapidAPI works - you can’t get around those headers. I’ve used RapidAPI on several projects and every single one needs the X-RapidAPI-Key and x-rapidapi-host headers. You’re probably confused because you watched tutorials for regular REST APIs that don’t use RapidAPI’s proxy system. RapidAPI sits between your app and the actual API, so they need those headers to route requests and handle billing. Want cleaner code? Create a wrapper class or utility function that automatically adds these headers to every request. Then you’ll only need to specify the endpoint URL in your API calls.

3

Unfortunately, you cannot combine RapidAPI credentials directly into the URL. RapidAPI requires that you use specific headers for authentication, which is a security measure to prevent exposing sensitive information in logs or browser history. The simpler examples you may have encountered likely pertain to APIs that allow such queries. In your case, the headers ‘X-RapidAPI-Key’ and ‘x-rapidapi-host’ are necessary. Your current approach is correct; however, for cleaner code, you could create a function to handle header setup automatically while keeping the structure intact.

4

nah, not possible with RapidAPI. those headers are must-haves since the proxy system deals with auth. the simple URL stuff is likely from other APIs that don’t go thru RapidAPI’s setup.