How to implement Python client for news search API via RapidAPI

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1

I’m working on integrating a news search service through RapidAPI in my Python application. I have the basic API endpoint details but I’m struggling with the implementation.

Here’s what I have so far for the API call:

import requests

api_url = "https://newsapi-service.p.rapidapi.com/api/v1/search"
headers = {
    "X-RapidAPI-Host": "newsapi-service.p.rapidapi.com",
    "X-RapidAPI-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE"
}

params = {
    "query": "technology news",
    "page": 1,
    "limit": 5,
    "safe_mode": True
}

api_response = requests.get(api_url, headers=headers, params=params)

I need help with properly handling the API response and extracting the news data. What’s the best way to parse the JSON response and handle potential errors? Also, should I be using a different HTTP library for better performance?

2

Your setup looks good for basic use. For response handling, add status code checking and JSON parsing. After your requests.get() call, incorporate api_response.raise_for_status() to catch any HTTP errors, then use data = api_response.json() to parse the response. Most news APIs structure data like data['articles'] or something similar. As for HTTP libraries, requests works fine for most applications. Personally, I’ve used it extensively for similar API integrations without any performance issues. Only consider switching to httpx or aiohttp if you’re managing high-volume concurrent requests or need asynchronous features. Additionally, you might want to implement response caching with requests-cache, especially if you’re making repeated calls with the same parameters, as this can help avoid hitting rate limits and significantly enhance speed.

3

I’ve used RapidAPI for months and learned timeout handling is essential. Always set explicit timeouts like requests.get(api_url, headers=headers, params=params, timeout=10) or your app will hang forever. Don’t just handle basic errors - add exponential backoff for rate limits since RapidAPI has strict quotas. I wrap all my API calls in a dedicated class to keep things clean. Watch out for news APIs returning empty arrays during off-hours or weird queries - always check your data exists before processing. Pro tip: reuse the same session object and requests handles connection pooling automatically, giving you better performance for free.

4

ya, totally agree with using try/catch for those timeout issues. its really important to make sure that the response is valid before you try to use any of the data. otherwise, you might run into some serious bugs later on.