How to integrate IMDB API through RapidAPI with Google Sheets

Other Questions RapidAPI
1

Setting up movie data retrieval in Google Sheets

I’m trying to build my first API integration project. My goal is simple - create a Google Sheet that can fetch movie details when I enter a film title.

I discovered RapidAPI has a Google Sheets extension, but I’m struggling with the setup. The documentation seems limited and I keep running into issues.

Current understanding

From what I found, there’s supposedly a =GET() function that should work like this finance example:

=GET("https://finance-data-api.p.rapidapi.com/stock/{ticker}/info","quote.name","MY_KEY_HERE","ticker","MSFT")

But when I try adapting this for IMDB data, nothing works. The movie API code sample looks completely different:

const fetch = require("node-fetch");

const settings = {
  method: 'GET',
  url: 'https://movie-database-alternative.p.rapidapi.com/',
  params: {s: 'Avatar'},
  headers: {
    'x-rapidapi-host': 'movie-database-alternative.p.rapidapi.com',
    'x-rapidapi-key': 'abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno345pqr678stu901vwx234'
  }
};

fetch(settings).then(function (result) {
    console.log(result.data);
}).catch(function (err) {
    console.error(err);
});

I notice the search parameter ‘s’ here, similar to how regular IMDB searches work:

https://www.imdb.com/find?s=avatar&ref_=nv_sr_sm

Main problems

  • Can’t figure out the correct =GET() syntax for movie data
  • Unsure what those curly braces mean in the URL
  • Keep getting 400 error responses

Anyone have experience with this setup? Looking for a working example or better documentation that makes sense for beginners.

2

Hit this same issue 6 months back building a film tracker. The problem is GET function syntax is totally different from those JavaScript examples RapidAPI shows you.

What saved me: parameter order matters big time. Base URL first, JSON path for the data you want, API key, then query parameters as key-value pairs.

For movies, I used: =GET(“https://movie-database-alternative.p.rapidapi.com/",“Search[0].Year”,“your-key-here”,“s”,"movie title”,“type”,“movie”)

The JSON path is the killer - the API spits back arrays so it’s easy to mess up. Start with simple stuff like Title before diving into nested data. And check your RapidAPI subscription status because inactive subs throw 400 errors that look like syntax issues.

3

hey mike, had the same issue last month. those curly braces are just placeholders - swap {ticker} with the actual movie title. try: =GET(“https://movie-database-alternative.p.rapidapi.com/",“Title”,“your-api-key”,“s”,"avatar”) - worked for me after fighting with their docs

4

Those 400 errors are probably from bad parameter formatting. I encountered the same issue while building my movie database sheet. The RapidAPI Google Sheets extension requires parameters in a specific order - URL, response field path, API key, followed by your parameter pairs. For the IMDB alternative API, try: =GET(“https://movie-database-alternative.p.rapidapi.com/",“Search[0].Title”,“your_api_key”,“s”,"Avatar”). The response field path uses dot notation to navigate through the JSON. Since the API returns nested data, you must specify the exact field you want. Also, ensure your API key is still active and that you haven’t exhausted your RapidAPI requests.