GET/v1/search

Search

Fuzzy, typo-tolerant food search across 784K+ foods. Relevance-ranked with quality weighting.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`q`	string	Required	Search query (min 2 chars). Supports fuzzy matching.
`limit`	integer	Optional	Results per page (1-100, default 20)
`offset`	integer	Optional	Pagination offset (0-200, default 0)

Request

curl "https://api.chowapi.dev/v1/search?q=quaker+oatmeal&limit=5" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer chow_live_YOUR_KEY"

Response

200 OK

{
  "results": [
    {
      "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
      "name": "Chocolate Instant Oatmeal",
      "brand": null,
      "barcode": "0030000575512",
      "barcodes": ["0030000575512"],
      "source": "branded",
      "category": "Grains & Cereals",
      "data_quality": 0.44,
      "nutrient_basis": "per_100g",
      "is_verified": false,
      "nutrients": {
        "calories": 371,
        "protein": 11.43,
        "carbs": 71.43,
        "fat": 10,
        "fiber": 8.6,
        "sugar": 20,
        "sodium": 429
      },
      "nutrients_per_serving": {},
      "serving": {
        "amount": 100,
        "unit": "g",
        "description": "100 grams",
        "gram_weight": 100
      },
      "servings": [
        { "amount": 100, "unit": "g", "description": "100 grams", "gram_weight": 100 }
      ],
      "image_url": null,
      "allergens": ["dairy", "soy"],
      "dietary_flags": []
    }
  ],
  "hasMore": true,
  "limit": 5,
  "offset": 0,
  "cached": false,
  "query_ms": 18
}

Response fields

Field	Type	Description
`nutrients`	object	Nutrient values per 100g. Keys: `calories`, `protein`, `carbs`, `fat`, etc. No unit suffixes.
`nutrients_per_serving`	object	Pre-computed nutrient values per serving. Empty if no serving data.
`nutrient_basis`	string	`per_100g` or `per_serving`
`barcodes`	string[]	All known barcodes for this food
`servings`	array	All available serving sizes
`allergens`	string[]	Known allergens (e.g. gluten, dairy, tree_nuts)
`dietary_flags`	string[]	Dietary flags (e.g. vegan, gluten_free)
`hasMore`	boolean	Whether more results exist beyond the current page
`cached`	boolean	Whether the result was served from cache
`query_ms`	number	Server-side query time in milliseconds

Source types

The source field indicates the data origin:

Value	Description
`verified`	USDA Foundation Foods — lab-analyzed whole foods
`branded`	USDA Branded Foods — manufacturer-reported packaged foods
`restaurant_chain`	Restaurant chain nutrition data (e.g. McDonald's, Chipotle)
`restaurant_menu`	Individual restaurant menu items
`community_contributed`	Community-contributed food data

Relevance scoring

Results are ranked by a composite relevance score:

Match Type	Score
Exact name match	100
Name starts with query	80
Brand match	70
Trigram similarity	similarity x 60

Results with equal relevance are sorted by data_quality (descending).

Parameter behavior

Invalid or out-of-range parameter values are silently clamped rather than rejected:

Input	Behavior
`limit=0` or non-numeric	Defaults to 20
`limit=-1`	Clamped to 1
`limit=200`	Clamped to 100
`offset=-5`	Clamped to 0
`offset=201`	Returns 400 error

Errors

Code	Status	Description
`search/query_required`	400	Missing `q` parameter
`search/query_too_short`	400	Query less than 2 characters
`search/offset_too_large`	400	Offset exceeds 200