University course data, keyed on the institution
The edX API returns online-course catalog data as clean JSON.
4 active endpoints, on 0 and 1 credit tiers.
- POST/edx/v1/search
- POST/edx/v1/detail
- POST/edx/v1/partners
- POST/edx/v1/subjects
What edX endpoints does ReefAPI ship?
4 live read endpoints. Read-only data API: no writes, no account actions, no dashboard access on the target site.
edX API
3 of 4 endpoints, ready to run
Courses and programs matching a query, each with the partner university, the type, the program type, the level, the language and the subject.
{ "ok": true, "meta": { "api": "edx", "endpoint": "search", "mode": "live", "latency_ms": 875.6, "record_count": 20, "cache_hit": false }, "data": { "results": [ { "id": "1dc2b7e4-21ab-4c39-9da0-1784d3321948", "object_id": "course-1dc2b7e4-21ab-4c39-9da0-1784d3321948", "name": "Machine Learning and AI with Python", "type": "Course", "program_type": "Professional Certificate", "url": "https://www.edx.org/learn/machine-learning/harvard-university-machine-learning-and-ai-with-python", "slug": null, "partner": "Harvard University", "partners": [ "Harvard University" ], "level": "Intermediate", "languages": [ "English" ], "subjects": [ "Data Analysis", "Computer Science" ], "availability": [ "Available now", "Upcoming" ], "weeks_to_complete": 6, "min_effort": 4, "max_effort": 5, "subscription_eligible": null, "recent_enrollment_count": 36270, "skills": [ "null" ], "image": "https://prod-discovery.edx-cdn.org/media/course/image/1dc2b7e4-21ab-4c39-9da0-1784d3321948-3f049112c9dd.png", "short_description": "Learn how to use decision trees, the foundational algorithm for your understanding of machine learning and artificial intelligence." }, { "id": "3a31db71-de8f-45f1-ae65-11981ed9d680", "object_id": "course-3a31db71-de8f-45f1-ae65-11981ed9d680", "name": "CS50's Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python", "type": "Course", "program_type": "Professional Certificate", "url": "https://www.edx.org/learn/artificial-intelligence/harvard-university-cs50-s-introduction-to-artificial-intelligence-with-python", "slug": null, "partner": "Harvard University", "partners": [ "Harvard University" ], "level": "Introductory", "languages": [ "English" ], "subjects": [ "Computer Science" ], "availability": [ "Available now" ], "weeks_to_complete": 7, "min_effort": 10, "max_effort": 30, "subscription_eligible": null, "recent_enrollment_count": 82531, "skills": [ "Search Algorithms", "Handwriting Recognition", "Medical Diagnosis" ], "image": "https://prod-discovery.edx-cdn.org/media/course/image/3a31db71-de8f-45f1-ae65-11981ed9d680-b801bb328333.png", "short_description": "Learn to use machine learning in Python in this introductory course on artificial intelligence." }, { "id": "7e5958e8-d709-41ab-8f8c-4339f7a733c9", "object_id": "course-7e5958e8-d709-41ab-8f8c-4339f7a733c9", "name": "Data Science: Building Machine Learning Models", "type": "Course", "program_type": "Professional Certificate", "url": "https://www.edx.org/learn/machine-learning/harvard-university-data-science-machine-learning", "slug": null, "partner": "Harvard University", "partners": [ "Harvard University" ], "level": "Introductory", "languages": [ "English" ], "subjects": [ "Data Analysis", "Computer Science" ], "availability": [ "Available now" ], "weeks_to_complete": 8, "min_effort": 2, "max_effort": 4, "subscription_eligible": null, "recent_enrollment_count": 16075, "skills": [ "Speech Recognition", "Recommender Systems", "Data Science" ], "image": "https://prod-discovery.edx-cdn.org/media/course/image/7e5958e8-d709-41ab-8f8c-4339f7a733c9-bbb3b4ab9455.jpg", "short_description": "Build a movie recommendation system and learn the science behind one of the most popular and successful data science techniques." } ] } }
How the edX API works
edX is a normal ReefAPI surface — the same four rules that hold for every other engine on the key.
No OAuth app, no request signing, no per-site account. One key covers all 184 engines.
Every route is a POST with a JSON body. Parameters are validated against the published schema before anything is charged.
Credits, not seats. Failed and blocked calls are never charged, and cache hits cost nothing.
One envelope everywhere. meta carries latency_ms, record_count and the endpoint that answered.
Finding what one university teaches online
On this platform the institution is the point. The question is usually 'what does this university offer', not 'what courses exist about this topic'.
{"query": "machine learning"}Rows carry the partner university and the program type, so filtering to one institution or to credential-bearing programs is done on the result.
{"url": "https://www.edx.org/learn/…"}Then the full record. The detail call accepts the URL directly, so a link a user pasted needs no parsing.
Program type is the field that separates a free standalone course from a paid multi-course certificate, and it is on every search row.
curl -X POST https://api.reefapi.com/edx/v1/search \
-H "x-api-key: $REEF_KEY" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"query":"python"}'{
"ok": true,
"data": { … },
"meta": {
"api": "edx",
"endpoint": "search",
"mode": "live",
"latency_ms": …,
"record_count": …
},
"error": null
}edX identifiers, the course run key, and the fields that swap sides between actions
search and detail read from two different sources at edX, so the same course answers differently depending on which one you ask. This table is the mapping. Values were read live on 2026-08-27 from search for "python" and detail for HarvardX CS50P.
| Field | search returns | detail returns |
|---|---|---|
| id | UUID 2cc794d0-316d-42f7-bbfd-25c34e4cd5df | The same UUID |
| object_id | course-<uuid> or program-<uuid>, so the prefix tells you the kind | Not returned |
| slug | null on every row measured | learn/python/harvard-university-cs50-s-introduction-to-programming-with-python |
| chaining the two | Pass the row's url to detail, since slug is empty | Accepts either url or slug |
| availability | ["Available now"], which is also the filter value | ["Current"]. Two different vocabularies for the same state |
| price | Not carried by the catalogue index at all | {price 299, currency USD, free_audit_available true, offer_categories ["Partially Free","Paid"]} |
| enrollment | recent_enrollment_count 192,664 | enrollment_count 1,795,815 lifetime plus recent_enrollment_count 193,438 |
| weeks_to_complete, min_effort, max_effort | 10, 3 and 9 | null, null and null |
| partner | "Harvard University", which is also the filter value | partners[] with name "Harvard University", key "HarvardX", slug "harvardx" |
| course run | Not returned | course_runs[] with key "course-v1:HarvardX+CS50P+Python", pacing_type "self_paced", start and end |
A search row carries program_type even when type is "Course": CS50P's row reads type "Course" with program_type "Professional Certificate", which names a program the course belongs to rather than describing the course. Test type first. There are no star ratings anywhere in this engine, because edX does not publish them, so rank on enrollment_count instead. Pagination is real here: 20 rows per page with meta.total_count 344 and meta.total_pages 18 for "python". partners returned 258 entries and subjects 33, each with a course_count.
How the catalogue is organised
Measured across searches.
Every row names the institution and, where several are involved, all of them. This platform's catalogue is organised around universities rather than around instructors, which makes the partner the field to filter and rank on.
Courses, professional certificates, MicroMasters and degrees all appear in one result set, distinguished by type and program type. They differ by an order of magnitude in time and cost, so the type is not a decoration.
Both are query parameters as well as fields, so narrowing happens upstream. For a catalogue this size that is the difference between a page of results and a page of filtering.
Some rows return a null slug, which is why the detail endpoint accepts a full URL as an alternative. Take the URL from the search row rather than assembling one from a slug that may not be there.
This is what is offered, by whom, at what level — not the lecture content, the enrolment state or your progress. It is built for discovery and comparison rather than for delivery.
What people build with edX
The jobs this data is most often used for.
endpoints
credits per call
Course-aggregators call search to list edX courses and programs by subject and level.
Learning apps use detail to show course info, partner and language options.
Skills tools use subjects and partners to map learning paths across providers.
What edX data costs
The cheapest call here is 0 credits, so $15/mo (Pro) buys 10,000 of them — $1.50 per 1,000 credits. Credits roll over and never expire, and failed or blocked calls are not charged.
Full pricing →- 1,000 free credits on signup, no card
- One key, all 184 APIs, one credit pool
- Failed and blocked calls are never charged
- Credits roll over and never expire
Call it in two lines
Sign up, get 1,000 credits and one key that works on every engine. Then this is the whole protocol.
curl -X POST https://api.reefapi.com/edx/v1/search \
-H "x-api-key: $REEF_KEY" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"query":"python"}'import requests
r = requests.post(
"https://api.reefapi.com/edx/v1/search",
headers={"x-api-key": REEF_KEY},
json={
"query": "python"
},
)
print(r.json()["data"])Have a question? We got answers.
The questions people actually ask before wiring up edX.
Get a free key →Why is slug null on every search result?▾
Because edX's catalogue index does not store one; the slug only exists on the course page itself. On a live search for "python" all 20 rows returned slug null while url was fully populated. Pass that url straight to detail, which parses the path itself and returns the slug for you. Trying to reconstruct a slug from the name will not work, because edX's slugs prefix the subject and the partner, as in learn/python/harvard-university-cs50-s-introduction-to-programming-with-python.
Does the API return the course price?▾
detail does. CS50P returned price {price: 299, currency: "USD", free_audit_available: true, offer_categories: ["Partially Free","Paid"]}. The 299 is the verified-certificate price and free_audit_available true means the course content itself can be taken for nothing. Search rows carry no price, because the catalogue index does not hold one. This is the opposite of the Coursera engine, which publishes no price on any action, and unlike the Udemy engine there is no separate list price to reconcile.
How do I tell a self-paced course from a scheduled session?▾
Read course_runs[].pacing_type, which was "self_paced" for CS50P. Each run also carries key, title, start, end, availability and marketing_url, and the top-level active_run_key names the run currently being sold, "course-v1:HarvardX+CS50P+Python". A course with several scheduled sessions returns several runs with different start dates and pacing_type "instructor_paced".
Why are there two enrollment numbers?▾
enrollment_count is lifetime and recent_enrollment_count is a trailing window. detail for CS50P returned 1,795,815 and 193,438 respectively on 2026-08-27. Only the recent figure appears on search rows, so if you sort search results by enrollment you are sorting by current momentum, not by all-time popularity. Call detail when you need the lifetime number.
Does edX expose star ratings or reviews?▾
No. There is no rating, review_count or reviews action in this engine, because edX does not publish learner ratings on its course pages the way Coursera and Udemy do. The closest available quality signals are enrollment_count, recent_enrollment_count and the partner's own reputation, all of which come back on detail.
Why does availability say "Available now" in search and "Current" in detail?▾
The two sources use different label sets for the same state. The search filter and search rows use "Available now", "Upcoming" and "Archived"; detail returns edX's internal course-run status, which reads "Current". Both are arrays, not strings. Normalize on ingest rather than string-comparing across the two actions.
Why are weeks_to_complete and the effort fields null on detail?▾
Because on a course, effort lives on the run rather than on the product record, and the catalogue index is the one that flattens it. A live search row for CS50P carried weeks_to_complete 10, min_effort 3 and max_effort 9, while detail for the same course returned all three as null. If you want the duration and the price together, take the duration from search and the price from detail.
What is partners[].key, and how does it relate to the run key?▾
It is the Open edX organization code, "HarvardX" for Harvard University, and it is the first segment of the run key: course-v1:HarvardX+CS50P+Python. The search partner filter wants the display name instead, "Harvard University", exactly as the partners action lists it. That action returned 258 publishers with course counts on 2026-08-27, led by IBM at 261, Harvard at 213, Delft at 212 and Google Cloud at 204.
What is the edX API?▾
edX API is a ReefAPI endpoint group for edx It returns live JSON through POST requests under /edx/v1.
Is the edX API free to try?▾
Yes. ReefAPI starts with 1,000 free credits, no card required. edX calls use the same shared credit balance as every other ReefAPI engine.
Do I need an edX login or account?▾
No login to edX is needed for the API response. You call ReefAPI with your x-api-key header, and the playground can run live examples before you create a production key.
How fresh is the edX data?▾
The page example is captured from a live search call, and production requests fetch live data through ReefAPI rather than a static sample.
How many credits does the edX API use?▾
edX actions currently cost 1 credit per successful call. Failed or blocked calls are free, and all APIs draw from one credit pool.
Can I call edX from an AI assistant or MCP client?▾
Yes. Connect ReefAPI once through MCP and your assistant can call edx actions with the same key, credit pool and JSON envelope used by normal REST requests.
25 Media, Film & Knowledge APIs on the same key
One key, one credit pool, one response envelope. If you are pulling edX, you are one call away from the rest of the category — no second contract, no second integration.
Need something this API does not do?
Name the endpoint, the field, or a source we do not carry yet. We ship new APIs every week and you would be first to get the key. Real people read every message and reply the same day.
Try it on your own data before you pay anything
The call above is the real endpoint, not a recording. A free key gives you 1,000 credits, the other 183 APIs, and the same envelope everywhere.
Endpoints, parameters and credit costs on this page are read from the live catalog and cannot drift from what the API accepts. Field notes were captured on 2026-08-30.