How to build an API that returns all the entries of a section in Craft CMS

A step by step walkthrough in creating a GET RESTful endpoint in Craft CMS that uses a controller action to return all the entries of a section.

Oscar de la Hera Gomez
Written by Oscar de la Hera Gomez
First published on 12/21/2022 at 16:36
Last Updated on 12/23/2022 at 08:39
A flower that represents Craft CMS with the text "GET All Entries Endpoint" beneath it.

A step by step walkthrough in creating a GET RESTful endpoint in Craft CMS that uses a controller action to return all the entries of a section.

The following tutorial walks you through how to use a Controller action to gather all the entries of a section and return them as part of a Craft CMS GET API. The tutorial forms part of our Open Source series that details how to create API endpoints that manage the subscribers to the delasign website.

SubscribeHow to build a RESTful API in Craft CMSHow to add an API Key to a RESTful endpoint in Craft CMSHow to build an API that creates a new entryHow to build an API that modifies an entryHow to build an API that deletes an entry

This tutorial assumes that you have created a channel called subscribers, but we would like to note that the knowledge shared in this tutorial can be adapted to suit your needs.

How to create a channel in Craft CMSHow to make a text field in Craft CMSHow to make a flip switch field in Craft CMSHow to create and structure field groups in Craft CMS

We recommend downloading and setting up our Open Source Craft CMS starter project and checking out the main branch and carrying out the steps below. The changes carried out can be found on tutorial/get-all.

git clone git@github.com:delasign/craft-cms-starter.git
Download Open Source ProjectHow to create & setup a Craft CMS project

Step One: Create your API endpoint base

A screenshot of Postman showing a succesful API call for the GET endpoint.

Please follow the tutorials linked below to create your RESTful API with an API key. We recommend testing it in Postman before continuing.

How to build a RESTful API in Craft CMSHow to add an API Key to a RESTful endpoint in Craft CMS

Please note that you must run this line after creating the API base for the API to register:

composer dump-autoload -a

Step Two: Complete the API

A screenshot of VSCode of the completed API. The sample code is provided below.

To gather your entries you must import the craft\elements\Entry at the top of your PHP file by adding the line:

use craft\elements\Entry;

Subsequently, in your Controller action you must gather all entries by using code similar to the one below and replacing YOUR_SECTION with the section handle of the section that you are seeking to filter by.

$entries = Entry::find()->section(["YOUR_SECTION"])->all();

Finally, you must return it through a standardized response:

return $this->sendResponse(200, null, $entries);

Here is a sample Controller that gathers all the subscriber and returns them, using a standardized response as a JSON.

We recommend using standardized responses so that your API's always read the same way.

Step Three: Test

A screenshot of Postman showing all the Subscriber entries. This proves that the endpoint works as expected.

Confirm that the API functions as expected by making a Postman call to your endpoint.

How to make an API call in Postman

Any Questions?

We are actively looking for feedback on how to improve this resource. Please send us a note to inquiries@delasign.com with any thoughts or feedback you may have.

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