USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Food Search API

openapi: 3.0.1
info:
  title: USDA Ag Data Commons CKAN Datasets Food Search API
  description: The USDA Ag Data Commons is an agricultural research data repository powered by DKAN/CKAN. The API provides metadata discovery for datasets from USDA Agricultural Research Service national programs. No authentication required for read access.
  version: '1.0'
  contact:
    name: USDA National Agricultural Library - Ag Data Commons
    url: https://agdatacommons.nal.usda.gov
  license:
    name: CC0 1.0 Universal
    url: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
servers:
- url: https://data.nal.usda.gov
security: []
tags:
- name: Food Search
  description: Search foods by keywords or other criteria
paths:
  /foods/search:
    get:
      tags:
      - Food Search
      operationId: searchFoodsGet
      summary: Search Foods by Keywords
      description: Returns foods matching the search query. Supports boolean AND/OR operators. Returns up to 50 results per page.
      parameters:
      - name: query
        in: query
        required: true
        description: One or more keywords to search for
        schema:
          type: string
        example: cheddar cheese
      - name: dataType
        in: query
        description: Filter by data type(s)
        schema:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
            enum:
            - Foundation
            - Branded
            - Survey (FNDDS)
            - SR Legacy
            - Experimental
        style: form
        explode: false
      - name: pageSize
        in: query
        description: Number of results per page (max 200)
        schema:
          type: integer
          default: 50
          maximum: 200
      - name: pageNumber
        in: query
        schema:
          type: integer
          default: 1
      - name: sortBy
        in: query
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - dataType.keyword
          - lowercaseDescription.keyword
          - fdcId
          - publishedDate
      - name: sortOrder
        in: query
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - asc
          - desc
      - name: brandOwner
        in: query
        description: Filter by brand owner (Branded Foods only)
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: api_key
        in: query
        schema:
          type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Food search results
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchResult'
        '400':
          description: Bad request
    post:
      tags:
      - Food Search
      operationId: searchFoodsPost
      summary: Search Foods by Keywords (POST)
      requestBody:
        content:
          application/json:
            schema:
              type: object
              properties:
                query:
                  type: string
                  description: Search keywords
                dataType:
                  type: array
                  items:
                    type: string
                pageSize:
                  type: integer
                  default: 50
                pageNumber:
                  type: integer
                  default: 1
                sortBy:
                  type: string
                sortOrder:
                  type: string
                brandOwner:
                  type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Food search results
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchResult'
components:
  schemas:
    SearchResultFood:
      type: object
      properties:
        fdcId:
          type: integer
        description:
          type: string
        dataType:
          type: string
        publishedDate:
          type: string
          format: date
        brandOwner:
          type: string
          nullable: true
        brandName:
          type: string
          nullable: true
        ingredients:
          type: string
          nullable: true
        foodNutrients:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/AbridgedFoodNutrient'
        foodCategory:
          type: string
          nullable: true
    SearchResult:
      type: object
      description: Food search response
      properties:
        totalHits:
          type: integer
          description: Total matching foods
        currentPage:
          type: integer
        totalPages:
          type: integer
        foods:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchResultFood'
    AbridgedFoodNutrient:
      type: object
      properties:
        nutrientId:
          type: integer
        nutrientName:
          type: string
        nutrientNumber:
          type: string
        unitName:
          type: string
        value:
          type: number