Bored API

aid: bored
name: Bored API
description: >-
  The Bored API is a free, open-source, no-authentication public API that serves suggestions for things to do when you
  are bored. The canonical reference implementation is an MEVN (MongoDB / Express / Vue / Node) project maintained by
  Drew Thoennes at github.com/drewthoennes/Bored-API (MIT licensed). The historically hosted instance at
  https://www.boredapi.com/ has been intermittently or fully unreachable since June 2024 (originally hosted on Heroku);
  a community fork maintained by The App Brewery at https://bored-api.appbrewery.com remains actively available for
  students and consumers. This profile documents the v1 surface (legacy activities-only), the v2 surface (activities +
  facts + riddles + websites + suggestions), and the App Brewery community mirror, so the API contract is preserved as a
  historical, self-hostable artifact.
url: https://github.com/drewthoennes/Bored-API
humanURL: https://github.com/drewthoennes/Bored-API
specificationVersion: '0.20'
type: Index
access: 3rd-Party
kind: opensource
created: '2026-05-28'
modified: '2026-05-30'
position: Consumer
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
x-type: opensource
x-status: hosted-instance-deprecated
x-source: public-apis/public-apis
x-category: Development
x-tier: 3
x-tier-reason: bulk-registered-from-public-apis
tags:
  - Activities
  - Boredom
  - Community
  - Development
  - Discovery
  - Education
  - Facts
  - Free
  - MEVN
  - No Auth
  - Open Source
  - Public APIs
  - Recreation
  - Riddles
  - Suggestions
  - Websites
apis:
  - aid: bored:bored-api
    name: Bored API (Canonical)
    description: >-
      Canonical Drew Thoennes Bored API surface, covering v1 (legacy activities) and v2 (activities + facts + riddles +
      websites + suggestions). No authentication. The hosted instance at www.boredapi.com has been unreliable since
      2024; the spec is preserved for self-hosting.
    humanURL: https://github.com/drewthoennes/Bored-API
    baseURL: https://www.boredapi.com
    image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
    tags:
      - Activities
      - Facts
      - Riddles
      - Websites
      - Suggestions
      - REST
      - No Auth
    type: REST
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://github.com/drewthoennes/Bored-API#readme
        name: README on GitHub
      - type: SourceCode
        url: https://github.com/drewthoennes/Bored-API
        name: Drew Thoennes Bored-API on GitHub
      - type: OpenAPI
        url: openapi/bored-api-openapi.yml
      - type: JSONSchema
        url: json-schema/bored-activity-v1-schema.json
      - type: JSONSchema
        url: json-schema/bored-activity-v2-schema.json
      - type: JSONSchema
        url: json-schema/bored-fact-schema.json
      - type: JSONSchema
        url: json-schema/bored-riddle-schema.json
      - type: JSONSchema
        url: json-schema/bored-website-schema.json
      - type: JSONSchema
        url: json-schema/bored-suggestion-schema.json
      - type: JSONStructure
        url: json-structure/bored-activity-v1-structure.json
      - type: JSONStructure
        url: json-structure/bored-activity-v2-structure.json
      - type: JSONStructure
        url: json-structure/bored-fact-structure.json
      - type: JSONStructure
        url: json-structure/bored-riddle-structure.json
      - type: JSONStructure
        url: json-structure/bored-website-structure.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/bored-api-get-random-activity-v1-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/bored-api-get-random-activity-v1-filtered-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/bored-api-get-random-activity-v2-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/bored-api-get-activity-by-key-v2-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/bored-api-get-random-fact-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/bored-api-get-random-riddle-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/bored-api-get-random-website-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/bored-api-submit-suggestion-example.json
    x-features:
      - No authentication required (free, open API)
      - Random activity discovery with multi-dimensional filters (type, participants, price, accessibility)
      - Min/max range filters for participants, price, and accessibility
      - V1 (numeric accessibility/price) and v2 (enumerated accessibility, dollar-sign price ladder) shapes
      - Facts, riddles (with difficulty), and websites endpoints (v2)
      - Community suggestion submission for activities, facts, riddles, and websites
      - Self-hostable as a standard MEVN project (MongoDB + Express + Vue + Node)
    x-use-cases:
      - I'm Bored Alexa skill
      - Discord and Slack bot commands for spontaneous activity suggestions
      - Onboarding sample API for tutorials and bootcamps
      - Mobile activity-finder applications (iOS, Android)
      - Decision-fatigue helper tools and browser extensions
  - aid: bored:bored-appbrewery
    name: Bored API (App Brewery Community Fork)
    description: >-
      Community-hosted mirror of the Bored API maintained by The App Brewery for their web development course. Provides
      a flattened path scheme (/random, /filter, /activity/{key}) on bored-api.appbrewery.com and is rate-limited to 100
      requests per 15 minutes. No authentication.
    humanURL: https://bored-api.appbrewery.com/
    baseURL: https://bored-api.appbrewery.com
    image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
    tags:
      - Activities
      - Community Fork
      - Education
      - REST
      - No Auth
    type: REST
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://bored-api.appbrewery.com/
        name: App Brewery Bored API Documentation
      - type: OpenAPI
        url: openapi/bored-appbrewery-openapi.yml
      - type: RateLimits
        url: https://bored-api.appbrewery.com/
        name: 100 requests per 15 minutes
      - type: Example
        url: examples/bored-appbrewery-get-random-example.json
      - type: Example
        url: examples/bored-appbrewery-filter-example.json
    x-features:
      - Active hosted mirror (the original boredapi.com is unreliable)
      - Flatter path scheme (/random, /filter, /activity/{key})
      - Built-in 100 req / 15 min rate limit
      - Refined activity shape with enumerated accessibility and duration
      - Used in The App Brewery web development curriculum
    x-use-cases:
      - Student exercises and bootcamp lessons
      - Demos for HTTP clients, fetch/axios tutorials
      - Drop-in replacement for projects originally targeting boredapi.com
common:
  - type: Website
    url: https://www.boredapi.com/
    name: Bored API Website (Historic)
  - type: Portal
    url: https://bored-api.appbrewery.com/
    name: App Brewery Hosted Mirror
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/drewthoennes/Bored-API
    name: Canonical GitHub Repository
  - type: SourceCode
    url: https://github.com/drewthoennes/Bored-API
    name: Drew Thoennes Bored-API Source
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://github.com/drewthoennes/Bored-API#readme
    name: README Documentation
  - type: License
    url: https://github.com/drewthoennes/Bored-API/blob/master/license
    name: MIT License
  - type: PublicAPIsListing
    url: https://github.com/public-apis/public-apis
    name: Listed in public-apis/public-apis
  - type: SDK
    url: https://pypi.org/project/bored/
    name: Python wrapper (bored on PyPI)
  - type: SDK
    url: https://pypi.org/project/bored-api/
    name: Alternate Python wrapper (bored-api on PyPI)
  - type: SDK
    url: https://gitlab.com/CMDR_Tvis/bored-api
    name: Kotlin wrapper
  - type: JSONLD
    url: json-ld/bored-context.jsonld
  - type: Spectral
    url: rules/bored-rules.yml
  - type: Vocabulary
    url: vocabulary/bored-vocabulary.yml
  - type: Features
    data:
      - name: Free and open
        description: No API key, no auth, no signup required.
      - name: Multi-dimensional filtering
        description: Activities can be filtered by type, participants, price, and accessibility — including min/max ranges.
      - name: Versioned surface
        description: V1 (legacy) and v2 (extended with facts, riddles, websites, suggestions) coexist.
      - name: Self-hostable
        description: MIT-licensed MEVN stack — clone, npm install, run against a local MongoDB.
      - name: Community-extensible
        description: V2 suggestions endpoint accepts new activity, fact, riddle, and website submissions for moderator review.
  - type: UseCases
    data:
      - name: Boredom busters
        description: I'm Bored Alexa skill, Discord bots, browser extensions for spontaneous activity ideas.
      - name: Teaching API
        description: >-
          Sample API used in many web-development bootcamps (notably The App Brewery course) for fetch/axios/HTTP
          exercises.
      - name: Mobile apps
        description: iOS and Android apps that surface random activities to users.
      - name: Decision support
        description: Helper tools that recommend low-cost, low-participant activities when users can't decide what to do.
    description: Common use cases for the Bored API across hobbyist and educational projects.
  - type: Integrations
    data:
      - name: Amazon Alexa
        description: I'm Bored Alexa skill consuming the Bored API for spoken suggestions.
      - name: Python (PyPI)
        description: bored and bored-api Python wrappers on PyPI.
      - name: Kotlin
        description: CMDR_Tvis Kotlin wrapper on GitLab.
      - name: iOS App Store
        description: Bored — Find What to Do iOS app.
      - name: The App Brewery
        description: Used as the canonical fetch/axios teaching API in The App Brewery's web-development course.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com