Unirate Node.js API Client

A comprehensive Node.js/TypeScript client for the Unirate API - providing free, real-time and historical currency exchange rates, plus VAT rates.

Features

• 🔄 Real-time exchange rates - Get current currency conversion rates
• 📈 Historical data - Access historical exchange rates for any date (1999-2025)
• ⏰ Time series data - Retrieve exchange rate data over date ranges (max 5 years)
• 💰 Currency conversion - Convert amounts between currencies (current and historical)
• 🏛️ VAT rates - Get VAT rates for countries worldwide
• 📊 Multiple output formats - JSON, XML, CSV, TSV support
• 🌍 170+ currencies supported - Including cryptocurrencies
• 🆓 Completely free - No credit card required
• 🚀 Easy to use - Simple, intuitive API
• ⚡ TypeScript support - Full type definitions included

Installation

npm install unirate-api

Quick Start

import { UnirateClient } from 'unirate-api';

// Initialize the client
const client = new UnirateClient('your-api-key-here');

async function main() {
  // Get current exchange rate
  const rate = await client.getRate('USD', 'EUR');
  console.log(`USD to EUR rate: ${rate}`);

  // Convert currency (note: toCurrency is now first parameter)
  const amount = await client.convert('EUR', 100, 'USD');
  console.log(`100 USD = ${amount} EUR`);

  // Get supported currencies
  const currencies = await client.getSupportedCurrencies() as string[];
  console.log(`Supported currencies: ${currencies.length}`);
}

main();

API Methods

Current Rates & Conversion

getRate(fromCurrency?, toCurrency?, format?, callback?)

Get current exchange rates. If toCurrency is omitted, returns rates for all currencies.

// Single currency rate
const rate = await client.getRate('USD', 'EUR');

// All rates for base currency
const allRates = await client.getRate('USD') as Record<string, number>;

// Get rates in CSV format
const csvData = await client.getRate('USD', 'EUR', 'csv') as string;

convert(toCurrency, amount?, fromCurrency?, format?, callback?)

Convert an amount from one currency to another using current rates.

// Convert with default amount (1)
const converted = await client.convert('EUR', 1, 'USD');

// Convert specific amount
const converted = await client.convert('EUR', 100, 'USD');

// Get conversion result in XML format
const xmlResult = await client.convert('EUR', 100, 'USD', 'xml') as string;

getSupportedCurrencies(format?, callback?)

Get a list of all supported currency codes.

const currencies = await client.getSupportedCurrencies() as string[];

// Get currencies in CSV format
const csvCurrencies = await client.getSupportedCurrencies('csv') as string;

Historical Data

getHistoricalRate(date, amount?, fromCurrency?, toCurrency?, format?, callback?)

Get historical exchange rates for a specific date. If toCurrency is omitted, returns rates for all currencies.

// Single currency historical rate
const rate = await client.getHistoricalRate('2024-01-01', 1, 'USD', 'EUR');

// All historical rates for base currency
const allRates = await client.getHistoricalRate('2024-01-01', 1, 'USD') as Record<string, number>;

// Historical conversion with amount
const converted = await client.getHistoricalRate('2024-01-01', 100, 'USD', 'EUR');

getHistoricalRates(date, amount?, baseCurrency?, format?, callback?)

Alias for getHistoricalRate to get all exchange rates for a base currency on a specific date.

const rates = await client.getHistoricalRates('2024-01-01', 1, 'USD') as Record<string, number>;

convertHistorical(amount, fromCurrency, toCurrency, date, format?, callback?)

Convert an amount using historical exchange rates for a specific date.

const converted = await client.convertHistorical(100, 'USD', 'EUR', '2024-01-01');

getTimeSeries(startDate, endDate, amount?, baseCurrency?, currencies?, format?, callback?)

Get time series exchange rate data over a date range (max 5 years).

// Time series for specific currencies
const timeSeries = await client.getTimeSeries(
  '2024-01-01', 
  '2024-01-07',
  1,
  'USD',
  ['EUR', 'GBP']
) as Record<string, Record<string, number>>;

// Time series for all currencies
const allSeries = await client.getTimeSeries('2024-01-01', '2024-01-07', 1, 'USD');

// Time series with amount conversion
const convertedSeries = await client.getTimeSeries(
  '2024-01-01', 
  '2024-01-07',
  100,
  'USD',
  ['EUR']
);

New Features

getHistoricalLimits(format?, callback?)

Get information about available historical data limits per currency.

import { HistoricalLimitsResponse } from 'unirate-api';

const limits = await client.getHistoricalLimits() as HistoricalLimitsResponse;
console.log(`Total currencies with historical data: ${limits.total_currencies}`);

Object.entries(limits.currencies).forEach(([currency, info]) => {
  console.log(`${currency}: ${info.earliest_date} to ${info.latest_date}`);
});

getVATRates(country?, format?, callback?)

Get VAT rates for all countries or a specific country.

import { VATRatesResponse, VATRateResponse } from 'unirate-api';

// Get all VAT rates
const allVAT = await client.getVATRates() as VATRatesResponse;
console.log(`Total countries: ${allVAT.total_countries}`);

// Get VAT rate for specific country
const germanyVAT = await client.getVATRates('DE') as VATRateResponse;
console.log(`Germany VAT rate: ${germanyVAT.vat_data.vat_rate}%`);

// Get VAT rates in CSV format
const csvVAT = await client.getVATRates(undefined, 'csv') as string;

Output Formats

All methods support multiple output formats:

• json (default) - Returns TypeScript objects
• xml - Returns XML string
• csv - Returns CSV string
• tsv - Returns TSV string

// JSON (default)
const jsonData = await client.getRate('USD', 'EUR');

// XML format
const xmlData = await client.getRate('USD', 'EUR', 'xml') as string;

// CSV format
const csvData = await client.getRate('USD', 'EUR', 'csv') as string;

// TSV format
const tsvData = await client.getRate('USD', 'EUR', 'tsv') as string;

JSONP Support

For JSON responses, you can specify a JSONP callback function:

const jsonpData = await client.getRate('USD', 'EUR', 'json', 'myCallback');

Complete Example

import { 
  UnirateClient, 
  UnirateError, 
  AuthenticationError, 
  RateLimitError,
  HistoricalLimitsResponse,
  VATRatesResponse 
} from 'unirate-api';

async function main() {
  const client = new UnirateClient('your-api-key-here');
  
  try {
    console.log('=== Current Rates ===');
    
    // Current exchange rate
    const rate = await client.getRate('USD', 'EUR');
    console.log(`Current USD to EUR: ${rate}`);
    
    // All rates for USD
    const allRates = await client.getRate('USD') as Record<string, number>;
    console.log(`EUR: ${allRates.EUR}, GBP: ${allRates.GBP}`);
    
    // Currency conversion
    const converted = await client.convert('EUR', 1000, 'USD');
    console.log(`1000 USD = ${converted} EUR`);
    
    console.log('\n=== Historical Data ===');
    
    // Historical rate
    const historicalRate = await client.getHistoricalRate('2024-01-01', 1, 'USD', 'EUR');
    console.log(`USD to EUR on 2024-01-01: ${historicalRate}`);
    
    // Historical conversion
    const historicalConverted = await client.convertHistorical(1000, 'USD', 'EUR', '2024-01-01');
    console.log(`1000 USD = ${historicalConverted} EUR (on 2024-01-01)`);
    
    // Time series data
    const timeSeries = await client.getTimeSeries(
      '2024-01-01', '2024-01-05',
      1,
      'USD',
      ['EUR', 'GBP']
    ) as Record<string, Record<string, number>>;
    console.log('USD time series:');
    Object.entries(timeSeries).forEach(([date, rates]) => {
      console.log(`  ${date}: EUR=${rates.EUR}, GBP=${rates.GBP}`);
    });
    
    console.log('\n=== New Features ===');
    
    // Historical limits
    const limits = await client.getHistoricalLimits() as HistoricalLimitsResponse;
    console.log(`Total currencies: ${limits.total_currencies}`);
    
    // VAT rates
    const vatRates = await client.getVATRates() as VATRatesResponse;
    console.log(`Total countries with VAT: ${vatRates.total_countries}`);
    
    // Germany VAT
    const germanyVAT = await client.getVATRates('DE');
    console.log(`Germany VAT: ${(germanyVAT as any).vat_data.vat_rate}%`);
    
    console.log('\n=== Format Examples ===');
    
    // CSV format
    const csvData = await client.getRate('USD', 'EUR', 'csv') as string;
    console.log('CSV format:', csvData.substring(0, 50) + '...');
    
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof AuthenticationError) {
      console.error('Invalid API key');
    } else if (error instanceof RateLimitError) {
      console.error('Rate limit exceeded');
    } else if (error instanceof UnirateError) {
      console.error('API Error:', error.message);
    } else {
      console.error('Unexpected error:', error);
    }
  }
}

main();

Error Handling

The client provides specific exception types for different error scenarios:

import { 
  UnirateClient,
  UnirateError, 
  AuthenticationError, 
  RateLimitError, 
  InvalidCurrencyError, 
  InvalidDateError, 
  APIError
} from 'unirate-api';

const client = new UnirateClient('your-api-key');

try {
  const rate = await client.getRate('USD', 'INVALID');
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof AuthenticationError) {
    console.error('Invalid API key');
  } else if (error instanceof InvalidCurrencyError) {
    console.error('Invalid currency code');
  } else if (error instanceof RateLimitError) {
    console.error('Rate limit exceeded');
  } else if (error instanceof InvalidDateError) {
    console.error('Invalid date format');
  } else if (error instanceof APIError) {
    console.error(`API Error: ${error.message} (Status: ${error.statusCode})`);
  } else if (error instanceof UnirateError) {
    console.error(`General API Error: ${error.message}`);
  }
}

Rate Limits

• Currency endpoints: Standard rate limits apply
• Historical endpoints: 50 requests per hour
• VAT endpoints: 1800 requests per hour

Configuration

Constructor Options

const client = new UnirateClient(
  'your-api-key',     // API key (required)
  30000               // Timeout in milliseconds (optional, default: 30000)
);

Environment Variables

You can also use environment variables:

const client = new UnirateClient(process.env.UNIRATE_API_KEY!);

API Key

Get your free API key from https://unirateapi.com. No credit card required!

Supported Currencies

The API supports 170+ currencies including:

• Traditional currencies: USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CAD, AUD, etc.
• Cryptocurrencies: BTC, ETH, LTC, and many more

Use getSupportedCurrencies() to get the complete list.

Historical Data Coverage

Historical data is available from 1999 to 2025, with coverage varying by currency:

• Major currencies: Full coverage from 1999-01-01
• Some currencies: Limited historical data (use getHistoricalLimits() to check)

Requirements

• Node.js 14+
• TypeScript 4+ (for TypeScript projects)

Dependencies

• axios - for HTTP requests

Changelog

Version 1.0.0

• NEW: VAT rates endpoint (getVATRates())
• NEW: Historical limits endpoint (getHistoricalLimits())
• NEW: Multiple output formats (JSON, XML, CSV, TSV)
• NEW: JSONP callback support
• BREAKING: Updated method signatures with optional parameters and defaults
• BREAKING: convert() method parameter order changed (toCurrency first)
• BREAKING: Historical methods now require date as first parameter
• IMPROVED: Better error handling with specific exception types
• IMPROVED: Enhanced response parsing for new API structure
• IMPROVED: Full TypeScript interface definitions for all new features

Related clients

• unirate-api-python — Python (PyPI: unirate-api)
• unirate-api-swift — Swift (SPM)
• unirate-api-java — Java (Maven)
• unirate-api-go — Go
• unirate-api-rust — Rust (crates.io: unirate-api)
• unirate-api-ruby — Ruby (gem: unirate-api)
• unirate-api-php — PHP (Composer: unirate-api/unirate-api)
• unirate-api-dotnet — .NET / C# (NuGet: UniRateApi)

UniRate ecosystem

UniRate ships official integrations for 40+ ecosystems, all maintained under the UniRate-API org.

Core clients (9 languages) Python · Node.js / TypeScript · Go · Rust · Java · Ruby · PHP · .NET · Swift

JavaScript / TypeScript React · Next.js · Remix · SvelteKit · Vue · Angular · Nuxt · NestJS · tRPC

Static-site generators Astro · Eleventy · Hugo · Jekyll

CMS & e-commerce Wagtail · WordPress · WooCommerce · Drupal · Strapi · Medusa · Symfony · Laravel · Directus

Data, AI & backend LangChain (Python) · LangChain.js · FastAPI · Flask · Django REST Framework · Apache Airflow · dbt

Platform & tools MCP server · CLI · Cloudflare Workers · Home Assistant · n8n · Google Sheets · VS Code · Obsidian

Money library bridges money gem (Ruby) · NodaMoney (.NET)

Get a free API key at unirateapi.com.

License

MIT License