Developer

Color API

Access all 2016 curated ColorArchive colors via a simple REST API. Free, no auth required, CORS enabled.

Base URLhttps://colorarchive.me/api

GET/api/colors

Search, filter, and paginate through 2016 colors. Supports semantic search — try queries like "sunset", "ocean", or "minimal".

Parameters

Name	Type	Default	Description
q	string	""	Search by name, hex, or semantic keyword (e.g. "sunset", "ocean", "pastel")
family	string	"All"	Filter by color family: Red, Orange, Yellow, Lime, Green, Teal, Blue, Purple, Pink
sort	string	"hue"	Sort order: hue, lightness, or name
limit	number	50	Max results per page (1–200)
offset	number	0	Pagination offset

Example Response

{
  "total": 280,
  "limit": 2,
  "offset": 0,
  "colors": [
    {
      "id": "teal-ink-muted",
      "name": "Teal Ink Muted",
      "hex": "#1D2A26",
      "rgb": "rgb(29, 42, 38)",
      "hsl": "hsl(160, 18%, 14%)",
      "hue": 160,
      "saturation": 18,
      "lightness": 14,
      "family": "Teal"
    },
    ...
  ]
}

Try it

GET

GET/api/colors/:id

Get a single color by its slug or hex code. Returns the full color record plus relationships (analogous, complementary, triadic, split-complementary, nearest).

Path Parameter

Name	Type	Default	Description
id	string	—	Color slug (e.g. "sapphire-pure-vivid") or 6-digit hex without # (e.g. "1A6BD9")

Example Response

{
  "id": "sapphire-pure-vivid",
  "name": "Sapphire Pure Vivid",
  "hex": "#1A6BD9",
  "rgb": "rgb(26, 107, 217)",
  "hsl": "hsl(210, 74%, 50%)",
  "hue": 210,
  "saturation": 74,
  "lightness": 50,
  "family": "Blue",
  "relationships": {
    "analogous": [ ... ],
    "complementary": { ... },
    "triadic": [ ... ],
    "splitComplementary": [ ... ],
    "nearest": [ ... ]
  }
}

Try it

GET

Quick Start

JavaScript / fetch

const res = await fetch("https://colorarchive.me/api/colors?q=sunset&limit=10");
const { colors } = await res.json();
console.log(colors[0].hex); // "#8B2500"

curl

curl "https://colorarchive.me/api/colors?family=Blue&sort=lightness&limit=5"

Notes

Responses are cached for 24 hours at the edge (CDN).
No authentication required. No rate limiting (be reasonable).
CORS is enabled for all origins.
All 2016 colors are generated algorithmically — the dataset is stable and deterministic.