Your First API Call

Overview

This guide walks you through making your first API call to Day Copilot, from obtaining credentials to handling the response. By the end, you’ll have created your first task via the API.

Estimated time: 10 minutes

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you need:

A Day Copilot account - Sign up here
An HTTP client:
- Command line: cURL (built into Mac/Linux, Windows download)
- GUI: Postman or Insomnia
- Code: Your preferred programming language

Step 1: Get Your Authentication Token

Via Dashboard

Log in to Day Copilot
Navigate to Settings → API Tokens
Click Generate New Token
Copy the token (it will only be shown once!)

eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1c2VyLXV1aWQifQ...

Keep your token secret! Never commit it to version control or share it publicly. Treat it like a password.

Store Your Token Securely

# Set as environment variable
export DAY_COPILOT_TOKEN="your-token-here"

# Create .env file
DAY_COPILOT_TOKEN=your-token-here

# Add to .gitignore
echo ".env" >> .gitignore

Step 2: Make Your First Request

Let’s fetch your existing tasks to verify authentication works.

curl -X GET "https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DAY_COPILOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json"

const TOKEN = process.env.DAY_COPILOT_TOKEN;

const response = await fetch('https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks', {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${TOKEN}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  }
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log('Tasks:', data);

import os
import requests

TOKEN = os.getenv('DAY_COPILOT_TOKEN')

response = requests.get(
    'https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks',
    headers={
        'Authorization': f'Bearer {TOKEN}',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    }
)

data = response.json()
print('Tasks:', data)

Expected Response

{
  "data": [],
  "meta": {
    "pagination": {
      "limit": 50,
      "offset": 0,
      "total": 0,
      "hasMore": false
    }
  }
}

If you get an empty array, that’s perfect! It means authentication worked and you just don’t have any tasks yet.

Step 3: Create Your First Task

Now let’s create a task:

curl -X POST "https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DAY_COPILOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "title": "My First API Task",
    "description": "Created using the Day Copilot API",
    "priority": "medium",
    "status": "pending"
  }'

const response = await fetch('https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${TOKEN}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    title: 'My First API Task',
    description: 'Created using the Day Copilot API',
    priority: 'medium',
    status: 'pending'
  })
});

const task = await response.json();
console.log('Created task:', task);

response = requests.post(
    'https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks',
    headers={
        'Authorization': f'Bearer {TOKEN}',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    json={
        'title': 'My First API Task',
        'description': 'Created using the Day Copilot API',
        'priority': 'medium',
        'status': 'pending'
    }
)

task = response.json()
print('Created task:', task)

Success Response

{
  "data": {
    "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
    "title": "My First API Task",
    "description": "Created using the Day Copilot API",
    "priority": "medium",
    "status": "pending",
    "created_at": "2025-11-02T12:00:00Z",
    "updated_at": "2025-11-02T12:00:00Z",
    "user_id": "your-user-uuid",
    "version_major": 1,
    "version_minor": 0,
    "is_published": true
  }
}

Key Fields:

id: Unique identifier for this task
created_at: ISO 8601 timestamp
version_major/minor: Versioning info
is_published: Whether task is published (new tasks are auto-published)

Step 4: Retrieve Your Task

Use the id from the creation response to fetch your task:

# Replace {taskId} with actual ID from previous step
curl -X GET "https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks/{taskId}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DAY_COPILOT_TOKEN"

const taskId = '550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000';

const response = await fetch(`https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks/${taskId}`, {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${TOKEN}`
  }
});

const task = await response.json();
console.log('Retrieved task:', task);

task_id = '550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000'

response = requests.get(
    f'https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks/{task_id}',
    headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {TOKEN}'}
)

task = response.json()
print('Retrieved task:', task)

Step 5: Update Your Task

Let’s change the priority to high:

curl -X PUT "https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks/{taskId}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DAY_COPILOT_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "priority": "high"
  }'

const response = await fetch(`https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks/${taskId}`, {
  method: 'PUT',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${TOKEN}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    priority: 'high'
  })
});

const updated = await response.json();
console.log('Updated task:', updated);

response = requests.put(
    f'https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks/{task_id}',
    headers={
        'Authorization': f'Bearer {TOKEN}',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    json={'priority': 'high'}
)

updated = response.json()
print('Updated task:', updated)

Step 6: Complete Your Task

Mark the task as completed:

curl -X POST "https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks/{taskId}/complete" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DAY_COPILOT_TOKEN"

const response = await fetch(`https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks/${taskId}/complete`, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${TOKEN}`
  }
});

const completed = await response.json();
console.log('Completed task:', completed);

response = requests.post(
    f'https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1/tasks/{task_id}/complete',
    headers={'Authorization': f'Bearer {TOKEN}'}
)

completed = response.json()
print('Completed task:', completed)

Common Errors & Solutions

401 Unauthorized

{
  "error": "Unauthorized",
  "message": "Missing or invalid authentication token",
  "status": 401
}

Solutions:

Check token is valid (not expired)
Verify Authorization: Bearer TOKEN format
Ensure token has no extra whitespace

404 Not Found

{
  "error": "Not Found",
  "message": "Task with ID abc-123 does not exist",
  "status": 404
}

Solutions:

Verify task ID is correct
Check task wasn’t deleted
Confirm you have access to this task (RLS)

429 Rate Limited

{
  "error": "Rate limit exceeded",
  "message": "Too many requests",
  "status": 429,
  "retryAfter": 60
}

Solutions:

Wait retryAfter seconds before retry
Implement exponential backoff
Review rate limits

Next Steps: Full CRUD Example

Here’s a complete script demonstrating all operations:

const TOKEN = process.env.DAY_COPILOT_TOKEN;
const BASE_URL = 'https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1';

async function makeRequest(method, endpoint, body = null) {
  const options = {
    method,
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${TOKEN}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    }
  };

  if (body) {
    options.body = JSON.stringify(body);
  }

  const response = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}${endpoint}`, options);

  if (!response.ok) {
    const error = await response.json();
    throw new Error(`API Error: ${error.message}`);
  }

  return response.json();
}

async function main() {
  try {
    // Create
    console.log('Creating task...');
    const created = await makeRequest('POST', '/tasks', {
      title: 'Learn Day Copilot API',
      priority: 'high'
    });
    const taskId = created.data.id;
    console.log('✓ Created:', taskId);

    // Read
    console.log('\nReading task...');
    const task = await makeRequest('GET', `/tasks/${taskId}`);
    console.log('✓ Retrieved:', task.data.title);

    // Update
    console.log('\nUpdating task...');
    await makeRequest('PUT', `/tasks/${taskId}`, {
      status: 'in_progress'
    });
    console.log('✓ Updated to in_progress');

    // Complete
    console.log('\nCompleting task...');
    await makeRequest('POST', `/tasks/${taskId}/complete`);
    console.log('✓ Completed');

    // Delete
    console.log('\nDeleting task...');
    await makeRequest('DELETE', `/tasks/${taskId}`);
    console.log('✓ Deleted');

  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error:', error.message);
  }
}

main();

import os
import requests
from typing import Optional, Dict, Any

TOKEN = os.getenv('DAY_COPILOT_TOKEN')
BASE_URL = 'https://app.daycopilot.ai/api/v1'

def make_request(
    method: str,
    endpoint: str,
    body: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None
) -> Dict[str, Any]:
    """Make API request with error handling"""
    headers = {
        'Authorization': f'Bearer {TOKEN}',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    }

    response = requests.request(
        method,
        f'{BASE_URL}{endpoint}',
        headers=headers,
        json=body
    )

    if not response.ok:
        error = response.json()
        raise Exception(f"API Error: {error.get('message')}")

    return response.json()

def main():
    try:
        # Create
        print('Creating task...')
        created = make_request('POST', '/tasks', {
            'title': 'Learn Day Copilot API',
            'priority': 'high'
        })
        task_id = created['data']['id']
        print(f'✓ Created: {task_id}')

        # Read
        print('\nReading task...')
        task = make_request('GET', f'/tasks/{task_id}')
        print(f"✓ Retrieved: {task['data']['title']}")

        # Update
        print('\nUpdating task...')
        make_request('PUT', f'/tasks/{task_id}', {
            'status': 'in_progress'
        })
        print('✓ Updated to in_progress')

        # Complete
        print('\nCompleting task...')
        make_request('POST', f'/tasks/{task_id}/complete')
        print('✓ Completed')

        # Delete
        print('\nDeleting task...')
        make_request('DELETE', f'/tasks/{task_id}')
        print('✓ Deleted')

    except Exception as error:
        print(f'Error: {error}')

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Testing in Postman

Import Collection: Download Day Copilot Postman Collection
Set Environment Variable:
- Key: DAY_COPILOT_TOKEN
- Value: Your token
Run Requests: Try each endpoint in the collection

Congratulations! 🎉

You’ve successfully:

✅ Authenticated with Day Copilot API
✅ Created a task
✅ Retrieved task data
✅ Updated a task
✅ Completed a task

What’s Next?

Managing Tasks

Learn advanced task management techniques

Working with Events

Create and manage calendar events

Error Handling

Handle errors gracefully in production

API Reference

Explore all available endpoints

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Resources

Overview

Prerequisites

Step 1: Get Your Authentication Token

Via Dashboard

Store Your Token Securely

Step 2: Make Your First Request

Expected Response

Step 3: Create Your First Task

Success Response

Step 4: Retrieve Your Task

Step 5: Update Your Task

Step 6: Complete Your Task

Common Errors & Solutions

401 Unauthorized

404 Not Found

429 Rate Limited

Next Steps: Full CRUD Example

Testing in Postman

Congratulations! 🎉

What’s Next?

Managing Tasks

Working with Events

Error Handling

API Reference

​Overview

​Prerequisites

​Step 1: Get Your Authentication Token

​Via Dashboard

​Store Your Token Securely

​Step 2: Make Your First Request

​Expected Response

​Step 3: Create Your First Task

​Success Response

​Step 4: Retrieve Your Task

​Step 5: Update Your Task

​Step 6: Complete Your Task

​Common Errors & Solutions

​401 Unauthorized

​404 Not Found

​429 Rate Limited

​Next Steps: Full CRUD Example

​Testing in Postman

​Congratulations! 🎉

​What’s Next?

Managing Tasks

Working with Events

Error Handling

API Reference

Overview

Prerequisites

Step 1: Get Your Authentication Token

Via Dashboard

Store Your Token Securely

Step 2: Make Your First Request

Expected Response

Step 3: Create Your First Task

Success Response

Step 4: Retrieve Your Task

Step 5: Update Your Task

Step 6: Complete Your Task

Common Errors & Solutions

401 Unauthorized

404 Not Found

429 Rate Limited

Next Steps: Full CRUD Example

Testing in Postman

Congratulations! 🎉

What’s Next?