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November 14, 2025•By Product API Team•Drone

Building a Drone API with The Product API: A Complete Guide

Create a specialized Drone Product API with flight time, camera specifications, range, GPS features, and drone capabilities. Perfect for drone marketplaces and aerial photography retailers.

Introduction to Drones

Drones have become increasingly popular for photography, videography, racing, and commercial applications. Finding the right drone with the right specifications can be challenging. Whether you're a photographer seeking a camera drone, a hobbyist looking for a racing drone, or a developer building a drone marketplace, having structured drone product data is crucial.

Imagine being able to search for drones and instantly get detailed information about each model - from camera specifications and flight time to range and GPS features, from obstacle avoidance to tracking capabilities. This is exactly what a specialized Drone Product API can provide.

What Makes a Drone API Special?

A Drone Product API goes beyond basic product listings. It understands the unique characteristics that matter to drone buyers:

  • Drone Type: Camera, racing, toy, professional, delivery, and more
  • Camera: Resolution, gimbal stabilization, and video capabilities
  • Performance: Flight time, max speed, and range
  • Intelligence: GPS, obstacle avoidance, and autonomous features
  • Features: Follow me, return to home, and tracking modes
  • Durability: Weight, wind resistance, and build quality
  • Battery: Type, capacity, and charging time

With this structured data, you can build powerful features like filtering by drone type, comparing flight times, or recommending drones based on intended use.

Try It Out: Search for Drones

Use the search bar below to search for drones. Try queries like "DJI Mavic 3 camera drone", "DJI Mini 3", or "FPV racing drone". The results will include detailed specifications automatically extracted from product information across the web.

Try the Drone API

Search for drones and see detailed specifications automatically extracted from product information.

How It Works: Technical Implementation

Now that you've seen the API in action, let's dive into how it's implemented. This specialized Drone API is built on top of The Product API which is an AI-based product search API that works with any product and any type of query. It responds with structured JSON and supports custom structured responses, allowing you to build specialized APIs for any product category.

The Product API's powerful custom_data_schema feature allows you to define additional structured fields specific to your product category, enabling you to create category-specific APIs like this Drone API. For more details on how the API works, see the full documentation.

Understanding APIs for Product Data

An API (Application Programming Interface) enables different software applications to communicate. For product data:

  • Input: You send a search query (e.g., "drone DJI Mavic")
  • Processing: The API searches across multiple sources and uses AI to extract relevant information
  • Output: You receive structured product data in JSON format

The flexibility of a product API means you can customize it for specific categories by defining additional data fields through JSON Schema.

Creating a Drone-Specific JSON Schema to pass as custom_data_schema of search request

Here's the JSON Schema we use for drone products:

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "drone_type": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": ["camera", "racing", "toy", "professional", "delivery", "agricultural"],
      "description": "Type of drone"
    },
    "camera_resolution": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Camera resolution (e.g., '4K', '1080p', '12MP')"
    },
    "camera_gimbal": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "description": "Whether the drone has a camera gimbal for stabilization"
    },
    "flight_time": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Maximum flight time in minutes"
    },
    "max_speed": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Maximum speed in mph or km/h"
    },
    "range": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Control range in feet or meters"
    },
    "gps": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "description": "GPS functionality availability"
    },
    "obstacle_avoidance": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "description": "Obstacle avoidance sensors"
    },
    "follow_me": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "description": "Follow me / tracking feature"
    },
    "return_to_home": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "description": "Automatic return to home feature"
    },
    "weight": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Drone weight in grams or ounces"
    },
    "battery_type": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Battery type and capacity"
    },
    "wind_resistance": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Maximum wind resistance in mph or km/h"
    },
    "price_range": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Price range category"
    }
  },
  "required": ["drone_type", "flight_time", "range"]
}

Using the Category Prefix

When searching for drones, we prefix the search query with "drone" to help the AI understand the context and return more relevant results.

Example Search Queries:

  • drone DJI Mavic 3 camera
  • drone DJI Mini 3
  • drone FPV racing
  • drone Autel EVO

The prefix "drone" ensures the API understands you're looking specifically for drones and not other products.

Complete Example: Making a Request

Here's how to make a request to The Product API with a drone-specific schema. For complete API reference including authentication, endpoints, and all parameters, see the documentation:

const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/api?search=drone%20DJI%20Mavic%203&with_image=true', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    custom_data_schema: {
      type: "object",
      properties: {
        drone_type: {
          type: "string",
          enum: ["camera", "racing", "toy", "professional", "delivery", "agricultural"],
          description: "Type of drone"
        },
        camera_resolution: {
          type: "string",
          description: "Camera resolution"
        },
        camera_gimbal: {
          type: "boolean",
          description: "Whether the drone has a camera gimbal"
        },
        flight_time: {
          type: "string",
          description: "Maximum flight time in minutes"
        },
        max_speed: {
          type: "string",
          description: "Maximum speed"
        },
        range: {
          type: "string",
          description: "Control range"
        },
        gps: {
          type: "boolean",
          description: "GPS functionality availability"
        },
        obstacle_avoidance: {
          type: "boolean",
          description: "Obstacle avoidance sensors"
        },
        follow_me: {
          type: "boolean",
          description: "Follow me / tracking feature"
        },
        return_to_home: {
          type: "boolean",
          description: "Automatic return to home feature"
        },
        weight: {
          type: "string",
          description: "Drone weight"
        },
        battery_type: {
          type: "string",
          description: "Battery type and capacity"
        },
        wind_resistance: {
          type: "string",
          description: "Maximum wind resistance"
        },
        price_range: {
          type: "string",
          description: "Price range category"
        }
      },
      required: ["drone_type", "flight_time", "range"]
    }
  })
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data.products);

Expected Response

The API will return products with standard fields plus your custom custom_data field:

{
  "status": "success",
  "products": [
    {
      "name": "DJI Mavic 3 Pro",
      "description": "The DJI Mavic 3 Pro is a professional camera drone...",
      "brand": "DJI",
      "image": "https://example.com/image.jpg",
      "custom_data": {
        "drone_type": "camera",
        "camera_resolution": "5.1K",
        "camera_gimbal": true,
        "flight_time": "43 minutes",
        "max_speed": "47 mph",
        "range": "9.3 miles",
        "gps": true,
        "obstacle_avoidance": true,
        "follow_me": true,
        "return_to_home": true,
        "weight": "958g",
        "battery_type": "5000 mAh LiPo",
        "wind_resistance": "26 mph",
        "price_range": "premium"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Conclusion

By combining the flexible Product API with a drone-specific JSON Schema, you can create a powerful, specialized API for drone products. The key is:

  1. Define your schema based on what drone data matters to your application
  2. Use category prefixes in search queries for better context
  3. Leverage the custom_data field to build rich, category-specific features

The same approach works for any product category - you just need to define the right schema for your needs!

Ready to get started? Create your own product API on The Product API and start building your own category-specific APIs today!

Ready to build your own category-specific API? Check out our other API preset guides for boats, trucks, scooters, and more!