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

Introduction to Suitcases

Suitcases are essential travel companions for every journey, from weekend getaways to extended trips abroad. From compact carry-on suitcases for short trips to spacious checked luggage for long vacations, finding the right suitcase with the right specifications is crucial for any traveler. Whether you're a frequent flyer needing a durable hard-shell suitcase, a budget traveler looking for a soft-shell option, or a developer building a travel marketplace, having structured suitcase product data is essential.

Imagine being able to search for suitcases and instantly get detailed information about each piece of luggage - from size to material. This is exactly what a specialized Suitcase Product API can provide.

What Makes a Suitcase API Special?

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

• Size: The luggage size category - carry-on, checked, medium, or large
• Material: Hard-shell or soft-shell construction

With this structured data, you can build powerful features like filtering by size, comparing materials, or recommending suitcases based on travel needs.

Try It Out: Search for Suitcases

Use the search bar below to search for suitcases. Try queries like "Samsonite hard-shell carry-on", "Travelpro soft-shell checked", or "Rimowa large suitcase". The results will include detailed specifications automatically extracted from product information across the web.

How It Works: Technical Implementation

Now that you've seen the API in action, let's dive into how it's implemented. This specialized Suitcase 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 Suitcase 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., "suitcase Samsonite carry-on")
• 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 Suitcase-Specific JSON Schema to pass as custom_data_schema of search request

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

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "size": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": ["carry-on", "checked", "medium", "large"],
      "description": "Suitcase size category"
    },
    "material": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": ["hard-shell", "soft-shell"],
      "description": "Suitcase material type"
    }
  },
  "required": ["size"]
}
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Using the Category Prefix

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

Example Search Queries:

• suitcase Samsonite carry-on
• suitcase Travelpro soft-shell checked
• suitcase Rimowa hard-shell large
• suitcase American Tourister medium

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

Complete Example: Making a Request

Here's how to make a request to The Product API with a suitcase-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=suitcase%20Samsonite%20carry-on&with_image=true', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    custom_data_schema: {
      type: "object",
      properties: {
        size: {
          type: "string",
          enum: ["carry-on", "checked", "medium", "large"],
          description: "Suitcase size category"
        },
        material: {
          type: "string",
          enum: ["hard-shell", "soft-shell"],
          description: "Suitcase material type"
        }
      },
      required: ["size"]
    }
  })
});

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

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

{
  "status": "success",
  "products": [
    {
      "name": "Samsonite Winfield 2 DLX Carry-On Spinner",
      "description": "The Samsonite Winfield 2 DLX is a durable hard-shell carry-on suitcase...",
      "brand": "Samsonite",
      "image": "https://example.com/image.jpg",
      "custom_data": {
        "size": "carry-on",
        "material": "hard-shell"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Conclusion

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

1. Define your schema based on what suitcase 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!

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Ready to build your own category-specific API? Check out our other API preset guides for backpacks, chainsaws, sanders, and more!