A cross-chain NFT API for returning metadata and getting all info regarding NFT users, collections, and transactions.
Full NFT API Documentation – https://github.com/nft-api/nft-api
An NFT API is a core component of any NFT dapp. Whether you’re looking to build an NFT game, create an NFT marketplace, create a wallet, analytics site, or any other NFT-related dapp, you’ll need a reliable NFT API. For example, this allows you to get things like:
- Metadata for NFTs
- NFT Prices
- Transfer Data
- NFT Ownership Data
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are surging in popularity as developers and investors discover how to utilize NFTs in both digital and real-life scenarios. As such, now is an excellent time to enter the world of blockchain and learn how to implement NFT functionalities into Web3 applications. Moreover, with the right tools and expertise, such as Moralis and its NFT API, implementing NFTs into your dapp can be done easily and quickly. Therefore, we’ll take a closer look at the current blockchain market’s ultimate NFT API by exploring the premier choice amongst developers – Moralis’ NFT API.
In this article, you’ll learn what an NFT API is, which API is the ultimate NFT API, and how you can start building NFT applications with minimal effort. Also, if you’re not yet familiar with Moralis and its platform, you’ll see how you can use its NFT API and make your development an effortless process.
NFT API – What is an NFT API?
To understand what an NFT API is, we first have to establish what an API is. An “Application Programming Interface”, or API, is basically an interface, which enables software to interact with other pieces of software. Essentially, an API enables different sets of instructions to be transferred or translated for mutual understanding. As such, a set of APIs allows for consistent coding in a stable environment by ensuring all replicable functions are delivered with predictability on every request.
When it comes to an NFT API, the above qualities focus on dealing with NFTs in particular. They simplify the backend information acquisition related to NFTs. While several NFT API options are available, we’ll focus on the ultimate NFT API, that is, Moralis’ NFT API. This NFT API is an indexed API that is easily manageable and easy to use. Moreover, while other NFT API options require the use of multiple requests and thus several lines of code, the Moralis NFT API provides users with single lines of code that’ll do all the heavy lifting on the backend. This includes obtaining all the on-chain data related to a particular NFT, which you can use to build all sorts of NFT dApps. The latter include NFT wallets, NFT trackers, NFT marketplaces, NFT games, etc., all without breaking a sweat.
Furthermore, Moralis’ NFT API is a part of the extensive Moralis SDK, making Moralis the ultimate Web3 development platform. This powerful toolbox and the complete access to Moralis’ platform make it the premier choice for developers interested in delivering phenomenal dApps with fast deployment times. Before we take a closer look at Moralis’ NFT API, let’s make sure you’re up to speed on what NFTs are.
What are NFTs?
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are unique kinds of crypto tokens. As the word “non-fungible” implies, they incorporate uniqueness, which offers a wide range of use cases. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that digital art collectibles have been hitting the headlines recently. Aside from art and collectibles, NFTs are already playing an important role in decentralized gaming, where NFTs can represent all sorts of in-game items, from skins, tools, potions, to characters, and much more. Moreover, NFTs are a real game-changer when it comes to the “play-to-earn” concept. However, these are just some of the first use cases of these types of tokens. We are about to see many more ways to use a wide range of NFTs in the near future.
Furthermore, since NFTs are tokens, they are tradeable; thus, they also provide a way to transfer value from the digital world into real life. Nonetheless, non-fungible tokens offer a more serious range of use cases where they serve as a real-life solution for all sorts of certifications, ownerships, and much more.
With that said, you can be quite confident that NFTs are here to stay and that developers, who know how to use a quality NFT API, can gain the edge and benefit noticeably from this disruptive niche. If you can still not answer “what are NFTs?” with complete confidence, make sure to dive deeper into our Moralis Blog articles on the topic.
Exploring Moralis’ NFT API
Following this brief overview of Moralis’ NFT API, we’ll take a closer look at how you can use it to create and launch your own NFTs. Moreover, you’ll also learn how to build your own NFT manager and how easy it is to develop NFT games with Moralis covering the tedious backend portion of your projects on your behalf.
Let’s start by telling you that Moralis’ NFT API essentially allows you to build anything you can envision with NFTs. When using Moralis, a single line of code can usually acquire the necessary data from the blockchain.
What Does Moralis’ NFT API do?
Here are some of the most commonly used functionalities of Moralis’ ultimate NFT API, and they include fetching:
- NFT ownership information
- Details about NFTs in an NFT collection
- NFTs’ contract types
- Time of NFT creation (minting)
- Metadata about an NFT
- Historical transfers of an NFT
- Token address, token ID, token hash and token URI
Furthermore, Moralis’ NFT API comes with complete support for both Ethereum’s ERC-721 and ERC-1155 token standards. As such, you can engage with the most popular NFT tokens. Moreover, by using this powerful NFT API, you can build serverless NFT applications without extensive Ethereum, EVM, or Solidity knowledge. Essentially, if you know how to use MetaMask, and are proficient in JavaScript, you are all set. Just create your free Moralis account today and start building your Web3 applications. Follow the lead of some highly reputable projects, such as SuperFarm, which already uses the Moralis NFT API.
Using the Ultimate NFT API
Herein, we’ll take a look at some of the powerful and simple functions provided by the Moralis NFT API to show you how easy it is to work with. We will also show you how simple it is to create and launch your own NFTs using Moralis.
Searching NFTs
One of the powerful features of Moralis’ API is that it enables you to use it as a “Google for NFTs”. For instance, let’s say you are building an NFT marketplace and would like to offer your users a way to search for particular NFTs using free text, then this option can be of great use. This line of code will return all NFTs related to a particular keyphrase entered by a user:
In the image above, the “bored” is just an example search phrase. Inside the curly braces is where whatever the user may search for will go.
Furthermore, Moralis’ documentation is another excellent benefit of this ultimate Web3 development platform. The documentation is one of the industry’s most well-organized and informative documentation, providing you with short snippets of code, examples, and even video instructions. Using the “Sending ETH, Tokens and NFTs” as well as the “Web3 API (Token, Balances, NFTs)” tabs, it should cover most of what you need to build NFT dApps. Once inside a particular section, you may use the right-hand side content menu to jump to a particular function.
Moreover, there’s also the “REST API” tab, where you can find all other APIs you can use to call through HTTP. However, sticking to JavaScript offers the simplest and fastest solutions.
Obtaining NFTs’ Metadata
Let’s look at the example of how to use Moralis’ NFT API to obtain particular metadata for NFTs. For this purpose, we’ll use the NFT we already have listed on OpenSea.
First, we need to construct an object. For that, we use an NFT’s address and ID, which are both available in the URL address of the OpenSea’s page for any particular NFT. We also need to specify the chain.
Then we use the following line of code, provided by Moralis’ documentation, to obtain the NFT’s metadata:
Getting NFT Owner(s)
Using Moralis’ NFT API, we can get the owners of NFTs easily regardless of the NFT standard at hand. Again, a single line of code provides us with several details of the NFT in question, including the owner:
Below, you can see the line (highlighted) displaying the owner:
There are many more functions offered by the API, including “getNFTsForContract”, “getNFTTransfers”, “getHistoricalNFTTransfers”, etc. We also recommend watching one of Moralis’ experts (Ivan from Moralis) explaining more details about our NFT API in the following video. You’ll also learn more information about Moralis’ database that is at your disposal:
How to Create and Launch Your Own NFTs
If you know Solidity and would like to learn how to create an NFT using a smart contract, make sure to watch our ultimate NFT programming tutorial. This demonstrates how to create smart contracts that will check the ownership and enable transfers to and from marketplaces such as OpenSea. In case you want to skip over the project’s overview, jump over to 8:36 of the video. By 41:33, you’ll have your NFT live on Ethereum’s testnet.
Then you’ll learn to use the OpenSea platform for auctioning your NFT. You will do this by copying and pasting your NFT contract’s address. We recommend that you always use one of Ethereum’s testnets first. Once you’ve ensured that everything is running smoothly there, you should launch your NFT on the mainnet.
How to Create Your Own NFT Manager
The video above also tackles another excellent NFT example project. Starting at 44:58, you can learn how to create a simple NFT dashboard, also known as an NFT manager. Some of the functionalities of the NFT manager example include viewing who are the owners of particular NFTs. It can also be used to mint new NFTs, transfer NFTs, display stats about NFTs, etc.
Here’s what the end result will look like if you decide to take on this example project (it displays two examples of NFTs created in the previous section):
That sort of an NFT manager is a great example of a Web3 application. Since it’s an example, it means you need to create an HTML structure and combine it with CSS programming for some styling and JavaScript for advanced functionality of the application. By using JavaScript in combination with Moralis’ SDK, we get to include all the relevant short snippets of code provided by Moralis’ documentation. In that way, we take care of the blockchain-related coding for the backend.
In addition, the video will guide you through all the steps, including setting up your Moralis server and obtaining its details. Moreover, for the purpose of this example project, you’ll want to use Visual Studio Code (VSC) and some of its plugins, including the “Live Server”. The latter will serve to fire up a small webserver to host your dApp. That way, you’ll be able to use MetaMask and check your dApp’s progress and functionality.
Use the Moralis NFT API to Create NFT Games
Since NFT games are trending right now, we encourage you to check out the following article, which is our two-lesson course that will guide you step-by-step through the NFT game development process: “NFT Game Development – How to Build an NFT Game App in Minutes”. It will show you how easy it is to develop NFT games with Moralis’ NFT API. Moreover, you can also find inspiration for your NFT development by checking out that article.
Yes, the power that Moralis’ SDK and its NFT API brings to the table offers unparalleled simplicity, enabling you to deploy finished products markedly quicker.
Furthermore, here’s our recommendation for your NFT programming journey:
- In case you’re not proficient in JavaScript yet, enroll in the “JavaScript Programming for Blockchain Developers” course at Ivan on Tech Academy.
- Sign up with Moralis and use it with as many example projects shared herein as possible to get used to using Moralis’ NFT API.
- Create your own phenomenal NFT dApp and share it with the world.
- Repeat step three.
Ultimate NFT API – Exploring Moralis’ NFT API – Summary
NFTs are seemingly here to stay. Not only are they disrupting the digital art, collectibles, and gaming industries, they also have the potential to offer many use cases beyond the digital world. As such, the time is right for developers to master their NFT developing skills – and with the Moralis’ NFT, there’s finally an NFT API capable of supporting easy development.
With the information in this article, you’ll be able to use the ultimate NFT API in combination with Moralis’ SDK to boost your Web3 development speed. With this shortcut, you’ll be able to focus your maximum attention on creating the most user-friendly NFT applications and also end up saving time and resources. Following our recommendation, you’ll first complete a couple of example projects. Thus, you will learn to use these powerful tools properly – and see the full power of Moralis. For example, Moralis also allows you to build Ethereum dapps with ease, create a DEX, add a fiat gateway, create an Avalanche dapp, and much more. For example, Moralis is a top BSC testnet provider, and a leading Infura alternative. Best of all, all of this works seamlessly with Moralis’ NFT development tools. As such, you’ll be able to build NFT dapps in no time!
