API
The Session has a read-only API. This is useful for one-off queries. If you need access to all of the data on the site, you can download CSV and JSON files of data from The Session on Github (.zip). These are updated about once a week.
Information that is available through the website as HTML is also available in other formats. To request a URL in another format, add ?format= to the URL with one of the these formats specified:
Formats
| JSON | ?format=json |
|---|---|
| XML | ?format=xml |
| RSS | ?format=rss |
Endpoints
The following lists are available in multiple formats e.g. /tunes/new?format=json or /recordings/search?q=altan&format=rss
By default, 10 items will be returned in a list. You can request up to 50 items by appending &perpage= e.g. /tunes/new?format=json&perpage=35
If you request an individual item, e.g. /tunes/27?format=xml, you will get back the details for that item and any comments that have been posted to it.
Tunes
| New tune settings | /tunes/new | |
|---|---|---|
| Popular tunes | /tunes/popular | |
| Recordings of tunes | /tunes/recordings | |
| Sets of tunes | /tunes/sets | |
| Tune search results | /tunes/search?q=searchterm | |
| Individual tune | /tunes/ID | Recordings of an individual tune | /tunes/ID/recordings | Other collections with an individual tune | /tunes/ID/collections |
| Comments on tunes | /tunes/comments |
Discography
| New recordings | /recordings/new |
|---|---|
| Recordings search results | /recordings/search?q=searchterm |
| Individual recording | /recordings/ID |
| Comments on recordings | /recordings/comments |
Trips
| Upcoming trips | /trips/upcoming |
|---|---|
| New trips | /trips/new |
| Trips search results | /trips/search?q=searchterm |
| Nearby trips | /trips/nearby?latlon=latitude,longitude&radius=75 |
| Individual trip | /trips/ID |
| Comments on trips | /trips/comments |
Sessions
| New sessions | /sessions/new |
|---|---|
| Sessions search results | /sessions/search?q=searchterm |
| Nearby sessions | /sessions/nearby?latlon=latitude,longitude&radius=75 |
| Individual session | /sessions/ID |
| Comments on sessions | /sessions/comments |
Events
| Upcoming events | /events/upcoming |
|---|---|
| New events | /events/new |
| Events search results | /events/search?q=searchterm |
| Nearby events | /events/nearby?latlon=latitude,longitude&radius=75 |
| Individual event | /events/ID |
| Comments on events | /events/comments |
Discussions
| New discussions | /discussions/new |
|---|---|
| Discussions search results | /discussions/search?q=searchterm |
| Individual discussion | /discussions/ID |
| Comments on discussions | /discussions/comments |
Member contributions
| Tune settings | /members/ID/tunes |
|---|---|
| Recordings | /members/ID/recordings |
| Trips | /members/ID/trips |
| Sessions | /members/ID/sessions |
| Events | /members/ID/events |
| Discussions | /members/ID/discussions |
Member data
| Tunebook | /members/ID/tunebook |
|---|---|
| Bookmarks | /members/ID/bookmarks |
| Sets of tunes | /members/ID/sets |
Activity Streams
There are a number of activity streams published on The Session to the Activity Streams JSON specification. You can access the activity streams by appending ?format=json to these endpoints (paginate with &page=2, &page=3, etc.:
| The Session | /activity |
|---|---|
| Tunes | /tunes/activity |
| Recordings | /recordings/activity |
| Trips | /trips/activity |
| Sessions | /sessions/activity |
| Events | /events/activity |
| Discussions | /discussions/activity |
Activity streams are also available for individual items:
| Individual tune | /tunes/ID/activity |
|---|---|
| Individual recording | /recordings/ID/activity |
| Individual trip | /trips/ID/activity |
| Individual session | /sessions/ID/activity |
| Individual event | /events/ID/activity |
| Individual discussion | /discussions/ID/activity |
| Individual member | /members/ID/activity |
There are also individual activity streams for member notifications:
| Tunes | /members/ID/notifications/tunes |
|---|---|
| Recordings | /members/ID/notifications/recordings |
| Trips | /members/ID/notifications/trips |
| Sessions | /members/ID/notifications/sessions |
| Events | /members/ID/notifications/events |
| Discussions | /members/ID/notifications/discussions |
Data dumps
You can download CSV and JSON files of data from The Session on Github (.zip). These are updated about once a week.
Archive
You can get an archive of everything from The Session on Github (.zip). These are static HTML files that are also updated about once a week.
Example apps
Here are some things people have made using The Session’s API or data dumps:
- Tin Whistle Hero
- A web app that’s like Guitar Hero for the tin whistle.
- Tunetable
- A web app for turning lists of tunes into tables.
- Nota
- An app for iPhone and iPad for managing tune collections.
- FolkFriend
- A web app that recognises tunes from audio input.
- geoTrad
- A map showing the distribution of Irish traditional tunes which reference place names in Ireland.
- SessionBuddy
- A Java helper library to make it easier for Java developers to work with The Session’s API.
- The Craic
- An app for iPhone and iPad for searching across multiple online tune collections.
- Foinn
- A web app for browsing your tunes and sets.