Guide 2.1: Developer Guide

Understanding SdashAPI V1

SdashAPI provides multiple versions of its core question endpoint, each designed for a specific use case. The V1 endpoint is the foundation of our infrastructure. It is extremely fast, highly cacheable, and provides raw, unedited past questions exactly as they appeared in the original examinations.

Endpoint Architecture

2.1.1

The V1 API is accessible via the /api/v1/q path. It operates entirely as a RESTful GET endpoint, meaning you interact with it exclusively by appending query string parameters to the URL.

GET https://sdashapi.com/api/v1/q?type=utme&subject=physics

Performance & Latency

2.1.2

Because V1 does not perform any complex natural language processing or on-the-fly AI tagging, it boasts the lowest latency of all our endpoints. Responses are typically returned in under 50ms. If you are building a high-traffic mobile app or a timed CBT simulator where speed is critical, V1 is the recommended choice.

Data Structure

2.1.3

V1 returns a flat, simplified JSON structure containing only the essential elements of a question: the text, the options, the correct answer, and a static solution text.

{
  "status": 200,
  "data": {
    "question": "What is the unit of force?",
    "option": { "a": "Joule", "b": "Newton", "c": "Watt" },
    "answer": "b"
  }
}

Limitations of V1

2.1.4

While V1 is incredibly fast, it lacks contextual intelligence. It cannot tell you what specific syllabus topic a question belongs to (e.g., "Kinematics" vs "Optics"), nor does it provide a difficulty rating. If you need to build adaptive learning algorithms, you will need to look at our higher-tier endpoints.

Need more metadata?

Next, we will explore V2, which introduces basic topic tagging.