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        <title>Nikel API Blog</title>
        <link>https://nikei-api.github.io/blog</link>
        <description>Nikel API Blog</description>
        <lastBuildDate>Sat, 27 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMT</lastBuildDate>
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        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Cloudflare Outage in Canada]]></title>
            <link>https://nikei-api.github.io/blog/cloudflare-outage-canada</link>
            <guid>cloudflare-outage-canada</guid>
            <pubDate>Sat, 27 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Users in Canada might have troubles accessing Nikel API. This is most likely due to an unacknowledged issue with Cloudflare.]]></description>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Users in Canada might have troubles accessing Nikel API. This is most likely due to an unacknowledged issue with Cloudflare.</p><p>If you have any questions regarding this outage, please contact Nikel API at <a href="mailto:api@nikel.ml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">api@nikel.ml</a>.</p><p>Thank you.</p><div class="admonition admonition-note alert alert--secondary"><div class="admonition-heading"><h5><span class="admonition-icon"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="14" height="16" viewBox="0 0 14 16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M6.3 5.69a.942.942 0 0 1-.28-.7c0-.28.09-.52.28-.7.19-.18.42-.28.7-.28.28 0 .52.09.7.28.18.19.28.42.28.7 0 .28-.09.52-.28.7a1 1 0 0 1-.7.3c-.28 0-.52-.11-.7-.3zM8 7.99c-.02-.25-.11-.48-.31-.69-.2-.19-.42-.3-.69-.31H6c-.27.02-.48.13-.69.31-.2.2-.3.44-.31.69h1v3c.02.27.11.5.31.69.2.2.42.31.69.31h1c.27 0 .48-.11.69-.31.2-.19.3-.42.31-.69H8V7.98v.01zM7 2.3c-3.14 0-5.7 2.54-5.7 5.68 0 3.14 2.56 5.7 5.7 5.7s5.7-2.55 5.7-5.7c0-3.15-2.56-5.69-5.7-5.69v.01zM7 .98c3.86 0 7 3.14 7 7s-3.14 7-7 7-7-3.12-7-7 3.14-7 7-7z"></path></svg></span>Update</h5></div><div class="admonition-content"><p>Update: The issue seems to be fixed, an incident is reported after the fact: <a href="https://www.cloudflarestatus.com/incidents/qjwxv73chh5b" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.cloudflarestatus.com/incidents/qjwxv73chh5b</a></p></div></div>]]></content:encoded>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Looking for Sponsors]]></title>
            <link>https://nikei-api.github.io/blog/looking-for-sponsors</link>
            <guid>looking-for-sponsors</guid>
            <pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[We are looking for sponsors!]]></description>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We are looking for sponsors!</p><p>Nikel is yet move to a proper VPS, and any donations or donated compute resources is greatly appreciated.</p><h3 class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_mojV" id="perks">Perks:<a class="hash-link" href="#perks" title="Direct link to heading">​</a></h3><ul><li>Name and logo shown on the footer of this website.</li><li>Name and logo shown on Nikel's GitHub Readme.</li></ul><p>Please email <a href="mailto:api@nikel.ml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">api@nikel.ml</a> for more information.</p>]]></content:encoded>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Re: Nikel Status Page]]></title>
            <link>https://nikei-api.github.io/blog/re-nikel-status-page</link>
            <guid>re-nikel-status-page</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 05 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Nikel's status page at https://status.nikel.ml is back online.]]></description>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Nikel's status page at <a href="https://status.nikel.ml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://status.nikel.ml</a> is back online.</p>]]></content:encoded>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Nikel Status Page]]></title>
            <link>https://nikei-api.github.io/blog/nikel-status-page</link>
            <guid>nikel-status-page</guid>
            <pubDate>Tue, 04 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Nikel uses FreshPing as its uptime monitor. However, FreshPing's custom pages seem to not work currently.]]></description>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Nikel uses FreshPing as its uptime monitor. However, FreshPing's custom pages seem to not work currently.</p><p>If you want to see Nikel's uptime stats here is a working link: <a href="https://statuspage.freshping.io/39964-NikelAPI" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://statuspage.freshping.io/39964-NikelAPI</a></p><p>We'll keep you posted on any updates...</p>]]></content:encoded>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Looking for maintainers]]></title>
            <link>https://nikei-api.github.io/blog/looking-for-maintainers</link>
            <guid>looking-for-maintainers</guid>
            <pubDate>Sat, 01 Aug 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Don't worry, Nikel API isn't going anywhere.]]></description>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Don't worry, Nikel API isn't going anywhere.</p><p>However, maintaining an API requires lots of work, so we are looking for maintainers for the various Nikel projects.</p><ul><li><a href="https://github.com/nikel-api/nikel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nikel-core</a>: Written in Go. Serves the API.<ul><li><a href="https://github.com/nikel-api/nikel-cache" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nikel-cache</a>: Cache middleware for nikel-core.</li></ul></li><li><a href="https://github.com/nikel-api/nikel-parser" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nikel-parser</a>: Written in Python. Parses data sources and generates datasets.</li><li><a href="https://github.com/nikel-api/nikel-ts" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nikel-ts</a>: Written in Typescript. The official Node.js API wrapper for Nikel.</li><li><a href="https://github.com/nikel-api/nikel-docs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nikel-docs</a>: Written in Javascript + Markdown. Nikel API's documentation.</li></ul><p>If anyone is interested in working on a web app written in Vue: <a href="https://github.com/nikel-api/nikel-app" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nikel-app</a>. Here is a <a href="https://nikel-api.github.io/nikel-app/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">working demo</a>.</p><p>If you have any questions please contact us at <a href="mailto:api@nikel.ml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">api@nikel.ml</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Update 3]]></title>
            <link>https://nikei-api.github.io/blog/nikel-update-3</link>
            <guid>nikel-update-3</guid>
            <pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[It has been a while since there was an update.]]></description>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It has been a while since there was an update.</p><p>Nikel's growth is starting to slow down. This isn't a bad thing! It means that users are starting to stabilize. I hope that this period of stability will allow developers to become familiar with the API. The API is only a month old now, so it'll take a little while for people to gain trust of Nikel.</p><p>Stay tuned for more updates...</p>]]></content:encoded>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Update 2]]></title>
            <link>https://nikei-api.github.io/blog/nikel-update-2</link>
            <guid>nikel-update-2</guid>
            <pubDate>Mon, 20 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Nikel has reached 1 million requests in the last 10 days!]]></description>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Nikel has reached <strong>1 million requests in the last 10 days!</strong></p><p>Currently, the Nikel organization is developing a web/mobile app and is looking for contributors. If you are interested, please email <a href="mailto:api@nikel.ml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">api@nikel.ml</a> for more information.</p><p>Stay tuned for more updates...</p>]]></content:encoded>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Incident Report]]></title>
            <link>https://nikei-api.github.io/blog/incident-report-1</link>
            <guid>incident-report-1</guid>
            <pubDate>Thu, 16 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[What happened?]]></description>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_mojV" id="what-happened">What happened?<a class="hash-link" href="#what-happened" title="Direct link to heading">​</a></h3><p>Around 10 EDT, there was a <a href="https://github.com/nikel-api/nikel/commit/a07a0927d252cef3d0991486a71537bea15c2e87" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">faulty commit</a> that happened to pass continuous integration.</p><p>This caused the API to return empty responses for about 10 hours and 30 minutes to 8:30 EDT.</p><p>A fix is released and the issue is resolved.</p><p>Sorry for any inconveniences caused,</p><p>Daren Liang</p>]]></content:encoded>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Update 1]]></title>
            <link>https://nikei-api.github.io/blog/nikel-update-1</link>
            <guid>nikel-update-1</guid>
            <pubDate>Tue, 14 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Nikel's going strong, serving roughly 100k requests daily!]]></description>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Nikel's going strong, serving roughly 100k requests daily!</p><h3 class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_mojV" id="whos-using-nikel">Who's using Nikel?<a class="hash-link" href="#whos-using-nikel" title="Direct link to heading">​</a></h3><p>A few projects are using Nikel.</p><ul><li><a href="https://github.com/MuradAkh/UofTCourseInfo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UofTCourseInfo</a> by <a href="https://github.com/MuradAkh" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MuradAkh</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/vodanny1/UofT-App" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UofT-App</a> by <a href="https://github.com/vodanny1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">vodanny1</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/platers/UofT-Prerequisite-Checker" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UofT-Prerequisite-Checker</a> by <a href="https://github.com/platers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">platers</a></li></ul><p>There are more projects using Nikel (either private or not GitHub).</p><h3 class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_mojV" id="you-made-something-with-nikel-what-now">You made something with Nikel. What now?<a class="hash-link" href="#you-made-something-with-nikel-what-now" title="Direct link to heading">​</a></h3><p>Great! If you want a place to show your project to the world, please submit a pull request to add your project to the <a href="/showcase">showcase page</a>.</p><p>❤️ Much thanks for everyone's support,</p><p>Daren Liang</p>]]></content:encoded>
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        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Next Steps]]></title>
            <link>https://nikei-api.github.io/blog/next-steps</link>
            <guid>next-steps</guid>
            <pubDate>Tue, 07 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[Thank You!]]></description>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_mojV" id="thank-you">Thank You!<a class="hash-link" href="#thank-you" title="Direct link to heading">​</a></h3><p>Nikel API has come a long way since its initial release about 3 weeks ago. To date, Nikel API has served close to <strong>80k requests</strong>.</p><p>Thank you for the continued support for Nikel API!</p><h3 class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_mojV" id="contributers--team-members">Contributers / Team members<a class="hash-link" href="#contributers--team-members" title="Direct link to heading">​</a></h3><p>Nikel is currently maintained by one person (me). I believe that to make this project sustainable for years to come, we will need to create an environment where people can collaborate and share ideas.</p><p>Contributing to open source can be daunting/overwhelming, which is why I want to make this project as friendly as possible to newcomers.</p><p>If you are interested in contributing to Nikel API or want to take part in the development process, please contact us at <a href="mailto:api@nikel.ml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">api@nikel.ml</a> so we can add you to the <a href="https://github.com/nikel-api" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">GitHub organization</a>.</p><h3 class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_mojV" id="api-wrappers">API Wrappers<a class="hash-link" href="#api-wrappers" title="Direct link to heading">​</a></h3><p>I'm currently looking for people who want to develop API wrappers for Nikel API.</p><p>Currently, there are two API wrappers for Nikel:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/nikel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nikel-ts (Node.js - Official)</a></li><li><a href="https://crates.io/crates/nikel-rs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nikel-rs (Rust)</a></li></ul><p>It would be amazing if more languages had API wrappers since it would make using the API much easier and simpler for newcomers.</p><p>Thanks again,</p><p>Daren Liang</p>]]></content:encoded>
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        <item>
            <title><![CDATA[Welcome to Nikel API!]]></title>
            <link>https://nikei-api.github.io/blog/welcome</link>
            <guid>welcome</guid>
            <pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2020 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
            <description><![CDATA[What is Nikel API?]]></description>
            <content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_mojV" id="what-is-nikel-api">What is Nikel API?<a class="hash-link" href="#what-is-nikel-api" title="Direct link to heading">​</a></h3><p>Nikel (pronunciation: <code>/'ni:kɛl/</code>) is a collection of data APIs for the <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">University of Toronto</a>. It's aimed to be a viable replacement for the now unmaintained and non-functioning <a href="https://cobalt.qas.im/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cobalt API</a>.</p><p>Nikel API is built with performance in mind with request caching and low latency querying. The Nikel Core is written in 100% <a href="https://golang.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Go</a> using the <a href="https://github.com/gin-gonic/gin" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gin Web Framework</a> for reliability and speed.</p><p>As a result, <strong>Nikel API will always be free and unlimited</strong>.</p><h3 class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_mojV" id="why">Why?<a class="hash-link" href="#why" title="Direct link to heading">​</a></h3><p>A crucial part of applications are APIs. The Nikel API is aimed to assist students and developers in providing high quality data APIs on the University of Toronto.</p><h3 class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_mojV" id="contributing">Contributing<a class="hash-link" href="#contributing" title="Direct link to heading">​</a></h3><p><a href="https://github.com/nikel-api" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nikel is opensource</a>. If you want to contribute, pull requests are always welcome. Any help is greatly appreciated.</p><h3 class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_mojV" id="next-steps">Next Steps<a class="hash-link" href="#next-steps" title="Direct link to heading">​</a></h3><p>Here's a list of things Nikel will hopefully accomplish in the future:</p><ul><li>Add more endpoints</li><li>Deploy Nikel Core on a proper VPS</li></ul><h3 class="anchor anchorWithStickyNavbar_mojV" id="questions">Questions?<a class="hash-link" href="#questions" title="Direct link to heading">​</a></h3><p>Send your questions to <a href="mailto:api@nikel.ml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">api@nikel.ml</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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