How do I get market data from an API into a spreadsheet?

You generally do it in 4 steps:

1. Choose the API
   Pick a market data source that fits your needs:

   • Stocks/ETFs: Alpha Vantage, IEX Cloud, Polygon, Finnhub, Yahoo Finance (unofficial)
   • Crypto: Coinbase, Binance, Kraken
   • FX / commodities: Alpha Vantage, Twelve Data, OANDA

2. Get an API key and read the docs
   Most APIs require an API key and have a URL like:

   https://api.example.com/prices?symbol=AAPL
   

3. Pull the data into your spreadsheet Common approaches:

   A. Use built-in spreadsheet connectors

   • Excel: Power Query / Get Data / From Web
   • Google Sheets: IMPORTDATA, IMPORTXML, IMPORTJSON via Apps Script, or a custom script
   • LibreOffice: Data > From Web

   This is easiest if the API returns CSV or simple JSON.

   B. Use formulas (if the API supports it)

   Some APIs can be queried directly from a spreadsheet with a URL, but most market data APIs require authentication headers, so formulas alone often aren’t enough.

   C. Use a script

   This is the most flexible method:

   • Google Sheets: Apps Script
   • Excel: VBA or Office Scripts
   • Or use Python to fetch the API and write to CSV/XLSX

4. Refresh on a schedule

   • Excel/Power Query: refresh manually or on open
   • Google Sheets: custom script with time-driven trigger
   • Python: use cron / Task Scheduler

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Example: Google Sheets + Apps Script

If the API returns JSON:

1. In Google Sheets, go to Extensions > Apps Script
2. Add code like:

function getMarketData() {
  const url = 'https://api.example.com/quote?symbol=AAPL&apikey=YOUR_KEY';
  const response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url);
  const data = JSON.parse(response.getContentText());

  const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet();
  sheet.getRange('A1').setValue('Symbol');
  sheet.getRange('B1').setValue('Price');
  sheet.getRange('A2').setValue(data.symbol);
  sheet.getRange('B2').setValue(data.price);
}

3. Run it once, authorize, then set a trigger if you want automatic refresh.

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Example: Excel Power Query

1. In Excel, go to Data > Get Data > From Web
2. Paste the API URL
3. If needed, add headers/auth in Power Query
4. Transform the JSON into a table
5. Load into the sheet
6. Refresh as needed

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Practical tips

• Check rate limits: market APIs often restrict how many requests you can make.
• Use a paid plan if you need real-time or frequent updates.
• Normalize the data into columns like timestamp, symbol, open, high, low, close, volume.
• Be careful with API keys: don’t expose them in shared spreadsheets if avoidable.

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If you want, I can give you a working example for Excel or Google Sheets using a specific API like Alpha Vantage, Finnhub, or Yahoo Finance.