npm Trends API - package download trends as JSON

npm trend data as clean JSON: weekly download time series for any package, growth rates and adoption signals from one REST endpoint. Track any library's trajectory without rebuilding the npm downloads API plumbing.

One endpoint. One API key. One normalized 0-100 trend score you can compare against 14 other platforms.

Docs: https://trendsapi.ai/#quickstart · llms.txt: https://trendsapi.ai/llms.txt · Free API key (100 req/mo): https://trendsapi.ai/#get-key

What a call looks like

curl -X POST https://api.trendsapi.ai/api \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mode": "get_growth", "source": "npm", "keyword": "zod", "percent_growth": ["3M", "12M"]}'

{
  "keyword": "zod",
  "source": "npm",
  "growth": { "3M": 41.8, "12M": 212.4 },
  "timestamp": "2026-08-03T12:00:00Z"
}

Quickstart (60 seconds)

1. Get a free API key at https://trendsapi.ai/#get-key - 100 requests/month, no credit card.

2. Make your first call:

curl -X POST https://api.trendsapi.ai/api \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"mode": "get_time_series", "source": "npm", "keyword": "zod"}'

Python:

import requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.trendsapi.ai/api",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={"mode": "get_growth", "source": "npm", "keyword": "zod",
          "percent_growth": ["3M", "12M"]},
)
print(res.json())

Node.js:

const res = await fetch("https://api.trendsapi.ai/api", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ mode: "get_growth", source: "npm", keyword: "zod",
                          percent_growth: ["3M", "12M"] }),
});
console.log(await res.json());

The three modes

Why teams switch

Use cases

• Tech selection: is this library still growing, or did adoption plateau last year?
• DevRel: measure your package's adoption curve after launches and talks
• Investing in dev tools: track ecosystem momentum across competing frameworks
• Engineering blogs: back 'why we chose X' posts with download curves

Use it from your AI assistant (MCP)

The same API key powers the Trends API MCP server, so Claude, Cursor, VS Code, ChatGPT and any MCP-compatible client can query this data in natural language.

+ Add to Cursor (one click)

Cursor / Windsurf / Cline (~/.cursor/mcp.json or equivalent):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trendsapi": {
      "url": "https://api.trendsapi.ai/mcp",
      "transport": "http",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

VS Code / GitHub Copilot (.vscode/mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "trendsapi": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.trendsapi.ai/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "trendsapi": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-remote", "https://api.trendsapi.ai/mcp", "--header", "Authorization:${AUTH_HEADER}"],
      "env": { "AUTH_HEADER": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Claude.ai (browser): Settings -> Connectors -> Add custom connector -> https://api.trendsapi.ai/mcp

Then ask things like:

How did "creatine gummies" grow on TikTok vs Google over the last 12 months?
What is trending on YouTube right now?

Every source on the same key

Live feeds (get_top_trends, no keyword needed)

FAQ

What npm data does Trends API provide?

Weekly download counts for any package as a normalized time series, plus growth percentages over 3M/6M/12M/5Y windows. Scoped packages like @tanstack/react-query work.

How is this different from api.npmjs.org/downloads?

npm's own API returns raw counts for date ranges you specify. Trends API normalizes those counts to 0-100, computes growth automatically, and returns the same response shape as Google, TikTok and every other source - so comparing a package's adoption against its search interest is trivial.

Can I compare two packages?

One call per package, then compare the normalized values. The 0-100 rescaling makes the comparison meaningful even when absolute download counts differ by 100x.

How fresh is the data?

Weekly series update as npm publishes new counts. Every response includes its own timestamp.

Does it work for scoped packages?

Yes. Pass the full name including the scope, e.g. @tanstack/react-query.

Links

• Docs & quickstart: https://trendsapi.ai/#quickstart
• llms.txt (machine-readable API reference): https://trendsapi.ai/llms.txt
• Pricing (free tier: 100 requests/month): https://trendsapi.ai/#pricing
• Get an API key: https://trendsapi.ai/#get-key

License

MIT - see LICENSE. Data is served by Trends API; usage of the API itself is subject to the plan limits on your key.