Connect a ready service

For agents

Guide: Connect a ready service

This page: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/http-requests/connect-a-ready-service

Topic: HTTP requests

Time: about 3 minutes

Who can do it: Owner, Administrator or Manager

Author: https://anantgupta.xyz (Anant Gupta, founder of CommentWatchDog)

Start in the app: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox

Result when done: A free, keyless service (weather, exchange rates, postcodes, holidays and more) working in your flow without writing the request.

Context: Some services need no key and allow commercial use. The AI setup starts from them first, because each one is tested daily with a real request: Frankfurter (exchange rates), MET Norway (weather by latitude and longitude, credited as MET Norway), PokeAPI, CountriesNow (a country's currency, capital and flag), Nager.Date (public holidays), India Post PIN code, postcodes.io (UK postcodes), Zippopotam (postal codes in about 60 countries), Wikipedia (a short summary of a topic), TimeAPI (the time in a time zone), JokeAPI (a safe-for-work joke) and Open Library (find a book). Say what you want and it picks the service, fills the step and tests it.

Before you start

1. The ready services are reached through Set it up with AI, on the HTTP request step.

2. It uses AI credits: about 1 per answer, a little more when it reads docs or searches.

3. Each service's documented limits travel with it, so the setup can tell you.

Steps

Step 1 of 3: Open Set it up with AI on the step.

Where: Add an HTTP request step (or select one). On a new step, the card Set it up with AI at the top of its settings (Say what you want in your own words). On a step that already has an address, Ask AI, top right of its settings.

Link: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox (Open the app)

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-http-ai-start.en.webp (Set up with AI, just opened: What should this request do?, three examples, the box.)

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-http-ai-start-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)

You should see: The chat Set up with AI opens in place of the settings: What should this request do?, with three examples to tap, and the box to type in.

Step 2 of 3: Say what the step should do.

Where: For example: tell people the city for the US ZIP code they give, or tell people today's weather in my city. No key is needed for a ready service.

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-http-ai-work.en.webp (Your message, then 2 tests passed, opened to each test and the values that came back.)

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-http-ai-work-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)

You should see: A line like 2 tests passed, which opens to each thing it did (Read …, Tested it: 200, with the values that came back), then its answer in plain words. The header of the chat shows the service and 200.

Step 3 of 3: Keep the values you want, then close.

Where: What to keep from the answer lists the values that came back, one click each: Use as {{name}} keeps a value for this conversation; Save as email, Save as phone or Save as name saves it on the person. Then close the chat with the cross at its top (Back to the step's settings).

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-http-ai.en.webp (What to keep from the answer, one click each.)

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/dm-http-ai-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)

You should see: This step is set up and tested, under the list. Back in the settings, the request is filled in and the kept values are listed.

If something is off

Problem: It picked a different service than I wanted

Fix: Name the service, or set the mode to Ask before switching: it checks with you before using another service than the one you named.

Problem: The service stopped answering

Fix: A service that starts failing for reasons of its own (it is down, gone, or now wants a key) is marked broken and no longer offered first; ask again and it finds another.

Problem: You are out of AI credits

Fix: Top up under Settings › Account, or fill in the step by hand (or paste a cURL command), which uses no credits.

Common questions

Question: Which free APIs can I use without a key?

Answer: The ready services: Frankfurter, MET Norway, PokeAPI, CountriesNow, Nager.Date, India Post PIN code, postcodes.io, Zippopotam, Wikipedia, TimeAPI, JokeAPI and Open Library. Each is free, keyless, allows commercial use, and is tested daily.

Question: Why are some well-known free APIs not offered?

Answer: Services with non-commercial terms or tight shared quotas were left out on purpose, so a flow does not break on a limit someone else used up.

Question: Are other people's requests shared with me?

Answer: Only the shape of a keyless GET that worked (the address and the parameter names), never a request with a key, a body, or anyone's values.

Related guides

Build the request with AI: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/http-requests/build-the-request-with-ai

Use the answer in your flow: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/http-requests/use-the-answer-in-your-flow

Send an HTTP request from a flow: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/http-requests/send-an-http-request-from-a-flow

Plain text of this guide: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/http-requests/connect-a-ready-service.md

All guides for assistants: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/llms.txt