CSS Formatter API Documentation¶

Overview¶

The CSS Formatter API formats and beautifies CSS code with customizable indentation.
It supports direct text input, remote file URLs, and uploaded files.
The API returns a formatted CSS file with a preview snippet and a downloadable link.

Base URL:
https://api.apidatatools.com/css-formatter-api

Endpoint (POST)¶

POST https://api.apidatatools.com/css-formatter-api

Headers¶

Header	Type	Required	Description
`x-api-key`	string	Yes	Your API key for authentication
`x-tab-space`	integer	No	Number of spaces for indentation (default: 2)
`x-source-type`	string	No	Input source type: `body`, `url`, or `file` (default: `body`)
`Content-Type`	string	Yes	Must be `application/json` for body or metadata requests

Accepted File Extensions¶

Mode	Supported Extensions
URL / File	`.txt`, `.css`, `.log`

Input Example (Body Mode)¶

body{color:red;background:#fff;}

Input Example (URL Mode)¶

{
  "url": "https://example.com/styles/main.css"
}

Input Example (File Mode)¶

{
  "file": "user_uploads/upl_123abc456def/styles.css"
}

Example Request¶

Synchronous (Body Input)¶

curl -X POST "https://api.apidatatools.com/css-formatter-api" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "x-tab-space: 4" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d 'color:red;background:#fff;'

Asynchronous (Remote File URL)¶

curl -X POST "https://api.apidatatools.com/css-formatter-api" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "x-source-type: url" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/styles/main.css"}'

Asynchronous (Input File)¶

curl -X POST "https://api.apidatatools.com/css-formatter-api" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "x-source-type: file" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"file": "user_uploads/upl_123abc456def/styles.css"}'

Example Response¶

Successful (Body Mode)¶

Status Code: 200 OK

{
  "status": "success",
  "request_id": "b3e1a2f4-9c8d-4a7b-8f3a-1f2b3c4d5e6f",
  "file": "https://downloads.apidatatools.com/apidatatools_convert_abc123def456.css",
  "preview": "body {\n  color: red;\n  background: #fff;\n}"
}

Async Job Accepted (URL or File Mode)¶

Status Code: 202 Accepted

{
  "status": "accepted",
  "job_id": "job_123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000",
  "status_url": "https://api.apidatatools.com/jobs/job_123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000",
  "request_id": "b3e1a2f4-9c8d-4a7b-8f3a-1f2b3c4d5e6f"
}

Error Handling¶

Error Code	HTTP Status	Message	Example
`EMPTY_CSS`	400	CSS input is empty.	`{"status":"error","error":"EMPTY_CSS","details":{"message":"CSS input is empty."}}`
`CSS_FORMAT_ERROR`	400	Failed to format CSS.	`{"status":"error","error":"CSS_FORMAT_ERROR","details":{"message":"Failed to format CSS."}}`
`INVALID_BODY`	400	Body must be valid JSON.	`{"status":"error","error":"INVALID_BODY","details":{"message":"Body must be valid JSON."}}`
`INVALID_URL`	400	Missing or invalid 'url'.	`{"status":"error","error":"INVALID_URL","details":{"message":"Missing or invalid 'url'."}}`
`URL_UNREACHABLE`	400	Could not reach URL.	`{"status":"error","error":"URL_UNREACHABLE","details":{"message":"Could not reach URL"}}`
`URL_NOT_OK`	400	URL returned non-200 response.	`{"status":"error","error":"URL_NOT_OK","details":{"message":"URL returned HTTP 404, expected 200."}}`
`FILE_TOO_LARGE`	413	File exceeds plan limit.	`{"status":"error","error":"FILE_TOO_LARGE","details":{"message":"File exceeds plan limit."}}`
`INVALID_FILE_EXTENSION`	400	Invalid or unsupported file extension.	`{"status":"error","error":"INVALID_FILE_EXTENSION","details":{"message":"Invalid or unsupported file extension"}}`
`FILE_UNAVAILABLE`	400	Could not access file.	`{"status":"error","error":"FILE_UNAVAILABLE","details":{"message":"Could not access file"}}`
`INTERNAL_ERROR`	500	Failed to process your request.	`{"status":"error","error":"INTERNAL_ERROR","details":{"message":"Failed to process your request"}}`

Async Job Status¶

To check the status of an asynchronous job, use the status_url provided in the 202 Accepted response.

Endpoint:
GET https://api.apidatatools.com/jobs/{job_id}

Example Status Response for Async¶

Queued or Processing¶

{
  "job_id": "job_123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000",
  "status": "queued",
  "message": "Your job is being processed.",
  "retry_after": 2,
  "created_at": 1712345678,
  "updated_at": 1712345678
}

Successful Completion¶

{
  "job_id": "job_123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000",
  "status": "success",
  "created_at": 1712345678,
  "updated_at": 1712345690,
  "result": {
    "status": "success",
    "request_id": "b3e1a2f4-9c8d-4a7b-8f3a-1f2b3c4d5e6f",
    "file": "https://downloads.apidatatools.com/apidatatools_convert_abc123def456.css",
    "preview": "body {\n  color: red;\n  background: #fff;\n}"
  }
}

Failed Job¶

{
  "job_id": "job_123e4567-e89b-12d3-a456-426614174000",
  "status": "failed",
  "created_at": 1712345678,
  "updated_at": 1712345680,
  "error": {
    "code": "CSS_FORMAT_ERROR",
    "message": "Failed to format CSS.",
    "details": {
      "message": "Failed to format CSS."
    }
  }
}

Notes for Developers¶

The API supports three input modes:
body: Direct CSS text (synchronous)
url: Remote file URL (asynchronous)
file: Uploaded file reference (asynchronous)
For asynchronous jobs, a job_id is returned immediately. Use the Status API to check progress.
The formatted file is stored temporarily and accessible via the returned file URL.
The preview field contains the first 100 KB of the formatted CSS for quick inspection.
The x-tab-space header allows customization of indentation width.
Always include a valid x-api-key header for authentication.
For large files or remote URLs, prefer asynchronous processing to avoid timeouts.