Quotes CDN

Words worth keeping.

A fast, no-key quote API with author metadata, searchable JSON, and embeddable SVG quote cards.

Quick start · API reference · SVG cards · Data and attribution

Quotes CDN is a deliberately small normal-quotes equivalent of a quote CDN: one plain Node server, static JSON data, serverless-compatible API handlers, and a browser interface for exploring the archive and generating SVG cards.

No database is required. No API key is required. No build step is required.

What this project gives you

25,000 quote records
2,340 author records
Random, indexed, filtered, and searchable quote endpoints
Author metadata, biographies, quote counts, and stable author IDs
Pagination for quotes and authors
Archive statistics and author letter indexes
Five SVG card themes
Custom SVG card colors, borders, and radius values
A warm visual explorer at /
A complete API reference at /docs
Local Node hosting and Vercel-compatible route handlers
CORS headers on JSON and SVG API responses

The project is intentionally dependency-free. It is small enough to understand in one sitting and useful enough to drop into a README, bot, landing page, randomizer, or small web experiment.

Quick start

Requirements

Node.js 22 or newer
npm

Install and run

npm install
npm start

Open the local explorer:

http://localhost:5000

Open the local API documentation:

http://localhost:5000/docs

The project has no runtime package dependencies. npm install is still safe to run because it creates the normal npm project metadata and lockfile workflow if you choose to add tooling later.

Development mode

The development script uses the same simple server:

npm run dev

There is no separate bundler, compiler, or frontend development server.

First request

curl http://localhost:5000/api/quote

Example response:

{
  "_id": "Q00001",
  "index": 1,
  "author_id": "A00001",
  "author": "A. A. Milne",
  "quote": "Almost anyone can be an author; the business is to collect money and fame from this state of being.",
  "author_info": {
    "_id": "A00001",
    "name": "A. A. Milne",
    "quote_count": 18,
    "wikipedia_title": "a. a. milne",
    "wikipedia_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/a._a._milne"
  }
}

All API responses are JSON except /api/card, which returns SVG by default. Every API request is a GET request.

API reference

Set a base URL once in your shell:

export BASE_URL="http://localhost:5000"

For a deployed app, replace it with your public Vercel URL:

export BASE_URL="https://your-project.vercel.app"

Endpoint map

Method	Route	Purpose
`GET`	`/api`	Machine-readable API index
`GET`	`/api/quote`	Return one quote
`GET`	`/api/random`	Return a random quote
`GET`	`/api/quotes`	Return a paginated quote collection
`GET`	`/api/authors`	Return a searchable author collection
`GET`	`/api/author`	Return one author by ID, name, or query
`GET`	`/api/author/:id`	Return one author by path ID
`GET`	`/api/search`	Search quotes and authors together
`GET`	`/api/stats`	Return archive statistics
`GET`	`/api/themes`	List SVG card themes
`GET`	`/api/letters`	Return available author directory letters
`GET`	`/api/health`	Return service health
`GET`	`/api/card`	Generate an SVG quote card

`GET /api`

Returns the API name, version, data source summary, endpoint map, and docs URL.

curl "$BASE_URL/api"

`GET /api/quote`

Returns one quote. With no filters, the endpoint selects a random record.

curl "$BASE_URL/api/quote"

Query parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`index`	integer	Return the quote with this one-based index
`id`	string	Return a quote by `_id`, such as `Q00001`
`quote_id`	string	Alias for `id`
`quoteId`	string	Alias for `id`
`author_id`	string	Limit selection to one author ID
`authorId`	string	Alias for `author_id`
`author`	string	Match an author name
`search`	string	Search quote, author, ID, and index text
`q`	string	Alias for `search`
`seed`	integer	Select a repeatable result from the filtered pool

Examples:

# Get quote number 42
curl "$BASE_URL/api/quote?index=42"

# Get a quote by stable quote ID
curl "$BASE_URL/api/quote?id=Q00001"

# Get a quote by author ID
curl "$BASE_URL/api/quote?author_id=A00001"

# Search for a phrase
curl "$BASE_URL/api/quote?search=courage"

# Repeat the same filtered result
curl "$BASE_URL/api/quote?search=courage&seed=0"

Indexed, ID-based, and seeded requests are stable and cacheable. Unseeded random requests are returned with Cache-Control: no-store so a randomizer does not accidentally serve the same browser-cached response forever.

`GET /api/random`

Returns a random quote. This route is a direct alias for random quote selection and is always marked as non-cacheable.

curl "$BASE_URL/api/random"

`GET /api/quotes`

Returns a paginated collection:

{
  "total": 25000,
  "limit": 20,
  "offset": 0,
  "data": []
}

Query parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`limit`	integer	`20`	Number of records, capped at `100`
`offset`	integer	`0`	Number of records to skip
`search`	string	—	Search quote and author text
`q`	string	—	Alias for `search`
`author`	string	—	Match an author name
`author_id`	string	—	Match an author ID

curl "$BASE_URL/api/quotes?limit=10&offset=20"
curl "$BASE_URL/api/quotes?author=Virginia%20Woolf&limit=10"

`GET /api/authors`

Returns a paginated author collection:

{
  "total": 2340,
  "limit": 20,
  "offset": 0,
  "data": []
}

Query parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`limit`	integer	`20`	Number of records, capped at `100`
`offset`	integer	`0`	Number of records to skip
`search`	string	—	Search name, ID, or biography
`q`	string	—	Alias for `search`
`sort`	string	`name`	Use `name`, `quotes`, or `count`

curl "$BASE_URL/api/authors?sort=quotes&limit=20"
curl "$BASE_URL/api/authors?search=milne"

`GET /api/author`

Returns one author. It accepts an ID, name, or partial name:

curl "$BASE_URL/api/author?id=A00001"
curl "$BASE_URL/api/author?name=A.%20A.%20Milne"
curl "$BASE_URL/api/author?search=milne"

To include the author's quote records:

curl "$BASE_URL/api/author?id=A00001&include=quotes"

include=quotes, quotes=true, and include=true are accepted.

`GET /api/author/:id`

The path form is useful for links and simple REST clients:

curl "$BASE_URL/api/author/A00001"

Author records contain:

{
  "_id": "A00001",
  "name": "A. A. Milne",
  "quote_count": 18,
  "wikipedia_title": "a. a. milne",
  "wikipedia_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/a._a._milne",
  "bio": "..."
}

`GET /api/search`

Searches quotes and authors together:

curl "$BASE_URL/api/search?q=hope&limit=10"

Response shape:

{
  "query": "hope",
  "quotes": [],
  "authors": []
}

The result limit is capped at 20.

`GET /api/stats`

Returns archive-level statistics:

curl "$BASE_URL/api/stats"

Typical fields include:

{
  "quotes": 25000,
  "authors": 2340,
  "average_quote_length": 98,
  "longest_quote": {
    "index": 127,
    "length": 175
  },
  "source": "authors.json + quotes.json"
}

`GET /api/themes`

Returns the supported SVG card theme names:

curl "$BASE_URL/api/themes"

Current themes:

dark
light
midnight
nord
mono

`GET /api/letters`

Returns the sorted set of first letters used by author names:

curl "$BASE_URL/api/letters"

`GET /api/health`

Returns a minimal service status response:

curl "$BASE_URL/api/health"

Response:

{
  "ok": true,
  "service": "quotes-cdn"
}

SVG card generator

The card endpoint returns an SVG image directly. It is designed for GitHub READMEs, profile pages, documentation sites, bots, and any place that accepts an image URL.

Basic card

https://your-project.vercel.app/api/card?index=1

Markdown embed:

![Quote card](https://your-project.vercel.app/api/card?index=1&theme=midnight)

HTML embed:

<img
  src="https://your-project.vercel.app/api/card?index=1&theme=midnight"
  alt="Generated quote card"
/>

Card parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`index`	integer	Quote index to render
`id`	string	Quote ID to render
`theme`	string	`dark`, `light`, `midnight`, `nord`, or `mono`
`quote`	string	Render custom quote text instead of a dataset quote
`author_name`	string	Author label for a custom quote
`author`	string	Alias for `author_name`
`border_radius`	integer	Rounded corners from `0` to `40`
`border_width`	integer	Border width from `0` to `5`
`bg_color`	hex	Custom background color
`quote_color`	hex	Custom quote text color
`author_color`	hex	Custom author text color
`accent_color`	hex	Custom accent color
`border_color`	hex	Custom border color
`format`	string	Use `json` to return SVG inside JSON

Colors can be passed with or without the leading #.

Examples:

/api/card?index=42&theme=nord
/api/card?index=42&theme=mono&border_radius=18
/api/card?index=42&bg_color=f7f0df&accent_color=e85d3f
/api/card?quote=Stay%20curious&author_name=Your%20name&theme=light

To receive the generated SVG inside a JSON response:

curl "$BASE_URL/api/card?index=1&theme=midnight&format=json"

The SVG generator wraps quote text, calculates the card height from the rendered lines, escapes XML-sensitive content, and guards long custom inputs so text stays inside the card.

Browser interface

The public interface is intentionally built with only:

HTML
CSS
Browser JavaScript

The home page includes:

A live quote explorer
Search by author, phrase, or quote index
Random quote controls
Archive statistics
A live SVG card preview
Quote index loading
Theme switching
Copyable quote and card URL actions

The docs page includes:

Quick-start request examples
Endpoint explanations
Parameter tables
Open-in-new-tab route buttons
SVG card documentation
Mobile-friendly layout

Project structure

.
├── api/
│   ├── author.js
│   ├── author/[id].js
│   ├── authors.js
│   ├── card.js
│   ├── health.js
│   ├── index.js
│   ├── letters.js
│   ├── quote.js
│   ├── quotes.js
│   ├── random.js
│   ├── search.js
│   ├── stats.js
│   └── themes.js
├── lib/
│   ├── api.js
│   ├── data.js
│   └── svg.js
├── public/
│   ├── app.js
│   ├── docs.html
│   ├── docs.js
│   ├── favicon.svg
│   ├── index.html
│   └── styles.css
├── authors.json
├── quotes.json
├── server.js
├── vercel.json
└── package.json

How the server works

server.js serves the static browser files and forwards /api/* requests to the shared router in lib/api.js.

The Vercel files in api/ are thin handlers that call the same shared router. This keeps local development and Vercel responses aligned without introducing a framework or a separate application server.

How the data layer works

lib/data.js loads quotes.json and authors.json into memory on first use. It builds maps for quote IDs, quote indexes, and author IDs, then provides the filtering, sorting, pagination, search, and statistics functions used by both local and Vercel requests.

Data and attribution

Quote data provenance

The quote and author records bundled in this repository were scraped and compiled from public websites into quotes.json and authors.json.

This project is a data/API demonstration and redistribution layer. It does not claim ownership of the original quotations, biographies, names, or linked source material. If you redistribute the dataset or use it in a public product, verify the source websites, attribution requirements, copyright status, and any applicable terms of use yourself.

The included author records may contain source links such as Wikipedia URLs. Those links are metadata from the imported records; they are not an endorsement of any single source.

SVG card attribution

The SVG quote-card approach is adapted from:

OpenUwU/anime-readme-quotes

https://github.com/OpenUwU/anime-readme-quotes.git

The adaptation preserves the core card-generation ideas around SVG layout, themes, text wrapping, gradients, and XML escaping, while changing the data model to work with normal quote and author records.

Deploy to Vercel

This project is designed to deploy without a build command.

From the Vercel dashboard

Import the repository.
Keep the project as a Node project.
Leave the build command empty.
Use npm start for local development only.
Deploy.

vercel.json enables clean URLs. The api/ directory supplies the serverless-compatible route handlers.

From the Vercel CLI

npm install -g vercel
vercel

For a production deployment:

vercel --prod

After deployment, test:

curl https://your-project.vercel.app/api/health
curl https://your-project.vercel.app/api/quote

Replacing the dataset

The data files are intentionally kept at the project root:

authors.json
quotes.json

The expected quote fields are:

{
  "_id": "Q00001",
  "index": 1,
  "author_id": "A00001",
  "author": "Author name",
  "quote": "Quote text"
}

The expected author fields are:

{
  "_id": "A00001",
  "name": "Author name",
  "quote_count": 1,
  "wikipedia_title": "author",
  "wikipedia_url": "https://example.com",
  "bio": "Author biography."
}

If you replace the files, keep quote indexes unique and one-based, keep quote IDs unique, and make sure every author_id points to an author record. The server reads the files lazily and caches the parsed data for the lifetime of the process.

Design principles

Quotes CDN stays intentionally opinionated:

Plain web technologies first. The interface does not require React, Vue, a bundler, or a component runtime.
One shared API implementation. Local requests and Vercel functions use the same router and data layer.
Useful defaults. A request to /api/quote or /api/card should produce something useful without a long configuration object.
Stable records. Quote indexes, quote IDs, and author IDs are designed for links and repeatable integrations.
SVG over screenshots. Cards stay sharp, lightweight, and easy to embed.
Readable source. The project favors small files and explicit behavior over hidden framework conventions.

License and usage note

The original application code in this repository is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for the complete text.

This repository also contains imported data and adapted SVG-card code. Treat the application code, imported dataset, and adapted upstream implementation as separate attribution surfaces.

Before publishing a fork or commercial product:

Review the license of the upstream SVG-card project.
Review the license and terms of the sites used for scraped data.
Preserve required attribution.
Confirm that redistribution of quote text and biographies is permitted.
Add your own rate limiting, caching policy, and abuse controls if you expose the API publicly at scale.

Status

The project is ready for local use and Vercel hosting.

The fastest path is:

npm start

Then open:

http://localhost:5000

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
api		api
lib		lib
public		public
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
authors.json		authors.json
package.json		package.json
quotes.json		quotes.json
server.js		server.js
vercel.json		vercel.json

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Repository files navigation

Quotes CDN

What this project gives you

Quick start

Requirements

Install and run

Development mode

First request

API reference

Endpoint map

GET /api

GET /api/quote

Query parameters

GET /api/random

GET /api/quotes

Query parameters

GET /api/authors

Query parameters

GET /api/author

GET /api/author/:id

GET /api/search

GET /api/stats

GET /api/themes

GET /api/letters

GET /api/health

SVG card generator

Basic card

Card parameters

Browser interface

Project structure

How the server works

How the data layer works

Data and attribution

Quote data provenance

SVG card attribution

Deploy to Vercel

From the Vercel dashboard

From the Vercel CLI

Replacing the dataset

Design principles

License and usage note

Status

About

Resources

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Releases

Packages

Contributors

Languages

`GET /api`

`GET /api/quote`

`GET /api/random`

`GET /api/quotes`

`GET /api/authors`

`GET /api/author`

`GET /api/author/:id`

`GET /api/search`

`GET /api/stats`

`GET /api/themes`

`GET /api/letters`

`GET /api/health`