M
API Matrix

Open Skills API

⭐ Beginner's Pick Jobs / No Auth Required Beginner HTTP
Free to Use Varies (check documentation)
77 Score
Grade B
Visit Official Site Compare Alternatives

Overview

Open Skills is a free, open API providing data on job titles, skills, and the relationships between occupations based on US labor market data. It requires no authentication and lets you look up normalized job titles, associated skills, and related jobs programmatically. This is a great API for building career recommendation tools or exploring workforce data.

💡

Beginner Tip

Start with the /jobs endpoint to search for job titles or the /skills endpoint to look up specific skills. No API key is needed — just send a GET request with a search query parameter.

Available Data

Open Skills data via REST API
JSON-formatted response data
Freely accessible without authentication

Example Response

JSON Response 
{
  "title": "Software Engineer",
  "company": "Tech Corp",
  "location": "Remote",
  "salary_range": "$120,000 - $180,000",
  "posted_date": "2025-01-10",
  "description": "We are looking for an experienced..."
}

Field Reference

uuid Unique identifier for the job title in the Open Skills dataset.
title Normalized job title based on O*NET occupational data.
normalized_job_title Cleaned and standardized version of the job title.
parent_uuid UUID of the broader occupational category this job belongs to.
skills List of skill objects associated with this job title (available on detail endpoint).

Implementation Example 

const url = "https://github.com/workforce-data-initiative/skills-api/wiki/API-Overview";
const response = await fetch(url);
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

What Can You Build?

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

Common Errors & Troubleshooting

404 Not Found on /jobs/{id} The job UUID used in the path does not exist in the dataset.
✓ First use the /jobs?contains= search to find valid job UUIDs, then use those IDs for detail lookups.
Empty results array The search term does not match any normalized job title in the dataset.
✓ Try shorter or more generic terms — the dataset uses O*NET standardized titles which may differ from common usage.
Service intermittently unavailable The Open Skills API is a research project and may have uptime gaps.
✓ Cache responses locally and handle 503 errors gracefully with retry logic, as the API is not backed by a commercial SLA.

Matrix Score Breakdown

🌐 Reachability 30/30
⚡ Speed 20/20
🔒 Security 5/15
🛠 Developer XP 15/20
✓ Reliability 7/15
Response Time 48ms

Fully tested on Apr 5, 2026

Technical Specifications

Auth No Auth
HTTPS NO
CORS UNKNOWN
Category Jobs
Difficulty Beginner
Verified: 2026-04-04

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