What macOS shows on its own
Nothing in macOS.
How Multimeter shows it
- http and https addresses, fetched with a 15 second timeout and no cookies; Multimeter reads up to 256 KB of the reply.
- A plain-text reply: the first number in it. JSON: the number at your key path, or an object with value (and optional min, max, label, unit, formatted).
- Numbers inside strings work too:
"67012.45"or"1,234". - If the server answers with an error code, the meter says which one.
- The range is 0 to 100 unless the reply includes min and max or you set a range in Customize. For a big number like a star count, set the range (or use a text face such as LCD Readout, where the range doesn’t matter).
Set it up
- Choose Add Meter… and pick Web Address.
- Paste the URL and, for JSON, the key path.
- Pick a refresh interval that respects the API’s rate limit.
Every face works with every source it lists. See all 13 faces running live.
Examples that work without an API key
Stars on a public GitHub repo (the GitHub API allows 60 requests an hour without a key, so refresh every 5 minutes or slower):
URL and key path
https://api.github.com/repos/swiftlang/swift
stargazers_countBitcoin spot price in US dollars from Coinbase:
URL and key path
https://api.coinbase.com/v2/prices/BTC-USD/spot
data.amountCheck what an API returns before you add it:
Terminal
curl -s https://api.coinbase.com/v2/prices/BTC-USD/spotMore in the web address meters guide, including APIs that need a token (use a Script meter with curl for those).
Questions
Can I send headers or an API token?
Not from a Web Address meter. Use a Script meter with curl -H, or have a script fetch it and send a multimeter:// link.
How often can it refresh?
Every 30 seconds at the most, every 5 minutes by default.