# Making an external API call

We often have the use case where we want to make an API call -- be it to another micro-service in your eco system or to a 3rd party service. Over here we'll see how to accomplish the same in Cosmocloud's Flow Builder.

## Using [API Call](https://docs.cosmocloud.io/flow-builder/node-types/external-nodes/api-call) node

You can use the `API Call` node in the Flow Builder to connect to any external service and hit their API.

<figure><img src="https://392607133-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FZCdm9aJ8vkvDIIbg04AL%2Fuploads%2F2N9CNs4VSDwSIoT8Crgt%2FScreenshot%202024-05-06%20at%2012.21.29%E2%80%AFPM.png?alt=media&#x26;token=1833bb1a-c0f4-46be-8843-427b9e3d0227" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

You can then open this node's properties and configure your API call you would want to perform. For example, if you want to fetch a list of students from `https://example.com/students` using a `GET` API call, you would configure it as per the below screenshot -

<figure><img src="https://392607133-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FZCdm9aJ8vkvDIIbg04AL%2Fuploads%2Fn1upROVoudKEIvS05LJO%2FScreenshot%202024-05-06%20at%2012.22.42%E2%80%AFPM.png?alt=media&#x26;token=8f7944f7-c08c-4416-bfc0-60e6bc2b0203" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

This node will return `body` and `statusCode` for you to use in the rest of your flow. For example, if the above `API Call` node has the nodename `node_7`, you can access the response body as `$.node_7.body.<key_in_body>`

You can also make `POST` and other calls, as well as JSON payloads and enable Authentication on this external API.

{% hint style="info" %}
To go deep into `API Call` node's documentation, please [check this link](https://docs.cosmocloud.io/flow-builder/node-types/external-nodes/api-call).
{% endhint %}


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