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Quickstart

Get started with Helix Event Feeds in under 5 minutes. This guide shows you how to retrieve and use events from your configured feeds.

Prerequisites​

Before you begin, you'll need:

  • A Helix API key (see API Reference)
  • A command-line terminal or API client
  • An event feed configured by Helix support

Getting Started​

Event feeds and sources are managed by Helix to ensure optimal performance and reliability. To get started:

Contact Helix support to set up your event feeds and configure sources (websites, sitemaps, social media accounts, etc.). You'll receive:

  • Feed IDs for your configured event feeds
  • API credentials
  • Configuration details

Once your feeds are configured, you can immediately start retrieving events using the API.

Step 1: Get Your Feed ID​

After Helix support sets up your event feed, you'll receive a feed ID that looks like: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000

You can also list all your feeds to find the ID:

curl "https://api.feeds.onhelix.ai/feeds/events" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Step 2: Retrieve Events​

Fetch events from your configured feed:

curl "https://api.feeds.onhelix.ai/feeds/events/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000/items?limit=10" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "items": [
      {
        "id": "item_111",
        "eventFeedId": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
        "eventId": "event_222",
        "event": {
          "id": "event_222",
          "title": "Community Art Fair",
          "description": "Annual art fair featuring local artists...",
          "instances": [
            {
              "id": "instance_333",
              "eventId": "event_222",
              "occurrences": [
                {
                  "id": "occ_444",
                  "startDateTime": "2024-06-15T10:00:00.000Z",
                  "endDateTime": "2024-06-15T18:00:00.000Z"
                }
              ],
              "eventGeoLocations": [
                {
                  "geoLocation": {
                    "description": "Downtown Park",
                    "locality": "Springfield",
                    "region": "IL",
                    "country": "US"
                  }
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        },
        "createdAt": "2024-01-15T12:00:00.000Z",
        "updatedAt": "2024-01-15T12:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ],
    "total": 25
  }
}

Step 3: Enable or Disable Your Feed​

You can enable or disable event monitoring for your feed:

# Disable feed temporarily
curl -X PATCH "https://api.feeds.onhelix.ai/feeds/events/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"enabled": false}'

# Re-enable feed
curl -X PATCH "https://api.feeds.onhelix.ai/feeds/events/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"enabled": true}'

Next Steps​

Now that you're retrieving events, you can:

  • Set up event delivery: Register a destination and subscribe it to this feed to get notified when new events are added, instead of polling
  • Filter by date range: Use since and until parameters
  • Paginate results: Use limit and offset to retrieve large result sets
  • Monitor feed status: Check if your feed is enabled and processing

Common Patterns​

Filter Events by Date Range​

# Get events for a specific week
curl "https://api.feeds.onhelix.ai/feeds/events/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000/items?since=2024-06-01T00:00:00Z&until=2024-06-07T23:59:59Z" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Paginate Through Results​

Offsets count items as they are at the time of each request. If an item leaves the feed while you page, the later items move up one place.

# Get first page
curl "https://api.feeds.onhelix.ai/feeds/events/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000/items?limit=20&offset=0" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

# Get second page
curl "https://api.feeds.onhelix.ai/feeds/events/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000/items?limit=20&offset=20" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Check Feed Status​

# Get feed details
curl "https://api.feeds.onhelix.ai/feeds/events/550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Need Changes to Your Feed?​

To add or remove sources, change monitoring settings, or create additional feeds:

Contact Helix support - Our team will help configure your feeds to meet your specific requirements.

Learn More​