SpaceTraders is a multiplayer space trading game where all gameplay is performed through a documented REST API. This entry introduces the game from an API perspective and establishes the technical foundations used throughout the series. The focus is on OpenAPI as a way of understanding and navigating the API surface, and on practical Python workflows for consuming endpoints safely: authentication, pagination, rate limiting, and request throttling. The note also serves as a reference archive with reusable code snippets and function skeletons for future development.

SpaceTraders as an API-First Game

SpaceTraders is not played through a graphical interface. Instead, every interaction: creating an agent, navigating ships, mining resources, trading goods, or accepting contracts is performed via HTTP requests to a public API.

From a technical standpoint, this makes SpaceTraders closer to a live backend system than a traditional game:

agents behave like authenticated users
ships are stateful resources
markets expose transactional endpoints
cooldowns and fuel limits act as system constraints

The entire game state is exchanged as structured JSON responses, which makes client-side logic, error handling, and state tracking essential.

Why OpenAPI Matters in the Context of SpaceTraders

SpaceTraders provides a documented OpenAPI specification describing:

available endpoints and methods
required parameters and request bodies
authentication via API tokens
response schemas and error formats

Rather than learning OpenAPI in isolation, the game provides a real system where OpenAPI descriptions directly map to meaningful actions. Understanding the specification becomes a practical skill: misreading an endpoint can waste fuel, trigger cooldowns, or lock ships.

In this series, OpenAPI is used primarily as:

a navigation tool for the API
a contract reference when writing client code
a way to reason about request flows and constraints

Authentication: API Tokens as the Entry Point

SpaceTraders uses token-based authentication. The token is passed with every request, typically via an HTTP header.

Reference pattern (Python)

import requests

API_TOKEN = "YOUR_TOKEN_HERE"
BASE_URL = "https://api.spacetraders.io/v2"

HEADERS = {
    "Authorization": f"Bearer {API_TOKEN}",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

Notes

Keep authentication headers centralized.
Avoid hardcoding tokens in notebooks that may be committed later.
All subsequent requests reuse this header object.

Making a Minimal, Safe API Call

A basic read-only request forms the baseline for all interactions.

def get_agent():
    r = requests.get(f"{BASE_URL}/my/agent", headers=HEADERS, timeout=10)
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()

Why this structure matters

timeout prevents hanging requests
raise_for_status() surfaces API errors early
JSON parsing is explicit and controlled

This pattern is reused throughout the codebase.

Pagination: Navigating Large API Responses

Many SpaceTraders endpoints return paginated data (systems, waypoints, markets). Pagination is not optional, and client code must handle it explicitly.

Typical pattern: limit + page

def fetch_pages(endpoint, limit=20, max_pages=None):
    page = 1
    results = []

    while True:
        params = {"limit": limit, "page": page}
        r = requests.get(f"{BASE_URL}{endpoint}", headers=HEADERS, params=params, timeout=10)
        r.raise_for_status()

        data = r.json()
        items = data.get("data", [])

        if not items:
            break

        results.extend(items)
        page += 1

        if max_pages and page > max_pages:
            break

    return results

Reference tips

Always rely on response content to stop loops
Avoid assuming total counts are static
Add max_pages during testing to avoid runaway requests

Rate Limits and “Too Many Requests”

APIs like SpaceTraders enforce rate limits to protect the backend. When limits are exceeded, the API returns HTTP 429 Too Many Requests.

This is expected behavior and must be handled gracefully.

Simple inspection pattern

if r.status_code == 429:
    print("Rate limit hit")
    print(r.headers)

Key takeaway

Errors here are not bugs but feedback
Client code must adapt the request frequency

Throttling and Controlled Throughput

A common professional approach is explicit throttling, rather than sending requests as fast as possible.

This improves:

stability
debuggability
compliance with rate limits

Sequential throttle (reference)

import time

def throttled_get(url, params=None, delay=0.5):
    time.sleep(delay)
    r = requests.get(url, headers=HEADERS, params=params, timeout=10)
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()

Worker-based throttle (conceptual skeleton)

from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor

def fetch_with_workers(urls, max_workers=2):
    results = []
    with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=max_workers) as executor:
        for result in executor.map(lambda u: requests.get(u, headers=HEADERS).json(), urls):
            results.append(result)
    return results

Notes

Low concurrency beats aggressive parallelism
Throughput control is more important than raw speed
This pattern scales well as automation grows

Defensive API Consumption Checklist

Before automating any workflow:

always set timeouts
always check status codes
expect pagination
expect rate limits
log unexpected responses
test loops with artificial limits

These practices prevent subtle bugs that only appear after hours of runtime.

SpaceTraders as a Learning Environment

SpaceTraders is particularly effective for learning API consumption because:

all state changes are observable
mistakes have visible consequences
OpenAPI documentation is directly actionable
workflows resemble real integration tasks

This makes it a practical bridge between API theory, OpenAPI specifications, and real-world client development.

Looking Ahead

This entry establishes the API and OpenAPI foundation used throughout the series. Future entries will build on this by:

modeling game data locally
persisting state in a database
automating decision loops
refining request strategies over time

Each step remains grounded in the same API-first approach introduced here.

Spacetraders 1: OpenAPI and API-first gameplay foundations