# API Data Fetcher

Fetch economic data from FRED, World Bank, and other APIs

- Repository: https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills (4869 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: see repository
- Last updated: 2026-10-30
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill api-data-fetcher -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill api-data-fetcher -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill api-data-fetcher -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill api-data-fetcher -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills`

## Description

Fetch economic data from FRED, World Bank, and other APIs

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# API Data Fetcher

## Purpose

This skill helps economists fetch data from major economic data APIs including FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data), World Bank, IMF, BLS, and OECD. It generates clean, documented Python code with proper error handling.

## When to Use

- Downloading macroeconomic indicators
- Building custom datasets from multiple sources
- Automating data updates for ongoing projects
- Fetching cross-country panel data

## Instructions

### Step 1: Identify Data Requirements

Ask the user:
1. What data do you need? (GDP, unemployment, inflation, etc.)
2. What time period and frequency?
3. What countries/regions?
4. Preferred output format? (CSV, DataFrame, etc.)

### Step 2: Select Appropriate API

| Data Type | Best Source | Package |
|-----------|------------|---------|
| US macro | FRED | `fredapi` |
| Global development | World Bank | `wbdata` |
| Labor statistics | BLS | `bls` |
| Cross-country | OECD | `pandasdmx` |
| Financial | Yahoo Finance | `yfinance` |

### Step 3: Generate Clean Code

Include:
- API key handling (environment variables)
- Error handling for API failures
- Data cleaning and formatting
- Documentation of series definitions

## Example Output

```python
"""
Economic Data Fetcher
=====================
Downloads macroeconomic data from FRED and World Bank APIs.
Requires: fredapi, wbdata, pandas

Setup: Set FRED_API_KEY environment variable
Get a free key from: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/docs/api/api_key.html
"""

import os
import pandas as pd
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
from typing import List, Optional, Dict

# ============================================
# FRED Data Fetcher
# ============================================

The rest: https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills/blob/HEAD/skills/09-meleantonio-awesome-econ-ai-stuff/_skills/data/api-data-fetcher/SKILL.md