How to Perform API Calls in Make No-Code Automation: A Step-by-Step Guide

Your shop sends orders to Make. Your CRM has a module. Your accounting has a module. But sooner or later you hit a service that has no module at all — and that's exactly where most automations stop. They don't have to: almost every modern service offers an API, and Make can talk to any API through one single module.

In this blog, we’ll explore how to perform API calls in Make (formerly known as Integromat) — with two examples straight from everyday business that you can rebuild in ten minutes: fetching live exchange rates for your invoicing, and checking a customer's VAT number automatically.

Prefer watching? The video above walks you through the same mechanics. Its demo uses a public recipe API — every step works identically for the business examples below.

‍

What is an API?

API stands for Application Programming Interface. Simply put, an API is a way for different software applications to talk to each other. 

They provide a set of URLs that you can send data to in order to modify settings, add data, or retrieve information from the software. 

Imagine you're at a restaurant, and the menu (API) is what allows you to order (send data) and receive your food (get data) from the kitchen (software). 

If you want the plain-English version of what an interface does for your business — and when it pays off — we've written a whole article on it: APIs explained simply.

With APIs, the possibilities for automation and integration are endless.

‍

Why Learn API Integration with Make?

Make offers a number of predefined modules for popular apps such as Google Sheets, Gmail, Shopify, and more. 

‍

These modules make it easy to connect different apps and automate tasks. However, there may be times where a specific service is not available within Make’s modules — your industry software, an official government service, a niche data provider. This is where APIs come into play. 

Even if a service has no ready-made module, you can still integrate it using Make’s HTTP request module. 

With this, you can connect to any app that offers an API. By understanding how to use this module, you can expand the capabilities of Make beyond its standard offerings. 

‍

Understanding HTTP Requests

HTTP requests are the backbone of API calls. There are different types of requests you can make, but the most common ones you’ll encounter are:

     GET: Retrieve data from a server.

     POST: Send data to a server to create or update resources.

     PUT: Update existing resources with new data.

     PATCH: Update parts of a resource.

     DELETE: Remove resources from a server.

‍

In Make, the HTTP request module allows you to choose the method (GET, POST, etc.), enter the URL of the API, and specify any data or parameters that need to be sent. Let's put that to work — twice.

‍

Example 1: Live Exchange Rates for Your Invoicing (GET)

Say you buy from suppliers in US dollars but invoice your customers in euros. Instead of someone looking up the exchange rate every morning and typing it into a spreadsheet, let Make fetch it.

We’ll use the free Frankfurter API, which serves the official reference rates of the European Central Bank — no sign-up, no API key.

Step 1: Add the HTTP – Make a request module to your scenario.

Step 2: Enter the URL: https://api.frankfurter.dev/v1/latest?base=USD&symbols=EUR — everything after the question mark is a query parameter: we ask for US dollars as the base currency and euros as the target.

Step 3: Leave the method on GET — we only want to retrieve data.

Step 4: Set Parse response to Yes. Make then turns the answer into fields you can click and map in the next module instead of raw text.

Step 5: Run the module once. The response contains the current rate — for example 0.87 — which you can now map into a Google Sheets cell, your ERP, or the morning email to your team.

That’s a complete API call: one module, one URL, no code.

‍

Example 2: Check VAT Numbers Automatically (POST)

Second scenario, straight from the back office: a new business customer enters their VAT number in your order form, and you need to check it before invoicing without VAT (reverse charge). The EU runs an official validation service called VIES — with a free API.

This time we send data, so the method is POST:

Step 1: HTTP – Make a request, URL: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/rest-api/check-vat-number

Step 2: Method: POST. Body type: Raw, content type: JSON.

Step 3: Request content: {"countryCode": "DE", "vatNumber": "123456789"} — in a real scenario, both values come from your form or CRM: you map them into the JSON instead of typing them.

Step 4: Parse response: Yes. The answer contains a field called valid — true or false. Put a filter or router behind the module, and your scenario flags invalid numbers for review while valid ones flow straight into invoicing.

Same module, same logic — only the method and the body changed. Those two patterns, GET and POST, cover the vast majority of business API calls you will ever need.

‍

What If the API Wants a Key?

Our two examples are deliberately key-free, but many commercial APIs require an API key — a kind of password that tells the service who is calling. You usually get it in the service’s developer section after signing up. In Make, the key typically goes into the Headers section of the HTTP module (often under a name like x-api-key or Authorization), or with some services as a query parameter in the URL — the API documentation always tells you which one it expects. Two rules: treat the key like a password, and never paste it anywhere it could become visible to others.

‍

Important Tips for Working with APIs

While APIs are incredibly powerful, it’s important to handle them correctly to avoid errors. Always ensure your API requests are properly authenticated and formatted. Enable the advanced settings in Make to catch any errors in your API calls. And for business-critical calls — like the VAT check before an invoice goes out — add an error handler: if the service is briefly unavailable, you want a retry or a notification, not a silently broken process.

‍

Key Takeaway

APIs are a game-changer for anyone looking to take their automation to the next level. By mastering API calls in Make, you can integrate services that aren’t natively supported — industry software, official registers, data services — and create workflows that save you time and effort.

Start with the exchange-rate example: it’s free, needs no key, and shows you the whole mechanics in ten minutes. 

And if you’re looking to dive even deeper, check out our Make (formerly Integromat) course, where we cover everything you need to know about no-code automation using Make.

Or if you would rather have your interfaces built for you — connected to your ERP, CRM and accounting — book our free automation analysis.

‍

Transparency: The Make link in this post is a referral link. If you use it, we earn a commission — your price stays the same. Signing up through the link also gets you one month of Make Pro for free; the offer is only available through Make partners and only for new sign-ups.