> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.thestatsapi.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# API Reference overview and base URL

> The Stats API is a REST API for football data. All protected requests use the base URL https://api.thestatsapi.com/api and require Bearer token authentication.

The Stats API provides football data as JSON over HTTP. Use the endpoint reference pages to inspect supported query parameters, path parameters, response examples, and coverage notes.

## Base URL

```text theme={null}
https://api.thestatsapi.com/api
```

## Authentication

Every endpoint except the health check requires an `Authorization` header with a Bearer token:

```text theme={null}
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
```

## Health check

Verify that the API is reachable without authentication.

```text theme={null}
GET /health
```

```json theme={null}
{
  "status": "healthy",
  "timestamp": "2026-04-20T12:00:00Z"
}
```

## Resource groups

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Competitions" icon="trophy" href="/docs/api-reference/competitions/list">
    List competitions, retrieve competition details, inspect seasons, fetch group labels, and query standings.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Teams" icon="users" href="/docs/api-reference/teams/list">
    Browse teams, fetch team details, inspect squads, retrieve season stats, and list standings history.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Matches" icon="calendar" href="/docs/api-reference/matches/list">
    Query fixtures and results, then drill into details, referees, stats, live stats, player stats, lineups, heatmaps, shotmaps, and timelines.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Players" icon="person-standing" href="/docs/api-reference/players/list">
    Search players, retrieve profiles, fetch competition-season stats, and request season heatmaps.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Odds" icon="chart-line" href="/docs/api-reference/matches/odds">
    Retrieve prematch, historical, in-play, and player-prop odds for supported matches and bookmakers.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Pagination

List endpoints return a `data` array and a `meta` object. Use `page` and `per_page` to paginate; `limit` is accepted as an alias on endpoints that expose it in the reference.

## Filtering

Common filters include `competition_id`, `season_id`, `team_id`, date ranges, `status`, `stage`, and `group`. Check each endpoint page for exact parameter support.