Live sports scores in JavaScript

Terminal

export REALTIME_SPORTS_API_KEY=your_key
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $REALTIME_SPORTS_API_KEY" \
  "https://www.realtimesportsapi.com/api/v1/sports/football/leagues/nfl/events/live"

Terminal

git clone https://github.com/ElcoDevRepos/realtime-sports-api-examples
cd realtime-sports-api-examples/javascript

javascript/lib.mjs

// Shared helpers for the JavaScript examples. Node 18+ (uses the built-in fetch), no dependencies.
import { existsSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';

export const API_BASE = process.env.RSA_API_BASE || 'https://www.realtimesportsapi.com/api/v1';

// Load ../.env (KEY=value lines) if present; variables already in the environment win.
const envFile = new URL('../.env', import.meta.url);
if (existsSync(envFile)) {
  for (const line of readFileSync(envFile, 'utf8').split(/\r?\n/)) {
    const m = line.match(/^\s*([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*)\s*=\s*(.*?)\s*$/);
    if (m && process.env[m[1]] === undefined) process.env[m[1]] = m[2].replace(/^['"]|['"]$/g, '');
  }
}

export function requireKey() {
  const key = process.env.REALTIME_SPORTS_API_KEY;
  if (!key || key === 'your_api_key_here') {
    console.error('Set REALTIME_SPORTS_API_KEY first (export it, or copy .env.example to .env).');
    console.error('Get a free key at https://www.realtimesportsapi.com/signup');
    process.exit(1);
  }
  return key;
}

export class ApiError extends Error {
  constructor(status, body) {
    const err = body?.error ?? {};
    super(`HTTP ${status} ${err.code ?? ''}: ${err.message ?? 'request failed'}`.trim());
    this.status = status;
    this.code = err.code;
    this.hint = err.hint;
    this.retryAfter = undefined;
  }
}

/**
 * GET a path under /api/v1 and return the parsed envelope `{ success, data, meta }`.
 * Throws ApiError on non-2xx responses (401 bad key, 429 monthly quota exhausted, ...).
 */
export async function apiGet(path, query = {}) {
  const key = requireKey();
  const url = new URL(API_BASE + path);
  for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(query)) if (v !== undefined && v !== null) url.searchParams.set(k, String(v));
  const res = await fetch(url, { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${key}`, Accept: 'application/json' } });
  const body = await res.json().catch(() => null);
  if (!res.ok) {
    const e = new ApiError(res.status, body);
    e.retryAfter = Number(res.headers.get('retry-after')) || undefined;
    throw e;
  }
  return body;
}

/** One-line score: "KC 14 @ BAL 10  5:23 - 2nd Quarter" */
export function formatGame(g) {
  const a = g.awayTeam ?? {};
  const h = g.homeTeam ?? {};
  const score = (t) => (t.score === undefined || t.score === null ? '' : ` ${t.score}`);
  return `${a.abbreviation ?? a.name ?? '?'}${score(a)} @ ${h.abbreviation ?? h.name ?? '?'}${score(h)}  ${g.status?.detail ?? ''}  [${g.id}]`;
}

/** Run an async main() and print API errors cleanly instead of a stack trace. */
export function run(main) {
  main().catch((err) => {
    if (err instanceof ApiError) {
      console.error(err.message);
      if (err.hint) console.error(`Hint: ${err.hint}`);
      if (err.status === 429) console.error(`Monthly quota exhausted. Retry after ${err.retryAfter ?? '?'} s or upgrade.`);
    } else {
      console.error(err);
    }
    process.exit(1);
  });
}

javascript/live-scores.mjs

// Games in progress right now for one league.
// Usage: node live-scores.mjs [sport] [league]
//   node live-scores.mjs football nfl
//   node live-scores.mjs soccer eng.1     (soccer is "soccer"; "football" is American football)
import { apiGet, formatGame, run } from './lib.mjs';

const [sport = 'football', league = 'nfl'] = process.argv.slice(2);

run(async () => {
  const { data: games, meta } = await apiGet(`/sports/${sport}/leagues/${league}/events/live`);
  if (!games.length) console.log(`No ${league} games live right now.`);
  for (const g of games) console.log(formatGame(g));
  if (meta?.rateLimit) console.log(`\nCalls remaining this month: ${meta.rateLimit.remaining}`);
});

javascript/schedule.mjs

// Season schedule. NFL and college football also take a week.
// Usage: node schedule.mjs [sport] [league] [season] [week] [seasonType]
//   node schedule.mjs football nfl 2026 5 2    (2026 regular season, week 5)
import { apiGet, formatGame, run } from './lib.mjs';

const [sport = 'football', league = 'nfl', season = '2026', week, seasonType = '2'] = process.argv.slice(2);

run(async () => {
  const { data: games } = await apiGet(`/sports/${sport}/leagues/${league}/seasons/${season}/schedule`, { week, seasonType });
  for (const g of games) console.log(`${new Date(g.date).toLocaleString()}  ${formatGame(g)}`);
  console.log(`\n${games.length} games`);
});

javascript/event-details.mjs

// One game: details, box score and the latest plays (3 API calls).
// Usage: node event-details.mjs <sport> <league> <eventId>
// Find event ids with live-scores.mjs (printed in [brackets]).
import { apiGet, formatGame, run } from './lib.mjs';

const [sport, league, eventId] = process.argv.slice(2);
if (!eventId) {
  console.error('Usage: node event-details.mjs <sport> <league> <eventId>   (e.g. football nfl 401772982)');
  process.exit(1);
}

run(async () => {
  const base = `/sports/${sport}/leagues/${league}/events/${eventId}`;
  const { data: event } = await apiGet(base);
  console.log(formatGame(event));

  const { data: box } = await apiGet(`${base}/boxscore`);
  console.log('\nBox score keys:', Object.keys(box ?? {}).join(', '));

  const { data: plays } = await apiGet(`${base}/plays`, { limit: 10 });
  console.log('\nPlays:');
  for (const p of plays ?? []) console.log(` - ${p.text ?? [p.type?.text ?? 'Play', p.clock?.displayValue].filter(Boolean).join(' ')}`);
});

Terminal

node live-scores.mjs basketball nba
node schedule.mjs football nfl 2026 9
node event-details.mjs soccer eng.1 401879242
node watch.mjs basketball nba 30

javascript/watch.mjs

// Poll the live endpoint and print only what changed: score, clock/period, final.
// Usage: node watch.mjs [sport] [league] [seconds]
//   node watch.mjs basketball nba 30
// Every poll is one API call: a 3-hour game polled every 30 s is about 360 calls.
// Data is typically 20-30 seconds behind live play; not for in-play betting.
import { apiGet, formatGame, run } from './lib.mjs';

const [sport = 'football', league = 'nfl', seconds = '30'] = process.argv.slice(2);
const last = new Map(); // event id -> last line printed

async function poll() {
  const { data: games } = await apiGet(`/sports/${sport}/leagues/${league}/events/live`);
  for (const g of games) {
    const line = formatGame(g);
    if (last.get(g.id) !== line) {
      console.log(`${new Date().toLocaleTimeString()}  ${line}`);
      last.set(g.id, line);
    }
  }
  if (!games.length && last.size === 0) console.log(`No ${league} games live right now.`);
}

run(async () => {
  await poll();
  setInterval(() => poll().catch((e) => console.error(e.message)), Number(seconds) * 1000);
});