How to use the ID finder and API tester

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The Playground (API Tester and ID Finder) is included in all plans, including the free plan.
Plans differ only in leagues and API call limits.
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Most Football API endpoints require an ID (a league, team, player, or fixture) rather than a name. This guide shows you how to find those IDs and test a live request, without writing any code, using the Playground in MySportmonks.

When to use this

Reach for the Playground whenever you:

Need a league_id, team_id, player_id, or season_id and don't already have it
Want to check what a response looks like before writing integration code
Are debugging a request and want to confirm the correct endpoint, includes, or filters

Opening the Playground

Log in to MySportmonks.
In the left-hand menu, expand API and select Playground.

The Playground opens with five tabs across the top: API Tester, Templates, Saved, History, and ID Finder.

Clicking the ID Finder card on the Dashboard takes you straight to the ID Finder tab. Clicking Playground opens the API Tester tab instead.

Finding an ID with the ID Finder

The ID Finder tab has its own set of sub-tabs: Leagues, Teams, Players, Fixtures, Statistics, Bookmakers, and Other.

To find a league ID:

Open the Leagues sub-tab.
Use Select a country to narrow the list to one country, or use Search on name to search directly (for example, "Premier League").
The table returns the league's ID, Name, Country, and Current Season ID.

For example, searching gives you the Premier League (8), La Liga (564), Bundesliga (82), Serie A (384), Ligue 1 (301), and the Champions League (2), each alongside its current season ID.

The other sub-tabs (Teams, Players, Fixtures, Statistics, Bookmakers, Other) follow the same pattern: filter or search, then read the ID off the results table.

Not every field is shown by default. Apply a filter (country, name, or both) to unlock more specific columns.

Building and running a request with the API Tester

Once you have the ID you need, switch to the API Tester tab to build and run a real request.

Start from a template (optional). The Quickstart with a Template section suggests ready-made requests, often personalised to your account (for example, "Because you live in England: Teams stats historical season England U18"). Click Run to execute one directly, or click View all to browse the full template library.
Or build your own request. Under API Request Options, open the Category dropdown and choose the data type you want. The list covers every entity in the Football API: Livescores, Fixtures, Leagues, Seasons, Schedules, Predictions, Teams, Statistics, Topscorers, Standings, Rounds, Team Squads, Rivals, Players, Coaches, Stages, Pre-match Odds, In-play Odds, Bookmakers, Referees, Premium Odds, Transfers, Venues, Markets, Expected, TV Stations, News, Commentaries, and Other.

Select an endpoint. The Endpoint dropdown only populates once you've chosen a category, listing the specific endpoints available for it, for example choosing Fixtures gives you options like GET All Fixtures. If you're not sure which endpoint maps to which use case, check the Endpoints reference.
Add includes. Use the Includes and Nested Includes toggles to enrich the response with related data, the same includes system used in the API itself.
Set optional parameters (optional). Expand Optional Parameters to refine the request further:
- SortBy and Order: sort the response by a field, ascending or descending.
- Locale: return translated fields in a specific language.
- Filter: add one or more filters (for example Ids), with Add Another Filter to stack multiple filters, or Clear to remove them.
- Page: step through paginated results.
Check the request URL. The Playground builds the full request URL for you at the bottom of the panel as you make selections. For example, selecting the Fixtures category, the GET All Fixtures endpoint, and sorting by name ascending produces:
```
https://api.sportmonks.com/v3/football/fixtures
?api_token=YOUR_TOKEN&sortBy=name&order=asc
```
Use the copy icon next to it if you want to reuse the URL elsewhere.
Run it. Click GET request. The response streams into the Response panel on the right, where you can search within the result, page through it with the arrow buttons, and copy it.
Save your work. Use Save to keep a request for later (accessible from the Saved tab), or Reset to start over. Every request you run is also logged in the History tab.

Working with the data

Once you have an endpoint and an ID confirmed in the Playground, the same request works from your own code. For example, to fetch the Premier League by ID (8):

const response = await fetch(
  "https://api.sportmonks.com/v3/football/leagues/8?api_token=YOUR_TOKEN"
);
const data = await response.json();

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.sportmonks.com/v3/football/leagues/8",
    params={"api_token": "YOUR_TOKEN"},
)
data = response.json()

$response = file_get_contents(
    "https://api.sportmonks.com/v3/football/leagues/8?api_token=YOUR_TOKEN"
);
$data = json_decode($response, true);

Common pitfalls

Filtering by country and expecting all leagues. The ID Finder only unlocks certain columns once you've filtered; if a field looks missing, apply a country or name filter first.
Confusing league ID with season ID. Most fixture, standings, and squad endpoints need the Current Season ID shown in the Leagues table, not the league ID itself.
Forgetting the endpoint depends on the category. The Endpoint dropdown stays empty until you pick a Category first.
Running Playground requests against your production token. Every request you run in the Playground counts towards your hourly rate limit, the same as a request from your own app.

FAQ

Do I need a subscription to use the Playground? No. It's available on the free plan and every paid plan.

Does using the API Tester use up my API calls? Yes. Requests run from the Playground count against your plan's hourly call limit, the same as requests from your own application.

Can I reuse a request I built in the Playground? Yes. Click Save to store it in the Saved tab, or copy the generated request URL directly into your code.

What's the difference between the ID Finder and the search endpoints (like GET Leagues Search by Name)? They return the same underlying data. The ID Finder is a visual, no-code way to browse it inside MySportmonks; the search endpoints let you do the same lookup programmatically from your own application.