Chuck Norris Jokes — Free Random Joke API (ChuckNorris.io) (No Key)

TL;DR

ChuckNorris.io is the definitive Chuck Norris joke API with a massive curated collection of jokes organized into categories like animal, career, celebrity, dev, explicit, fashion, food, history, money, movie, music, political, religion, science, sport, and travel. Each joke comes with an ID, URL, and category tags. Supports random jokes, category-filtered jokes, and text search. Completely free, no API key needed, fast JSON responses.

Quick start: https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/random

No API key needed — just make a request!

Get a random Chuck Norris joke: https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/random

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How to Use This API

1. Random Joke

https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/random

2. Joke from a Category

Available categories: animal, career, celebrity, dev, explicit, fashion, food, history, money, movie, music, political, religion, science, sport, travel:

https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/random?category=dev

3. List All Categories

https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/categories

4. Search Jokes

Search by keyword — returns all matching jokes:

https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/search?query=roundhouse

5. JavaScript — Random Joke Button

async function tellMeAJoke() {
  const resp = await fetch('https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/random');
  const joke = await resp.json();
  console.log(joke.value);
  console.log(`Categories: ${joke.categories.join(', ') || 'none'}`);
}

document.getElementById('joke-btn').onclick = tellMeAJoke;

6. Python — Daily Chuck Joke

import requests

# Get a dev-themed Chuck Norris joke
resp = requests.get(
    'https://api.chucknorris.io/jokes/random',
    params={'category': 'dev'}
)
joke = resp.json()
print(f"Chuck Norris says: {joke['value']}")
print(f"ID: {joke['id']}")
print(f"Created: {joke['created_at']}")

Frequently Asked Questions

How many jokes are in the database?: There are thousands of Chuck Norris jokes in the database, contributed and curated over many years. New jokes are occasionally added.
What joke categories are available?: animal, career, celebrity, dev, explicit, fashion, food, history, money, movie, music, political, religion, science, sport, and travel. Use the /jokes/categories endpoint to get the live list.
Do I need an API key?: No. ChuckNorris.io is completely free with no authentication required.
Can I search for jokes containing specific words?: Yes. The /jokes/search?query=keyword endpoint returns all jokes matching the query. Results are sorted by relevance.
What format does the response use?: JSON with fields: icon_url, id, url, value (the joke text), categories (array), created_at, and updated_at.
Are there rate limits?: No documented rate limits. The API is fast and reliable for casual and moderate usage.

API Details

API URL: https://api.chucknorris.io
Documentation: api.chucknorris.io
Category: Fun
Authentication: Not Required
Geographic Coverage: Global

What You Can Build

Slack bot that posts a random Chuck Norris joke on command
Daily joke email that sends subscribers a new Chuck Norris fact each morning
Dev-themed "loading" screens with Chuck Norris dev jokes
Motivational poster generator using Chuck Norris quotes as captions
Funny 404 error page that shows a different Chuck Norris joke each time