Documentation - Indicator Descriptions

Indicator Descriptions

Returns data from the [descriptions] table.

This table provides the metadata that describes the entire dataset. It includes details for all the indicators available in each table including the title, name, description, unit type and whether or not the indicator acts as a primary key or filter on the table.

In addition, this table includes the details for each action corresponding to the actions codes in the [actions] tables.

For more information on the dataset and the available indicators, please review the descriptions table on the Explorer page.

Interaction

The table is queried via the following endpoint

https://api.sharadar.com/v1.0/data/descriptions?api_key=test-api-key

The queries are authenticated and filtered using query parameters. A query parameter specifies a particular option or filter for the data to be returned. Examples of query parameter include the data format to be returned (format), the table columns to return (fields) or a filter to be applied (tablename). These are appended to the endpoint above, following a ?. The most important of these is your API key (api_key) which is used to authenticate you. Without a valid API key, results will not be returned.

The descriptions table supports the following query parameters.

Parameter	Description	Default	Examples
format	The format of the results to be returned.	csv	`format=json`
years	Bulk download only. History length to download: 5, 10, or full. Defaults to the longest history included in your subscription that has a published bulk file. Alias: history.	max available	`years=5`
fields	The fields (table columns) to return.	all	`fields=tablename,indicator,description`
tablename	The table to return descriptions for.	all	`tablename=fundamentals`
limit	The number of records to return.	10000	`limit=100000`
skip	The number of results to skip before returning data.	0	`skip=10000`
sort	The field used to sort the data and the sort method (asc/desc).	date.desc	`sort=indicator.asc`
indicator	The the indicator to return data for.	all	`indicator=revenue`

Examples

Return the the indicator details for all tables in the dataset

https://api.sharadar.com/v1.0/data/descriptions?api_key=test-api-key&format=csv

Return the indictors and descriptions for a specific table (e.g. fundamentals)

https://api.sharadar.com/v1.0/data/descriptions?api_key=test-api-key&format=csv&tablename=fundamentals

Return the details for a single indicator on a table (e.g. the revenue indicator on the fundamentals table)

https://api.sharadar.com/v1.0/data/descriptions?api_key=test-api-key&format=csv&tablename=fundamentals&indicator=revenue

Google Sheets Example

In Google Sheets, retrieve indicator descriptions for a table (fundamentals) with IMPORTDATA. You can change the query parameters (ticker, dates, fields, filters, and so on) in the same way as the Examples in the preceding section. Paste this formula into a cell (A1):

=IMPORTDATA("https://api.sharadar.com/v1.0/data/descriptions?api_key=test-api-key&format=csv&tablename=fundamentals")

Bulk Download

Download the [descriptions] table as a compressed CSV. The API responds with a redirect to a time-limited download URL.

https://api.sharadar.com/v1.0/data/descriptions?api_key=test-api-key&bulk=True

Use years=5, years=10, or years=full to select history length when split bulk files are published. If years is omitted, the longest history included in your subscription is used.

https://api.sharadar.com/v1.0/data/descriptions?api_key=test-api-key&bulk=True&years=5

Example using curl (follow redirects and write the file):

curl -L -o descriptions.csv.zip "https://api.sharadar.com/v1.0/data/descriptions?api_key=test-api-key&bulk=True"

Check the bulk file status (name, size, last modified) without downloading:

https://api.sharadar.com/v1.0/data/descriptions?api_key=test-api-key&status=True

Example response:

{
  "table": "descriptions",
  "name": "descriptions.csv.zip",
  "size": 15948,
  "sizeLabel": "15.6 KB",
  "modified": "2026-06-23T07:29:29.106000+00:00"
}

Overview

Data Tables