CocoaPods Trunk API

Query the CocoaPods Trunk API for a pod's published versions and release timestamps with no key. Includes the non-ISO date format and version-ordering gotchas.

No API key requiredHTTPSFree tier

Endpoint tested and returned HTTP 200 on 2026-08-21

What is the CocoaPods Trunk API?

CocoaPods Trunk exposes a small public API. `GET https://trunk.cocoapods.org/api/v1/pods/{name}` returns every published version of a pod with the timestamp it was pushed. No API key is required for reads.

Trunk is the CocoaPods publishing service, and its read endpoints are the only structured source of pod release history that does not involve cloning the enormous Specs repository. For a dependency dashboard covering iOS projects, that difference is the whole point: one HTTP request against a several-gigabyte git clone.

The response has two rough edges. Versions come back ordered lexicographically by version string, so `0.10.0` precedes `0.5.1` and the newest release is not reliably at either end of the array. And `created_at` is not ISO 8601: it is formatted as `2014-05-19 21:43:24 UTC`, with a space separator and a trailing timezone name, which most date parsers reject. Parse it explicitly and sort with a semantic version comparator rather than trusting the order you were given.

Quick facts

Base URL: https://trunk.cocoapods.org/api/v1
Authentication: Read endpoints are public. Publishing a pod requires a Trunk session token, which is unrelated to the lookups documented here.
Rate limit: Not published. Release history changes rarely, so cache per pod for hours.
Pricing: Free.
CORS: Not enabled — call it from your server
Official docs: Read the docs

How to use the CocoaPods Trunk API

Every request below was executed against the live API on 2026-08-21, and the response shown is the real body it returned — not an illustration.

1. List every published version of a pod

GET https://trunk.cocoapods.org/api/v1/pods/AFNetworking

curl

curl 'https://trunk.cocoapods.org/api/v1/pods/AFNetworking'

JavaScript (fetch)

const res = await fetch("https://trunk.cocoapods.org/api/v1/pods/AFNetworking");
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${res.status}`);
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);

Python (requests)

import requests

res = requests.get("https://trunk.cocoapods.org/api/v1/pods/AFNetworking", timeout=20)
res.raise_for_status()
print(res.json())

Response — HTTP 200 (truncated)

{
  "versions": [
    {
      "name": "0.10.0",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:43:24 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "0.10.1",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:44:16 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "0.5.1",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:38:17 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "0.7.0",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:38:20 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "0.9.0",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:38:28 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "0.9.1",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:39:04 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "0.9.2",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:40:28 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "1.0",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:44:17 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "1.0.1",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:44:49 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "1.0RC1",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:40:28 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "1.0RC2",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:44:16 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "1.0RC3",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:44:25 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "1.1.0",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:45:33 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "1.1.1",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:47:14 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "1.2.0",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:49:10 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "1.2.1",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:49:52 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "1.3.0",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:51:58 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "1.3.1",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:52:22 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "1.3.2",
      "created_at": "2014-05-19 21:54:16 UTC"
    },
    {
      "name": "

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`{pod}`	path	Required	The exact pod name, which is case-sensitive. `AFNetworking`
`/api/v1/pods/{pod}/specs/{version}`	path	Optional	Redirects to the full podspec JSON for one specific version. Follow the 302. `AFNetworking/4.0.1`

Response fields

versionsarray: Every published version. Ordered lexicographically by name, so neither the first nor the last element is reliably the newest release.
versions[].namestring: The version string as published. CocoaPods does not enforce strict semver, so values like `1.0RC1` appear alongside `1.0.1`.
versions[].created_atstring: Publication time formatted as `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS UTC`. This is not ISO 8601 and will fail a strict parser; convert it before use.

What you can build with the CocoaPods Trunk API

Check whether an iOS dependency has shipped a newer version
Build a release timeline for a pod without cloning the Specs repository
Detect abandoned pods by finding the most recent `created_at`
Resolve a version string to its exact podspec for a supply-chain audit
Feed pod release data into a dependency dashboard alongside npm and Maven

Common errors and how to fix them

404

The pod name is wrong, including its capitalisation.

Fix: Pod names are case-sensitive: `AFNetworking`, not `afnetworking`. Search on cocoapods.org to confirm.

Date parse failure

`created_at` uses a space separator and a trailing `UTC` label.

Fix: Parse with an explicit format string such as `%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %Z`, or replace the space with `T` and strip the suffix first.

Wrong latest version

The array is sorted lexicographically, not semantically.

Fix: Sort with a semver-aware comparator, and be prepared for non-semver strings like `1.0RC1` that comparators reject.

CocoaPods Trunk API — frequently asked questions

Does the CocoaPods API need authentication?

Not for reads. Anyone can look up a pod's versions and specs. Publishing requires a Trunk session, which is a separate flow entirely.

How do I find the newest version of a pod?

Sort the `versions` array yourself with a semantic version comparator, or sort by parsed `created_at`. The array order in the response is lexicographic and cannot be trusted.

Can I fetch the full podspec?

Yes, via `/api/v1/pods/{pod}/specs/{version}`. It answers with a 302 to the stored podspec JSON, so make sure your HTTP client follows redirects.

Is this the same data as the Specs repository?

It is the same source of truth, served over HTTP instead of git. The Specs repository is a mirror of what Trunk holds, so the API is the lighter way to read it.

Tools that pair with this API

JSON Formatter

Format, beautify and minify JSON online with 2-space, 4-space or tab indentation. Sort keys alphabetically and catch syntax errors instantly — free and private.

Timestamp Converter

Convert timestamps to human-readable dates and dates back to timestamps. Auto-detects seconds vs milliseconds, shows local, UTC and ISO 8601 formats.

JSON Viewer

View JSON as a collapsible interactive tree online. Expand and collapse nodes, search keys and values, and copy the JSONPath of any node privately.

CocoaPods Trunk is an independent third-party service and is not affiliated with ByteTools or ByteVancer. Details on this page were verified on 2026-08-21; always check the official documentation before relying on this API in production, as terms and limits can change.