Complete Guide to Using PHP to Call Baidu Wenxin Yiyan API and Save Quotes to a Database

Prerequisites for Connecting PHP to the Baidu Wenxin Yiyan API

Adding random quote features to a website is a great way to increase engagement and visual appeal. The Baidu Wenxin Yiyan API provides a simple interface for retrieving random sentences. This article demonstrates how to call the API using PHP and store the result in a database.

First, create a developer account on Baidu Cloud and register a Wenxin Yiyan application. Once created, you will receive an API Key, which is required for API requests.

PHP Example: Calling Baidu Wenxin Yiyan API

With your API Key ready, you can use CURL in PHP to make a request. Here's a working example:

<?php
// API request URL
$url = "https://api.lwl12.com/hitokoto/v1.php?type=social";

// Set request headers
$header = array(
    "Content-Type: application/json;charset=UTF-8",
    "API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"  // Replace with your actual API Key
);

// Create CURL object
$curl = curl_init();

// Set CURL options
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, $header);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);

// Execute request and get response
$response = curl_exec($curl);

// Close CURL connection
curl_close($curl);

// Decode JSON response
$data = json_decode($response, true);

// Check if request was successful
if ($data && isset($data['hitokoto'])) {
    $randomSentence = $data['hitokoto'];

    // Optional: Save $randomSentence to database
    // Example for saving to MySQL
    // $connection = mysqli_connect("localhost", "username", "password", "database");
    // $randomSentence = mysqli_real_escape_string($connection, $randomSentence);
    // mysqli_query($connection, "INSERT INTO sentences (sentence) VALUES ('$randomSentence')");

    echo $randomSentence;
} else {
    echo "Failed to retrieve random sentence";
}
?>

Code Explanation

The code works as follows:

• Defines the API request URL and header with your API Key.
• Uses CURL to initiate the request and handle the response.
• Parses the JSON and extracts the hitokoto value.
• Optionally saves the quote to a database, with sample MySQL code provided.

Ensure input sanitization when inserting into the database to prevent SQL injection.

Development Tips and Security Notes

In production environments, you should implement proper error handling for cases like API timeout or invalid keys. Additionally, avoid directly concatenating SQL strings—instead, use prepared statements for database operations.

Conclusion

With the instructions and sample code provided in this guide, you can quickly integrate the Baidu Wenxin Yiyan API into your PHP project and store the returned quotes in a database. This feature is useful for displaying quotes, daily messages, or creative content elements that enhance user engagement and interaction.