---
title: "Retrieve a widget"
description: "Returns one widget by its id, or a 404 when no widget with that id exists."
canonical: "https://duvlify.dev/example-api/get-widget"
updated: "2026-08-11"
---

# Retrieve a widget

> **Warning: Example API**
>
> This API is fictional. See [the introduction](/example-api/introduction).

## Handling a missing widget

A `404` is a normal answer, not a failure of the request. Treat it as a value:
the widget is not there. It does not mean the API key is wrong, which is a `401`.

```bash
status=$(curl -s -o body.json -w '%{http_code}' \
  "https://api.example.com/v1/widgets/$WIDGET_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY")

case "$status" in
  200) jq -r '.name' body.json ;;
  404) echo "gone" ;;
  *)   jq -r '.error.code' body.json; exit 1 ;;
esac
```