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Paragraphs are the atomic content units of the Urantia Papers. Each one has a unique reference, full text, HTML rendering, optional audio, and optional entity mentions.

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Reference formats

The API accepts three formats for identifying a paragraph — all auto-detected:
FormatExamplePattern
Standard reference2:0.1paperId:sectionId.paragraphId
Paper.section.paragraph2.0.1paperId.sectionId.paragraphId
Global ID1:2.0.1partId:paperId.sectionId.paragraphId
Use whichever is most natural for your use case. The standard reference (2:0.1) is the most common in Urantia Book study.

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Get a paragraph

# Using standard reference
curl https://api.urantia.dev/paragraphs/2:0.1

# Same paragraph, different format
curl https://api.urantia.dev/paragraphs/2.0.1

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Get a random paragraph

curl https://api.urantia.dev/paragraphs/random
Returns a single random paragraph — great for daily quotes, inspiration widgets, or testing.

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Filter by length

Use minLength and maxLength to filter by character count. This is useful when you need paragraphs of a specific length — for example, voice recording prompts or card-sized quotes. 
# Paragraphs between 300-800 characters (good for 10-30s narration)
curl "https://api.urantia.dev/paragraphs/random?minLength=300&maxLength=800"

# Short paragraphs for quote cards
curl "https://api.urantia.dev/paragraphs/random?maxLength=200"

# Long paragraphs for deep reading
curl "https://api.urantia.dev/paragraphs/random?minLength=500"
ParameterTypeDescription
minLengthintegerMinimum character count of paragraph text
maxLengthintegerMaximum character count of paragraph text

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Context window

Retrieve a paragraph with its surrounding context: 
# Get paragraph with 3 paragraphs before and after
curl https://api.urantia.dev/paragraphs/2:0.1/context?window=3
Returns target (the requested paragraph), before (preceding paragraphs), and after (following paragraphs). The window parameter accepts 1–10. This is especially useful for RAG applications where an LLM needs surrounding context to give accurate answers.

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Entity enrichment

Add ?include=entities to get typed entity mentions on any paragraph: 
curl https://api.urantia.dev/paragraphs/2:0.1?include=entities
Each entity includes id, name, and type (being, place, order, race, religion, or concept).

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Response shape

{
  "data": {
    "id": "1:2.0.1",
    "standardReferenceId": "2:0.1",
    "paperId": "2",
    "paperTitle": "The Nature of God",
    "sectionId": "0",
    "sectionTitle": "",
    "paragraphId": "1",
    "text": "Your Father in heaven, by endowing you with...",
    "htmlText": "<p>Your Father in heaven, by endowing you with...</p>",
    "audio": {
      "tts-1-hd": {
        "nova": { "format": "mp3", "url": "https://audio.urantia.dev/..." }
      }
    }
  }
}

API Reference — Paragraphs

See the full endpoint documentation with interactive examples.