Introduction to the GBIF API

The GBIF API provides a programmatic way to query and publish data on GBIF.org. It can be useful or necessary to use the API to

  • make advanced queries, not supported by the website,

  • include the results of GBIF queries in scripts, workflows or analyses, which can then be repeated reliably and automatically,

  • embed GBIF data into other websites.

It can be accessed using any programming language, from a command-line terminal interface, or in some cases using a web browser.

Beginners can refer to the GBIF API Beginner’s Guide on the GBIF data blog.

Complete documentation is available in the API Reference section.