CKAN

Read open data from any CKAN portal, the software behind hundreds of government and city data sites: search and read datasets, files, organizations, groups and tags, and query table rows by search or SQL.

Actions

Action	What it does
Get a dataset	Get a dataset's details and its resources: each file or link, with its download address.
Get a group	Get one group's details and how many datasets it has.
Get a resource	Get one of a dataset's resources (a file or link): its format, size, download address and whether its rows can be searched.
Get an organization	Get one organization's details and how many datasets it has.
Get portal info	Check a portal is up and see its name, CKAN version and whether it has a DataStore for searching rows.
List datasets	List the names of all a portal's public datasets, in name order.
List groups	List a portal's groups: themed collections of datasets, such as Transportation or Health.
List organizations	List the organizations that publish on a portal, such as a city's departments, with how many datasets each has.
List tags	List the tags used on a portal's datasets, or those containing some text.
Run a SQL query	Query a portal's DataStore tables with a read-only SQL SELECT, to count, group or join rows.
Search a resource's records	Read the rows of a table the portal holds in its DataStore: search them by words, match columns exactly, choose columns and sort.
Search datasets	Find datasets on a CKAN portal by words, publisher, tag, file format or group.

Get a dataset

Get a dataset's details and its resources: each file or link, with its download address.

Inputs

PortalportaltextRequired: The CKAN portal's web address, such as data.boston.gov or data.gov.au. A link to any page on the portal works too.
DatasetdatasettextRequired: Pick a dataset, or enter its name or id, or paste a link to its page. The list shows the portal's most recently updated datasets.

Outputs

authortext: The author named on the dataset.
created_attext: When the dataset was created on the portal.
datastore_resource_idslist: The ids of the resources whose rows can be searched, ready for Search a resource's records.
descriptiontext: The dataset's description, often in Markdown.
groupslist: The short names of the groups it belongs to.
idtext: The dataset's id.
licensetext: The licence the data is published under.
maintainertext: The maintainer named on the dataset.
maintainer_emailtext: The maintainer's email address.
nametext: The dataset's short name, as used in its web address.
organizationtext: The short name of the organization that publishes it.
organization_titletext: The publishing organization's full name.
resource_countnumber: How many resources (files and links) it has.
resourceslist: The dataset's files and links.
source_urltext: A link to the data's original source, when given.
tagslist: The dataset's tags.
titletext: The dataset's title.
updated_attext: When the dataset or its resources last changed.
urltext: The dataset's page on the portal.

Example output

{
  "author": null,
  "created_at": "2017-01-10T19:30:20.779833",
  "datastore_resource_ids": [
    "254adca6-64ab-4c5c-9fc0-a6da622be185"
  ],
  "description": "This data set includes all channels of engagement in which a service request is created.",
  "groups": [
    "city-services"
  ],
  "id": "8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323",
  "license": "Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL)",
  "maintainer": null,
  "maintainer_email": null,
  "name": "311-service-requests",
  "organization": "boston-311-org",
  "organization_title": "Boston 311",
  "resource_count": 2,
  "resources": [
    {
      "created_at": "2025-10-28T16:43:44.225893",
      "dataset_id": "8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323",
      "datastore_active": true,
      "description": null,
      "format": "CSV",
      "id": "254adca6-64ab-4c5c-9fc0-a6da622be185",
      "mimetype": null,
      "name": "311 Service Requests - NEW SYSTEM",
      "page_url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323/resource/254adca6-64ab-4c5c-9fc0-a6da622be185",
      "size_bytes": 488098,
      "updated_at": "2026-10-15T15:20:19.005832",
      "url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323/resource/254adca6-64ab-4c5c-9fc0-a6da622be185/download/tmp_qi__s0s.csv"
    },
    {
      "created_at": "2025-09-22T13:40:07.682283",
      "dataset_id": "8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323",
      "datastore_active": false,
      "description": null,
      "format": "PDF",
      "id": "6e443a5d-8027-41d5-9574-35e8f84b8284",
      "mimetype": null,
      "name": null,
      "page_url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323/resource/6e443a5d-8027-41d5-9574-35e8f84b8284",
      "size_bytes": 88578,
      "updated_at": "2025-09-22T13:43:02.875983",
      "url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323/resource/6e443a5d-8027-41d5-9574-35e8f84b8284/download/311-service-requests-data-dictionary-new-system.pdf"
    }
  ],
  "source_url": null,
  "tags": [
    "311",
    "pothole",
    "street lights",
    "trash"
  ],
  "title": "311 Service Requests",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-15T15:20:19.050811",
  "url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/311-service-requests"
}

Get a group

Get one group's details and how many datasets it has.

Inputs

PortalportaltextRequired: The CKAN portal's web address, such as data.boston.gov or data.gov.au. A link to any page on the portal works too.
GroupgrouptextRequired: Pick a group, or enter its short name or id, or paste a link to its page.

Outputs

created_attext: When it was created on the portal.
dataset_countnumber: How many public datasets it has.
descriptiontext: The description, which may contain HTML.
idtext: The id.
image_urltext: Its logo or icon, when it has one.
nametext: The short name, as used in its web address.
titletext: The full name.
urltext: Its page on the portal.

Example output

{
  "created_at": "2016-10-04T16:55:03.079073",
  "dataset_count": 16,
  "description": null,
  "id": "5287bf7d-3e3f-40a4-96ac-c0b0377fa0ae",
  "image_url": "https://data.boston.gov/uploads/group/2017-01-17-210311.757864governmentbuilding160.png",
  "name": "city-services",
  "title": "City Services",
  "url": "https://data.boston.gov/group/city-services"
}

Get a resource

Get one of a dataset's resources (a file or link): its format, size, download address and whether its rows can be searched.

Inputs

PortalportaltextRequired: The CKAN portal's web address, such as data.boston.gov or data.gov.au. A link to any page on the portal works too.
Datasetdatasettext: The dataset the resource belongs to. Only used to fill the Resource list.
ResourceresourcetextRequired: Pick a resource, or enter its id, or paste a link to its page.

Outputs

created_attext: When the resource was added (ISO 8601, portal time).
dataset_idtext: The id of the dataset the resource belongs to.
datastore_activetrue/false: True when the portal holds this file as a table, so Search a resource's records and Run a SQL query can read its rows.
descriptiontext: What the resource holds.
formattext: The file format, such as CSV, JSON or PDF.
idtext: The resource's id. Use it in Get a resource or Search a resource's records.
mimetypetext: The file's media type, when the portal knows it.
nametext: The resource's name, when it has one.
page_urltext: The resource's page on the portal.
size_bytesnumber: The file's size in bytes, when the portal knows it.
updated_attext: When the file or its details last changed.
urltext: The link to download the file, or the page or service it points to.

Example output

{
  "created_at": "2025-10-28T16:43:44.225893",
  "dataset_id": "8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323",
  "datastore_active": true,
  "description": null,
  "format": "CSV",
  "id": "254adca6-64ab-4c5c-9fc0-a6da622be185",
  "mimetype": null,
  "name": "311 Service Requests - NEW SYSTEM",
  "page_url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323/resource/254adca6-64ab-4c5c-9fc0-a6da622be185",
  "size_bytes": 488098,
  "updated_at": "2026-10-15T15:20:19.005832",
  "url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323/resource/254adca6-64ab-4c5c-9fc0-a6da622be185/download/tmp_qi__s0s.csv"
}

Get an organization

Get one organization's details and how many datasets it has.

Inputs

PortalportaltextRequired: The CKAN portal's web address, such as data.boston.gov or data.gov.au. A link to any page on the portal works too.
OrganizationorganizationtextRequired: Pick an organization, or enter its short name or id, or paste a link to its page.

Outputs

created_attext: When it was created on the portal.
dataset_countnumber: How many public datasets it has.
descriptiontext: The description, which may contain HTML.
idtext: The id.
image_urltext: Its logo or icon, when it has one.
nametext: The short name, as used in its web address.
titletext: The full name.
urltext: Its page on the portal.

Example output

{
  "created_at": "2017-01-16T20:39:55.773887",
  "dataset_count": 2,
  "description": "311 is an easy-to-remember telephone number that connects you with highly-trained Constituent Service Center representatives.",
  "id": "188d8440-c096-492a-8798-4a44ccc6faaa",
  "image_url": "https://data.boston.gov/uploads/group/2020-01-13-191403.177390bos311icon.svg",
  "name": "boston-311-org",
  "title": "Boston 311",
  "url": "https://data.boston.gov/organization/boston-311-org"
}

Get portal info

Check a portal is up and see its name, CKAN version and whether it has a DataStore for searching rows.

Inputs

PortalportaltextRequired: The CKAN portal's web address, such as data.boston.gov or data.gov.au. A link to any page on the portal works too.

Outputs

api_urltext: Where the portal's CKAN API answers.
ckan_versiontext: The version of CKAN it runs.
datastore_enabledtrue/false: True when the portal has the DataStore, so table rows can be searched.
descriptiontext: The portal's description.
extensionslist: The CKAN extensions the portal has turned on.
localetext: The portal's default language.
titletext: The portal's name.
urltext: The portal's web address.

Example output

{
  "api_url": "https://data.boston.gov/api/3",
  "ckan_version": "2.9.11",
  "datastore_enabled": true,
  "description": "Boston's Open Data Hub",
  "extensions": [
    "stats",
    "harvest",
    "dcat",
    "datastore",
    "xloader",
    "showcase"
  ],
  "locale": "en",
  "title": "Analyze Boston",
  "url": "https://data.boston.gov"
}

List datasets

List the names of all a portal's public datasets, in name order.

Inputs

PortalportaltextRequired: The CKAN portal's web address, such as data.boston.gov or data.gov.au. A link to any page on the portal works too.
Resultslimitnumber: How many to return.From 1 to 1000. Default: 100.
Skipoffsetnumber: How many to skip first, to page through long lists.From 0 to 1000000. Default: 0.

Outputs

countnumber: How many datasets are on this page.
datasetslist: The datasets on this page, in name order.
has_moretrue/false: True when this page was full, so more may follow.

Example output

{
  "count": 2,
  "datasets": [
    {
      "name": "1920-women-s-voter-register",
      "url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/1920-women-s-voter-register"
    },
    {
      "name": "2011-contours-1ft",
      "url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/2011-contours-1ft"
    }
  ],
  "has_more": true
}

List groups

List a portal's groups: themed collections of datasets, such as Transportation or Health.

Inputs

PortalportaltextRequired: The CKAN portal's web address, such as data.boston.gov or data.gov.au. A link to any page on the portal works too.
Sort bysorttext: The order to list them in.One of: name, most_datasets (Most datasets). Default: name.
Resultslimitnumber: How many to return.From 1 to 1000. Default: 100.
Skipoffsetnumber: How many to skip first, to page through long lists.From 0 to 1000000. Default: 0.

Outputs

countnumber: How many are on this page.
groupslist: The groups on this page.

Example output

{
  "count": 1,
  "groups": [
    {
      "created_at": "2016-10-04T16:55:03.079073",
      "dataset_count": 16,
      "description": null,
      "id": "5287bf7d-3e3f-40a4-96ac-c0b0377fa0ae",
      "image_url": "https://data.boston.gov/uploads/group/2017-01-17-210311.757864governmentbuilding160.png",
      "name": "city-services",
      "title": "City Services",
      "url": "https://data.boston.gov/group/city-services"
    }
  ]
}

List organizations

List the organizations that publish on a portal, such as a city's departments, with how many datasets each has.

Inputs

PortalportaltextRequired: The CKAN portal's web address, such as data.boston.gov or data.gov.au. A link to any page on the portal works too.
Sort bysorttext: The order to list them in.One of: name, most_datasets (Most datasets). Default: name.
Resultslimitnumber: How many to return.From 1 to 1000. Default: 100.
Skipoffsetnumber: How many to skip first, to page through long lists.From 0 to 1000000. Default: 0.

Outputs

countnumber: How many are on this page.
organizationslist: The organizations on this page.

Example output

{
  "count": 2,
  "organizations": [
    {
      "created_at": "2017-01-16T20:33:05.935247",
      "dataset_count": 5,
      "description": "We manage, preserve, and provide access to the municipal government records of Boston.",
      "id": "af233dff-e05c-4ada-9bfa-e783f81d5c66",
      "image_url": "https://data.boston.gov/uploads/group/2020-01-13-191317.250697archivesandrecordsicon.svg",
      "name": "archives-and-record-management-org",
      "title": "Archives and Record Management",
      "url": "https://data.boston.gov/organization/archives-and-record-management-org"
    },
    {
      "created_at": "2017-01-16T20:39:55.773887",
      "dataset_count": 2,
      "description": "311 is an easy-to-remember telephone number that connects you with highly-trained Constituent Service Center representatives.",
      "id": "188d8440-c096-492a-8798-4a44ccc6faaa",
      "image_url": "https://data.boston.gov/uploads/group/2020-01-13-191403.177390bos311icon.svg",
      "name": "boston-311-org",
      "title": "Boston 311",
      "url": "https://data.boston.gov/organization/boston-311-org"
    }
  ]
}

List the tags used on a portal's datasets, or those containing some text.

Inputs

PortalportaltextRequired: The CKAN portal's web address, such as data.boston.gov or data.gov.au. A link to any page on the portal works too.
Containingquerytext: Only tags containing this text. Leave empty for all.
Resultslimitnumber: How many to return.From 1 to 1000. Default: 100.

Outputs

countnumber: How many tags are listed here.
tagslist: The tags, in the portal's order.
totalnumber: How many tags matched before the limit.

Example output

{
  "count": 3,
  "tags": [
    "Affordable Housing",
    "housing",
    "Housing a Changing City"
  ],
  "total": 8
}

Run a SQL query

Query a portal's DataStore tables with a read-only SQL SELECT, to count, group or join rows. Name a table by its resource id in double quotes. Many portals turn this off.

Inputs

PortalportaltextRequired: The CKAN portal's web address, such as data.boston.gov or data.gov.au. A link to any page on the portal works too.
SQL querysqltextRequired: A SELECT statement, such as SELECT neighborhood, COUNT(*) FROM "<resource id>" GROUP BY neighborhood.

Outputs

countnumber: How many rows the query returned.
fieldslist: The columns in the rows, in order.
recordslist: The rows, each keyed by column name.

Example output

{
  "count": 2,
  "fields": [
    {
      "name": "neighborhood",
      "type": "text"
    },
    {
      "name": "cases",
      "type": "int8"
    }
  ],
  "records": [
    {
      "cases": 10450,
      "neighborhood": "Dorchester"
    },
    {
      "cases": 6361,
      "neighborhood": "South End"
    }
  ]
}

Search a resource's records

Read the rows of a table the portal holds in its DataStore: search them by words, match columns exactly, choose columns and sort. Not every portal has a DataStore.

Inputs

PortalportaltextRequired: The CKAN portal's web address, such as data.boston.gov or data.gov.au. A link to any page on the portal works too.
Datasetdatasettext: The dataset the table belongs to. Only used to fill the Resource list.
ResourceresourcetextRequired: The table to read. Pick one, or enter a resource id, or paste a link to the resource's page.
Search wordsquerytext: Only rows containing these words, in any column.
Exact matchesfiltersobject: Only rows whose column holds exactly this value, such as neighborhood = Dorchester.
Columnscolumnslist: The columns to return. Leave empty for all.
Sort by columnsort_columntext: The column to sort the rows by.
Sort directionsort_directiontext: Which way to sort.One of: asc (Ascending (A to Z, smallest first)), desc (Descending (Z to A, largest first)). Default: asc.
Rowslimitnumber: How many rows to return.From 1 to 1000. Default: 100.
Skipoffsetnumber: How many to skip first, to page through long lists.From 0 to 1000000. Default: 0.

Outputs

countnumber: How many rows are on this page.
fieldslist: The columns in the rows, in order.
recordslist: The rows, each keyed by column name.
resource_idtext: The resource whose rows these are.
totalnumber: How many rows match in all, beyond this page.

Example output

{
  "count": 2,
  "fields": [
    {
      "name": "case_id",
      "type": "text"
    },
    {
      "name": "case_topic",
      "type": "text"
    },
    {
      "name": "neighborhood",
      "type": "text"
    },
    {
      "name": "open_date",
      "type": "text"
    },
    {
      "name": "case_status",
      "type": "text"
    }
  ],
  "records": [
    {
      "case_id": "BCS-00253943",
      "case_status": "Closed",
      "case_topic": "Litter & Debris",
      "neighborhood": "South End",
      "open_date": "2026-07-14 10:56:30.994145+00"
    },
    {
      "case_id": "BCS-00240446",
      "case_status": "Closed",
      "case_topic": "Litter & Debris",
      "neighborhood": "Dorchester",
      "open_date": "2026-07-01 10:42:58.103557+00"
    }
  ],
  "resource_id": "254adca6-64ab-4c5c-9fc0-a6da622be185",
  "total": 70208
}

Search datasets

Find datasets on a CKAN portal by words, publisher, tag, file format or group.

Inputs

PortalportaltextRequired: The CKAN portal's web address, such as data.boston.gov or data.gov.au. A link to any page on the portal works too.
Search wordsquerytext: Words to look for in titles, descriptions and tags. Leave empty to list every dataset.
Organizationorganizationtext: Only datasets this organization publishes.
Tagtagtext: Only datasets with this tag.
File formatfile_formattext: Only datasets with a file in this format, such as CSV.
Groupgrouptext: Only datasets in this group (a themed collection).
Sort bysorttext: The order to return datasets in.One of: relevance (Best match), recently_updated (Recently updated), newest, title_asc (Title A to Z), title_desc (Title Z to A). Default: relevance.
Resultsrowsnumber: How many datasets to return.From 1 to 1000. Default: 10.
Skipstartnumber: How many matches to skip first, to page through them.From 0 to 1000000. Default: 0.

Outputs

countnumber: How many datasets match in all, beyond this page.
datasetslist: The matching datasets on this page.
has_moretrue/false: True when more matches follow; raise Skip to see them.

Example output

{
  "count": 9,
  "datasets": [
    {
      "author": null,
      "created_at": "2017-01-10T19:30:20.779833",
      "datastore_resource_ids": [
        "254adca6-64ab-4c5c-9fc0-a6da622be185"
      ],
      "description": "This data set includes all channels of engagement in which a service request is created.",
      "groups": [
        "city-services"
      ],
      "id": "8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323",
      "license": "Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL)",
      "maintainer": null,
      "maintainer_email": null,
      "name": "311-service-requests",
      "organization": "boston-311-org",
      "organization_title": "Boston 311",
      "resource_count": 2,
      "resources": [
        {
          "created_at": "2025-10-28T16:43:44.225893",
          "dataset_id": "8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323",
          "datastore_active": true,
          "description": null,
          "format": "CSV",
          "id": "254adca6-64ab-4c5c-9fc0-a6da622be185",
          "mimetype": null,
          "name": "311 Service Requests - NEW SYSTEM",
          "page_url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323/resource/254adca6-64ab-4c5c-9fc0-a6da622be185",
          "size_bytes": 488098,
          "updated_at": "2026-10-15T15:20:19.005832",
          "url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323/resource/254adca6-64ab-4c5c-9fc0-a6da622be185/download/tmp_qi__s0s.csv"
        },
        {
          "created_at": "2025-09-22T13:40:07.682283",
          "dataset_id": "8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323",
          "datastore_active": false,
          "description": null,
          "format": "PDF",
          "id": "6e443a5d-8027-41d5-9574-35e8f84b8284",
          "mimetype": null,
          "name": null,
          "page_url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323/resource/6e443a5d-8027-41d5-9574-35e8f84b8284",
          "size_bytes": 88578,
          "updated_at": "2025-09-22T13:43:02.875983",
          "url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/8048697b-ad64-4bfc-b090-ee00169f2323/resource/6e443a5d-8027-41d5-9574-35e8f84b8284/download/311-service-requests-data-dictionary-new-system.pdf"
        }
      ],
      "source_url": null,
      "tags": [
        "311",
        "pothole",
        "street lights",
        "trash"
      ],
      "title": "311 Service Requests",
      "updated_at": "2026-10-15T15:20:19.050811",
      "url": "https://data.boston.gov/dataset/311-service-requests"
    }
  ],
  "has_more": true
}

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Get a datasetCopy Anchor Link

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Get a groupCopy Anchor Link

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Get a resourceCopy Anchor Link

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Get an organizationCopy Anchor Link

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Get portal infoCopy Anchor Link

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List datasetsCopy Anchor Link

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List groupsCopy Anchor Link

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List organizationsCopy Anchor Link

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List tagsCopy Anchor Link

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Run a SQL queryCopy Anchor Link

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Search a resource's recordsCopy Anchor Link

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Search datasetsCopy Anchor Link

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On this page

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Get a dataset

Get a group

Get a resource

Get an organization

Get portal info

List datasets

List groups

List organizations

List tags

Run a SQL query

Search a resource's records

Search datasets