The API (“Application Programming Interface”) is a tool to connect one computer program (the platform URL) to another (the application where the data will be used).
A streaming, RESTful API is available to pull the latest data efficiently and easily into a wide variety of programming environments (Python, R, C#, SDMX, JSON), rather than have to manually download the data from a website after each update. Note, however, that R, C# and SDMX are available for certain datasets only.
Setup: Create an Application and Get Credentials
To create an API app with a private client ID and secret, follow these steps:
- Go to {host}/user/apps.
- Select Create New, give your App a title and description (optional), and click 'Save'.
- After saving, you will see the client ID and secret in the 'Credentials' tab of your app. This is what authorizes your direct access to the application. Do not share this with anyone.
