Endpoint Summary

Below is a list of all iNaturalist API endpoints and their corresponding pyinaturalist functions. Note that some endpoints have more than one function associated with them.

Pyinaturalist functions

Node-based API

get_controlled_terms	List controlled terms and their possible values.
get_identifications_by_id	Get one or more identification records by ID.
get_identifications	Search identifications.
get_observation	Get details about a single observation by ID
get_observation_histogram	Search observations and return histogram data for the given time interval
get_observations	Search observations.
get_observation_species_counts	Get all species (or other ‘leaf taxa’) associated with observations matching the search criteria, and the count of observations they are associated with.
get_geojson_observations	Get all observation results combined into a GeoJSON FeatureCollection.
get_observation_observers	Get observers of observations matching the search criteria and the count of observations and distinct taxa of rank species they have observed.
get_observation_identifiers	Get identifiers of observations matching the search criteria and the count of observations they have identified.
get_places_by_id	Get one or more places by ID.
get_places_nearby	Given an bounding box, and an optional name query, return places nearby
get_places_autocomplete	Given a query string, get places with names starting with the search term
get_projects	Given zero to many of following parameters, get projects matching the search criteria.
get_projects_by_id	Get one or more projects by ID.
get_taxa	Given zero to many of following parameters, get taxa matching the search criteria.
get_taxa_by_id	Get one or more taxa by ID.
get_taxa_autocomplete	Given a query string, return taxa with names starting with the search term
get_user_by_id	Get a user by ID.
get_users_autocomplete	Given a query string, return users with names or logins starting with the search term
search	A unified search endpoint for places, projects, taxa, and/or users

Rails-based API

get_observations	Get observation data, optionally in an alternative format.
get_observation_fields	Search observation fields.
put_observation_field_values	Set an observation field (value) on an observation.
create_observation	Create a new observation.
update_observation	Update a single observation.
add_photo_to_observation	Upload a local photo and assign it to an existing observation.
delete_observation	Delete an observation.

All iNaturalist endpoints

Note

The two iNaturalist APIs expose a combined total of 102 endpoints. Some of these are generally useful and could potentially be added to pyinaturalist, but many others are primarily for internal use by the iNaturalist web application and mobile apps, and are unlikely to be added unless there are specific use cases for them.

Below is a complete list of iNaturalist API endpoints, and the subset of them that have been implemented in pyinaturalist.

Node-based API

For full documentation, see: http://api.inaturalist.org/v1/docs/

Method	Endpoint	Implemented
POST	/annotations
DELETE	/annotations/{id}
POST	/votes/vote/annotation/{id}
DELETE	/votes/unvote/annotation/{id}
POST	/comments
DELETE	/comments/{id}
PUT	/comments/{id}
GET	/controlled_terms	yes
GET	/controlled_terms/for_taxon	yes
POST	/flags
DELETE	/flags/{id}
PUT	/flags/{id}
DELETE	/identifications/{id}
GET	/identifications/{id}	yes
PUT	/identifications/{id}
GET	/identifications	yes
POST	/identifications
GET	/identifications/categories
GET	/identifications/species_counts
GET	/identifications/identifiers
GET	/identifications/observers
GET	/identifications/recent_taxa
GET	/identifications/similar_species
GET	/messages
POST	/messages
DELETE	/messages/{id}
GET	/messages/{id}
GET	/messages/unread
DELETE	/observation_field_values/{id}
PUT	/observation_field_values/{id}
POST	/observation_field_values
DELETE	/observation_photos/{id}
PUT	/observation_photos/{id}
POST	/observation_photos
DELETE	/observations/{id}
GET	/observations/{id}	yes
PUT	/observations/{id}
POST	/observations/{id}/fave
DELETE	/observations/{id}/unfave
POST	/observations/{id}/review
POST	/observations/{id}/unreview
GET	/observations/{id}/subscriptions
DELETE	/observations/{id}/quality/{metric}
POST	/observations/{id}/quality/{metric}
GET	/observations/{id}/taxon_summary
POST	/subscriptions/observation/{id}/subscribe
POST	/votes/vote/observation/{id}
DELETE	/votes/unvote/observation/{id}
GET	/observations	yes
POST	/observations
GET	/observations/deleted
GET	/observations/histogram	yes
GET	/observations/identifiers	yes
GET	/observations/observers	yes
GET	/observations/popular_field_values
GET	/observations/species_counts	yes
GET	/observations/updates
PUT	/observations/{id}/viewed_updates
GET	/places/{id}	yes
GET	/places/autocomplete	yes
GET	/places/nearby	yes
GET	/posts
POST	/posts
DELETE	/posts/{id}
PUT	/posts/{id}
GET	/posts/for_user
DELETE	/project_observations/{id}
PUT	/project_observations/{id}
POST	/project_observations
GET	/projects	yes
GET	/projects/{id}	yes
POST	/projects/{id}/join
DELETE	/projects/{id}/leave
GET	/projects/{id}/members
GET	/projects/{id}/subscriptions
POST	/projects/{id}/add
DELETE	/projects/{id}/remove
GET	/projects/autocomplete
POST	/subscriptions/project/{id}/subscribe
GET	/search	yes
GET	/taxa/{id}	yes
GET	/taxa	yes
GET	/taxa/autocomplete	yes
GET	/users/{id}	yes
PUT	/users/{id}
GET	/users/{id}/projects
GET	/users/autocomplete	yes
GET	/users/me
DELETE	/users/{id}/mute
POST	/users/{id}/mute
PUT	/users/update_session
GET	/colored_heatmap/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.png
GET	/grid/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.png
GET	/heatmap/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.png
GET	/points/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.png
GET	/places/{place_id}/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.png
GET	/taxon_places/{taxon_id}/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.png
GET	/taxon_ranges/{taxon_id}/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.png
GET	/colored_heatmap/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.grid.json
GET	/grid/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.grid.json
GET	/heatmap/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.grid.json
GET	/points/{zoom}/{x}/{y}.grid.json
POST	/photos

Rails-Based API

For full documentation, see: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/api+reference

Method	Endpoint	Implemented
POST	/comments
PUT	/comments/{id}
DELETE	/comments/{id}
POST	/identifications
PUT	/identifications/{id}
DELETE	/identifications/{id}
GET	/observations	yes
POST	/observations	yes
GET	/observations/{id}	yes
PUT	/observations/{id}	yes
DELETE	/observations/{id}	yes
POST	/observations/{id}/quality/:metric
DELETE	/observations/{id}/quality/:metric
PUT	/observations/{id}/viewed_updates
GET	/observations/:username
GET	/observations/project/{id}
GET	/observations/taxon_stats
GET	/observations/user_stats
GET	/observation_fields	yes
POST	/observation_field_values
PUT	/observation_field_values/{id}	yes
DELETE	/observation_field_values/{id}
POST	/observation_photos	yes
GET	/places
GET	/projects
GET	/projects/{id}
GET	/projects/{id}/contributors.widget
GET	/projects/user/:login
GET	/projects/{id}/members
POST	/projects/{id}/join
DELETE	/projects/{id}/leave
POST	/project_observations
POST	/users
PUT	/users/{id}
GET	/users/edit
GET	/users/new_updates