iNaturalist

name: iNaturalist
description: >
  iNaturalist is a nature observation platform and citizen science network that
  connects people to nature through biodiversity observation and identification.
  The iNaturalist API provides programmatic access to over 200 million wildlife
  observations, species identifications, taxon data, and biodiversity records
  contributed by citizen scientists worldwide. The API supports reading and
  writing observations, taxa lookups, identifications, places, projects, and
  user data across v0, v1, and v2 endpoints.
image: https://static.inaturalist.org/sites/1-logo.svg
tags:
  - Biodiversity
  - Nature
  - Citizen Science
  - Wildlife
  - Observations
  - Taxa
  - Ecology
created: '2026-06-13'
modified: '2026-06-13'
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/inaturalist/main/apis.yml
specificationVersion: '0.19'
apis:
  - name: iNaturalist API v1
    description: >
      The primary iNaturalist REST API (v1) providing read and write access to
      observations, taxa, identifications, places, projects, users, and other
      iNaturalist resources. Built on Node.js with Elasticsearch and backed by
      the iNaturalist PostgreSQL database.
    image: https://static.inaturalist.org/sites/1-logo.svg
    humanURL: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/api+reference
    baseURL: https://api.inaturalist.org/v1
    tags:
      - Observations
      - Taxa
      - Identifications
      - Places
      - Projects
      - Users
      - Biodiversity
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/api+reference
      - type: OpenAPI
        url: https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/docs/swagger.json
      - type: PostmanCollection
        url: https://www.postman.com/collections/inaturalist-api
      - type: RateLimits
        url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/inaturalist/main/rate-limits/rate-limits.yml
      - type: Plans
        url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/inaturalist/main/plans/plans.yml
      - type: FinOps
        url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/inaturalist/main/finops/finops.yml
    contact:
      - FN: iNaturalist Help
        url: https://help.inaturalist.org
        email: [email protected]
  - name: iNaturalist API v2
    description: >
      The next-generation iNaturalist API (v2) currently in development,
      designed to eventually replace v0 and v1 endpoints. Provides access to
      observation data with improved performance and response formats.
    image: https://static.inaturalist.org/sites/1-logo.svg
    humanURL: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/api+reference
    baseURL: https://api.inaturalist.org/v2
    tags:
      - Observations
      - Biodiversity
      - Beta
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/api+reference
    contact:
      - FN: iNaturalist Help
        url: https://help.inaturalist.org
        email: [email protected]
common:
  - type: Portal
    url: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/developers
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/api+reference
  - type: Forum
    url: https://forum.inaturalist.org
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/inaturalist
  - type: Blog
    url: https://www.inaturalist.org/blog
  - type: Help
    url: https://help.inaturalist.org
  - type: TermsOfService
    url: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/terms
  - type: PrivacyPolicy
    url: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/privacy
  - type: RecommendedPractices
    url: https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/api+recommended+practices
  - type: Login
    url: https://www.inaturalist.org/login
  - type: SignUp
    url: https://www.inaturalist.org/signup
  - type: OAuthApplications
    url: https://www.inaturalist.org/oauth/applications/new
  - type: Status
    url: https://status.inaturalist.org
maintainers:
  - FN: API Evangelist
    url: https://apievangelist.com
    email: [email protected]