University of Cambridge

aid: university-of-cambridge
name: University of Cambridge
description: >-
  The University of Cambridge (founded 1209; QS World 2025 #5) is a public
  collegiate research university with a real, documented developer footprint
  operated mainly by University Information Services (UIS): a central API
  Gateway / developer portal (developer.api.apps.cam.ac.uk) fronting
  identity-oriented REST APIs, the long-standing Lookup/Ibis directory web
  service, the Raven central authentication service (OAuth2 / OpenID Connect),
  and the Apollo institutional repository (DSpace REST + OAI-PMH). UIS
  open-source code is published on a self-hosted GitLab.
type: Index
position: Consumer
access: 3rd-Party
image: https://kinlane-productions.s3.amazonaws.com/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/university-of-cambridge/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
tags:
  - Education
  - Higher Education
  - University
  - Research
  - United Kingdom
  - Identity
  - API Gateway
  - Developer Portal
created: '2026-06-03'
modified: '2026-06-03'
# artifact pointers added for Lookup/Ibis OpenAPI 3.0 spec
specificationVersion: '0.19'
apis:
  - aid: university-of-cambridge:lookup
    name: Lookup / Ibis Web Service API
    description: >-
      Read/write HTTP API over the University directory of people and
      institutions. Returns XML, JSON, or text; path style
      /person/crsid/{id}. Anonymous read-only within the Cambridge University
      Data Network; HTTP Basic auth (group credentials) for external or
      read-write access. Swagger 2.0 / OpenAPI 3.0 specs published, with
      Java/Python/PHP client libraries.
    humanURL: https://www.lookup.cam.ac.uk/doc/ws-doc/
    baseURL: https://www.lookup.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/
    tags:
      - Directory
      - Identity
      - REST
      - OpenAPI
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://www.lookup.cam.ac.uk/doc/ws-doc/
      - type: OpenAPI
        url: openapi/university-of-cambridge-lookup.yaml
      - type: JSONSchema
        url: json-schema/university-of-cambridge-person-schema.json
      - type: x-json-structure
        url: json-structure/university-of-cambridge-person-structure.json
      - type: x-examples
        url: examples/university-of-cambridge-person-example.json
      - type: x-spectral-rules
        url: rules/university-of-cambridge-rules.yml
      - type: x-vocabulary
        url: vocabulary/university-of-cambridge-vocabulary.yml
      - type: x-json-ld-context
        url: json-ld/university-of-cambridge-context.jsonld
  - aid: university-of-cambridge:raven
    name: Raven Authentication (OAuth2 / OpenID Connect)
    description: >-
      The University's central web authentication service. Raven OAuth2
      conforms to OpenID Connect; applications register client credentials to
      authenticate Cambridge users. An identity/SSO interface rather than a
      data REST API.
    humanURL: https://docs.raven.cam.ac.uk/
    tags:
      - Identity
      - Authentication
      - OAuth2
      - OpenID Connect
      - SSO
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://docs.raven.cam.ac.uk/
      - type: SignUp
        url: https://docs.raven.cam.ac.uk/en/latest/creating-oauth2-client-credentials/
  - aid: university-of-cambridge:gateway
    name: Cambridge API Gateway (Card / Student / HR)
    description: >-
      UIS API Gateway (ALPHA) publishing read-oriented REST APIs — University
      Card, University Student (CamSIS-sourced), and University Human Resources
      (CHRIS-sourced). Interactive "try this API" docs on the developer
      portal. Student and HR APIs are documented as ALPHA and not under active
      development.
    humanURL: https://developer.api.apps.cam.ac.uk/
    baseURL: https://api.apps.cam.ac.uk/
    tags:
      - Identity
      - Students
      - Human Resources
      - REST
      - API Gateway
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://developer.api.apps.cam.ac.uk/
      - type: DeveloperPortal
        url: https://guidebook.devops.uis.cam.ac.uk/services/api-gateway/
  - aid: university-of-cambridge:apollo
    name: Apollo Institutional Repository API (DSpace)
    description: >-
      Cambridge's open-access research repository (Apollo) on the DSpace
      platform, exposing OAI-PMH metadata harvesting and a DSpace REST API.
      Managed by Cambridge University Library Open Research Systems.
    humanURL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/
    baseURL: https://api.repository.cam.ac.uk/server/
    tags:
      - Repository
      - Open Access
      - DSpace
      - OAI-PMH
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://www.re3data.org/repository/r3d100010620
      - type: Website
        url: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/
common:
  - type: Website
    url: https://www.cam.ac.uk/
  - type: DeveloperPortal
    url: https://developer.api.apps.cam.ac.uk/
  - type: SourceCode
    url: https://gitlab.developers.cam.ac.uk/
  - type: Twitter
    url: https://x.com/Cambridge_Uni
  - type: LinkedIn
    url: https://www.linkedin.com/school/university-of-cambridge/
  - type: Plans
    url: plans/university-of-cambridge-plans-pricing.yml
  - type: RateLimits
    url: rate-limits/university-of-cambridge-rate-limits.yml
  - type: FinOps
    url: finops/university-of-cambridge-finops.yml
  - type: Review
    url: review.yml
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: [email protected]