OS Names API
A geographic directory of identifiable places, roads, and settlements in Great Britain, with find and nearest operations.
OS Names API is one of 12 APIs that Ordnance Survey publishes on the APIs.io network, described by a machine-readable OpenAPI specification.
Tagged areas include Search, Gazetteer, and Geospatial. The published artifact set on APIs.io includes an OpenAPI specification, API documentation, and an API reference.
This API exposes 2 operations across 2 paths, organized into 2 resource areas, and defines 3 schemas. It is described by OpenAPI 3.0.1, at version v1.0.
Requests are made against a single base URL, https://api.os.uk/search/names/v1.
Metadata
The identity and technical contract details declared by the specification.
Authentication & Security 1
OS Names API declares
1 security scheme
for authenticating requests.
An API key is passed in the query as key (api-key).
By default, every request must be authenticated.
Paths & Operations 2
Across 2 paths, the API surfaces 2 operations — 2 GET. They span 2 resource areas: Find, Nearest. Each is listed below with its method, path, parameters, and response codes.
A free string text search of OS Names, intended to be an ambiguous/fuzzy search.
Find the features closest to a given point.
Schemas 3
The contract defines 3 schemas that model the data the API accepts and returns. The most detailed are Header (6 properties), SearchResponse (2 properties), GazetteerEntry (1 property). Each schema is shown below with its type and property counts.
Specification
The full machine-readable OpenAPI contract behind this narrative.
Source
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Other APIs Ordnance Survey publishes across the network.
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