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Smithsonian Institution search API

Search across Smithsonian collections

Smithsonian Institution search API is one of 6 APIs that Smithsonian Institution publishes on the APIs.io network, described by a machine-readable OpenAPI specification.

Tagged areas include Search. The published artifact set on APIs.io includes an OpenAPI specification, API documentation, and authentication docs.

This API exposes 3 operations across 3 paths, and defines 4 schemas. It is described by OpenAPI 3.2.0, at version 1.0.0.

Requests are made against a single base URL, https://api.si.edu/openaccess.

3 operations 3 paths 4 schemas 3 GET

Metadata

The identity and technical contract details declared by the specification.

Specification
OpenAPI 3.2.0
API Version
1.0.0
Base URL
https://api.si.edu/openaccess/api/v1.0
Authentication
API Key
Terms of Service
Resource Areas
1

Authentication & Security 1

Smithsonian Institution search API declares 1 security scheme for authenticating requests. An API key is passed in the query as api_key (ApiKeyAuth). By default, every request must be authenticated.

  • ApiKeyAuth — API key from https://api.data.gov/signup/

Paths & Operations 3

Across 3 paths, the API surfaces 3 operations — 3 GET. Each is listed below with its method, path, parameters, and response codes.

search 3

Search across Smithsonian collections

GET
/api/v1.0/search
Search collection objects
search 7 params → 200400404
GET
/api/v1.0/category/{cat}/search
Search by category
searchByCategory 6 params → 200400404
GET
/api/v1.0/terms/{category}
Get terms by category
getTerms 3 params → 200400

Schemas 4

The contract defines 4 schemas that model the data the API accepts and returns. The most detailed are CollectionObject (12 properties), ErrorResponse (4 properties), TermsResponse (3 properties), SearchResponse (3 properties). Each schema is shown below with its type and property counts.

SearchResponse
object
3 properties
TermsResponse
object
3 properties
CollectionObject
object
A digitized Smithsonian collection object.
12 properties
ErrorResponse
object
4 properties

Specification

The full machine-readable OpenAPI contract behind this narrative.

Source

smithsonian-search-api-openapi.yml Raw ↑

Other APIs Smithsonian Institution publishes across the network.

Smithsonian Institution content API
Smithsonian Institution metrics API
Smithsonian Institution Content API
Smithsonian Institution Metrics API
Smithsonian Institution Search API
Where this information came from

This is an independent, third-party profile of Smithsonian Institution search API, published by API Evangelist. We do not operate, host, resell, or support these APIs, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by the company unless stated above. Everything here is built from publicly available information — the company's own site, developer portal, documentation, public repositories, and the specifications it publishes for public use. Nothing is obtained by breaching a system, defeating an access control, or using credentials.

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