Dataverse 4.0 exposes most of its GUI functionality via a REST-based API. Some API calls do not require authentication. Calls that do require authentication require the user’s API key. That key can be passed either via an extra query parameter, key
, as in ENPOINT?key=API_KEY
, or via the HTTP header X-Dataverse-key
. Note that while the header option normally requires more work on client side, it is considered safer, as the API key is not logged in the server access logs.
Note
CORS Some API endpoint allow CORS (cross-origin resource sharing), which makes them usable from scripts runing in web browsers. These endpoints are marked with a CORS badge.
Warning
Dataverse 4.0’s API is versioned at the URI - all API calls may include the version number like so: http://server-address//api/v1/...
. Omitting the v1
part would default to the latest API version (currently 1). When writing scripts/applications that will be used for a long time, make sure to specify the API version, so they don’t break when the API is upgraded.
Contents
Generates a new dataverse under $id
. Expects a JSON content describing the dataverse, as in the example below.
If $id
is omitted, a root dataverse is created. $id
can either be a dataverse id (long) or a dataverse alias (more robust).
POST http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id?key=$apiKey
Download the JSON example
file and modified to create dataverses to suit your needs. The fields name
, alias
, and dataverseContacts
are required. The controlled vocabulary for dataverseType
is
JOURNALS
LABORATORY
ORGANIZATIONS_INSTITUTIONS
RESEARCHERS
RESEARCH_GROUP
RESEARCH_PROJECTS
TEACHING_COURSES
UNCATEGORIZED
{
"name": "Scientific Research",
"alias": "science",
"dataverseContacts": [
{
"contactEmail": "pi@example.edu"
},
{
"contactEmail": "student@example.edu"
}
],
"affiliation": "Scientific Research University",
"description": "We do all the science.",
"dataverseType": "LABORATORY"
}
CORS
View data about the dataverse identified by $id
. $id
can be the id number of the dataverse, its alias, or the special value :root
.
GET http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id
Deletes the dataverse whose ID is given:
DELETE http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id?key=$apiKey
CORS
Lists all the DvObjects under dataverse id
.
GET http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/contents
All the roles defined directly in the dataverse identified by id
:
GET http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/roles?key=$apiKey
CORS
List all the facets for a given dataverse id
.
GET http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/facets?key=$apiKey
Creates a new role under dataverse id
. Needs a json file with the role description:
POST http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/roles?key=$apiKey
List all the role assignments at the given dataverse:
GET http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/assignments?key=$apiKey
Assigns a new role, based on the POSTed JSON.
POST http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/assignments?key=$apiKey
POSTed JSON example:
{
"assignee": "@uma",
"role": "curator"
}
Delete the assignment whose id is $id
:
DELETE http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/assignments/$id?key=$apiKey
CORS Get the metadata blocks defined on the passed dataverse:
GET http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/metadatablocks?key=$apiKey
Sets the metadata blocks of the dataverse. Makes the dataverse a metadatablock root. The query body is a JSON array with a list of metadatablocks identifiers (either id or name).
POST http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/metadatablocks?key=$apiKey
Get whether the dataverse is a metadata block root, or does it uses its parent blocks:
GET http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/metadatablocks/isRoot?key=$apiKey
Set whether the dataverse is a metadata block root, or does it uses its parent blocks. Possible
values are true
and false
(both are valid JSON expressions).
PUT http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/metadatablocks/isRoot?key=$apiKey
Note
Previous endpoints GET http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/metadatablocks/:isRoot?key=$apiKey
and POST http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/metadatablocks/:isRoot?key=$apiKey
are deprecated, but supported.
Create a new dataset in dataverse id
. The post data is a Json object, containing the dataset fields and an initial dataset version, under the field of "datasetVersion"
. The initial versions version number will be set to 1.0
, and its state will be set to DRAFT
regardless of the content of the json object. Example json can be found at data/dataset-create-new.json
.
POST http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$id/datasets/?key=$apiKey
Publish the Dataverse pointed by identifier
, which can either by the dataverse alias or its numerical id.
POST http://$SERVER/api/dataverses/$identifier/actions/:publish?key=$apiKey
Note Creation of new datasets is done with a POST
onto dataverses. See Dataverses section.
Note In all commands below, dataset versions can be referred to as:
:draft
the draft version, if any:latest
either a draft (if exists) or the latest published version.:latest-published
the latest published versionx.y
a specific version, where x
is the major version number and y
is the minor version number.x
same as x.0
Note
Datasets can be accessed using persistent identifiers. This is done by passing the constant :persistentId
where the numeric id of the dataset is expected, and then passing the actual persistent id as a query parameter with the name persistentId
.
Example: Getting the dataset whose DOI is 10.5072/FK2/J8SJZB
GET http://$SERVER/api/datasets/:persistentId/?persistentId=doi:10.5072/FK2/J8SJZB
Getting its draft version:
GET http://$SERVER/api/datasets/:persistentId/versions/:draft?persistentId=doi:10.5072/FK2/J8SJZB
CORS Show the dataset whose id is passed:
GET http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id?key=$apiKey
Delete the dataset whose id is passed:
DELETE http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id?key=$apiKey
CORS List versions of the dataset:
GET http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/versions?key=$apiKey
CORS Show a version of the dataset. The Dataset also include any metadata blocks the data might have:
GET http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/versions/$versionNumber?key=$apiKey
CORS Export the metadata of the current published version of a dataset in various formats see Note below:
GET http://$SERVER/api/datasets/export?exporter=ddi&persistentId=$persistentId
Note
Supported exporters (export formats) are ddi
, oai_ddi
, dcterms
, oai_dc
, and dataverse_json
.
CORS Lists all the file metadata, for the given dataset and version:
GET http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/versions/$versionId/files?key=$apiKey
CORS Lists all the metadata blocks and their content, for the given dataset and version:
GET http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/versions/$versionId/metadata?key=$apiKey
CORS Lists the metadata block block named blockname, for the given dataset and version:
GET http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/versions/$versionId/metadata/$blockname?key=$apiKey
Updates the current draft version of dataset $id
. If the dataset does not have an draft version - e.g. when its most recent version is published, a new draft version is created. The invariant is - after a successful call to this command, the dataset has a DRAFT version with the passed data. The request body is a dataset version, in json format.
PUT http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/versions/:draft?key=$apiKey
Publishes the dataset whose id is passed. The new dataset version number is determined by the most recent version number and the type
parameter. Passing type=minor
increases the minor version number (2.3 is updated to 2.4). Passing type=major
increases the major version number (2.3 is updated to 3.0):
POST http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/actions/:publish?type=$type&key=$apiKey
Note
POST should be used to publish a dataset. GET is supported for backward compatibility but is deprecated and may be removed: https://github.com/IQSS/dataverse/issues/2431
Deletes the draft version of dataset $id
. Only the draft version can be deleted:
DELETE http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/versions/:draft?key=$apiKey
Sets the dataset field type to be used as the citation date for the given dataset (if the dataset does not include the dataset field type, the default logic is used). The name of the dataset field type should be sent in the body of the reqeust.
To revert to the default logic, use :publicationDate
as the $datasetFieldTypeName
.
Note that the dataset field used has to be a date field:
PUT http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/citationdate?key=$apiKey
Restores the default logic of the field type to be used as the citation date. Same as PUT
with :publicationDate
body:
DELETE http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/citationdate?key=$apiKey
List all the role assignments at the given dataset:
GET http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/assignments?key=$apiKey
Create a Private URL (must be able to manage dataset permissions):
POST http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/privateUrl?key=$apiKey
Get a Private URL from a dataset (if available):
GET http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/privateUrl?key=$apiKey
Delete a Private URL from a dataset (if it exists):
DELETE http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/privateUrl?key=$apiKey
Add a file to an existing Dataset. Description and tags are optional:
POST http://$SERVER/api/datasets/$id/add?key=$apiKey
A more detailed “add” example using curl:
curl -H "X-Dataverse-key:$API_TOKEN" -X POST -F 'file=@data.tsv' -F 'jsonData={"description":"My description.","categories":["Data"]}' "https://example.dataverse.edu/api/datasets/:persistentId/add?persistentId=$PERSISTENT_ID"
Example python code to add a file. This may be run by changing these parameters in the sample code:
dataverse_server
- e.g. https://dataverse.harvard.eduapi_key
- See the top of this document for a descriptionpersistentId
- Example: doi:10.5072/FK2/6XACVA
dataset_id
- Database id of the datasetIn practice, you only need one the dataset_id
or the persistentId
. The example below shows both uses.
from datetime import datetime
import json
import requests # http://docs.python-requests.org/en/master/
# --------------------------------------------------
# Update the 4 params below to run this code
# --------------------------------------------------
dataverse_server = 'https://your dataverse server' # no trailing slash
api_key = 'api key'
dataset_id = 1 # database id of the dataset
persistentId = 'doi:10.5072/FK2/6XACVA' # doi or hdl of the dataset
# --------------------------------------------------
# Prepare "file"
# --------------------------------------------------
file_content = 'content: %s' % datetime.now()
files = {'file': ('sample_file.txt', file_content)}
# --------------------------------------------------
# Using a "jsonData" parameter, add optional description + file tags
# --------------------------------------------------
params = dict(description='Blue skies!',
categories=['Lily', 'Rosemary', 'Jack of Hearts'])
params_as_json_string = json.dumps(params)
payload = dict(jsonData=params_as_json_string)
# --------------------------------------------------
# Add file using the Dataset's id
# --------------------------------------------------
url_dataset_id = '%s/api/datasets/%s/add?key=%s' % (dataverse_server, dataset_id, api_key)
# -------------------
# Make the request
# -------------------
print '-' * 40
print 'making request: %s' % url_dataset_id
r = requests.post(url_dataset_id, data=payload, files=files)
# -------------------
# Print the response
# -------------------
print '-' * 40
print r.json()
print r.status_code
# --------------------------------------------------
# Add file using the Dataset's persistentId (e.g. doi, hdl, etc)
# --------------------------------------------------
url_persistent_id = '%s/api/datasets/:persistentId/add?persistentId=%s&key=%s' % (dataverse_server, persistentId, api_key)
# -------------------
# Update the file content to avoid a duplicate file error
# -------------------
file_content = 'content2: %s' % datetime.now()
files = {'file': ('sample_file2.txt', file_content)}
# -------------------
# Make the request
# -------------------
print '-' * 40
print 'making request: %s' % url_persistent_id
r = requests.post(url_persistent_id, data=payload, files=files)
# -------------------
# Print the response
# -------------------
print '-' * 40
print r.json()
print r.status_code
Note
Please note that files can be added via the native API but the operation is performed on the parent object, which is a dataset. Please see the “Datasets” endpoint above for more information.
Replace an existing file where id
is the database id of the file to replace. Note that metadata such as description and tags are not carried over from the file being replaced:
POST http://$SERVER/api/files/{id}/replace?key=$apiKey
A more detailed “replace” example using curl (note that forceReplace
is for replacing one file type with another):
curl -H "X-Dataverse-key:$API_TOKEN" -X POST -F 'file=@data.tsv' -F 'jsonData={"description":"My description.","categories":["Data"],"forceReplace":false}' "https://example.dataverse.edu/api/files/$FILE_ID/replace"
Example python code to replace a file. This may be run by changing these parameters in the sample code:
dataverse_server
- e.g. https://dataverse.harvard.eduapi_key
- See the top of this document for a descriptionfile_id
- Database id of the file to replace (returned in the GET API for a Dataset)from datetime import datetime
import json
import requests # http://docs.python-requests.org/en/master/
# --------------------------------------------------
# Update params below to run code
# --------------------------------------------------
dataverse_server = 'http://127.0.0.1:8080' # no trailing slash
api_key = 'some key'
file_id = 1401 # id of the file to replace
# --------------------------------------------------
# Prepare replacement "file"
# --------------------------------------------------
file_content = 'content: %s' % datetime.now()
files = {'file': ('replacement_file.txt', file_content)}
# --------------------------------------------------
# Using a "jsonData" parameter, add optional description + file tags
# --------------------------------------------------
params = dict(description='Sunset',
categories=['One', 'More', 'Cup of Coffee'])
# -------------------
# IMPORTANT: If the mimetype of the replacement file differs
# from the origina file, the replace will fail
#
# e.g. if you try to replace a ".csv" with a ".png" or something similar
#
# You can override this with a "forceReplace" parameter
# -------------------
params['forceReplace'] = True
params_as_json_string = json.dumps(params)
payload = dict(jsonData=params_as_json_string)
print 'payload', payload
# --------------------------------------------------
# Replace file using the id of the file to replace
# --------------------------------------------------
url_replace = '%s/api/v1/files/%s/replace?key=%s' % (dataverse_server, file_id, api_key)
# -------------------
# Make the request
# -------------------
print '-' * 40
print 'making request: %s' % url_replace
r = requests.post(url_replace, data=payload, files=files)
# -------------------
# Print the response
# -------------------
print '-' * 40
print r.json()
print r.status_code
This endpoint deals with users of the built-in authentication provider. For more background on various authentication providers, see Account Creation + Management and Configuration.
For this service to work, the setting BuiltinUsers.KEY
has to be set, and its value passed as key
to
each of the calls.
Generates a new user. Data about the user are posted via JSON. Note that the password is passed as a parameter in the query.
POST http://$SERVER/api/builtin-users?password=$password&key=$key
Gets the API token of the user, given the password.
GET http://$SERVER/api/builtin-users/$username/api-token?password=$password
Creates a new role in dataverse object whose Id is dataverseIdtf
(that’s an id/alias):
POST http://$SERVER/api/roles?dvo=$dataverseIdtf&key=$apiKey
Shows the role with id
:
GET http://$SERVER/api/roles/$id
Deletes the role with id
:
DELETE http://$SERVER/api/roles/$id
Explicit groups list their members explicitly. These groups are defined in dataverses, which is why their API endpoint is under api/dataverses/$id/
, where $id
is the id of the dataverse.
Create a new explicit group under dataverse $id
:
POST http://$server/api/dataverses/$id/groups
Data being POSTed is json-formatted description of the group:
{
"description":"Describe the group here",
"displayName":"Close Collaborators",
"aliasInOwner":"ccs"
}
List explicit groups under dataverse $id
:
GET http://$server/api/dataverses/$id/groups
Show group $groupAlias
under dataverse $dv
:
GET http://$server/api/dataverses/$dv/groups/$groupAlias
Update group $groupAlias
under dataverse $dv
. The request body is the same as the create group one, except that the group alias cannot be changed. Thus, the field aliasInOwner
is ignored.
PUT http://$server/api/dataverses/$dv/groups/$groupAlias
Delete group $groupAlias
under dataverse $dv
:
DELETE http://$server/api/dataverses/$dv/groups/$groupAlias
Bulk add role assignees to an explicit group. The request body is a JSON array of role assignee identifiers, such as @admin
, &ip/localhosts
or :authenticated-users
:
POST http://$server/api/dataverses/$dv/groups/$groupAlias/roleAssignees
Add a single role assignee to a group. Request body is ignored:
PUT http://$server/api/dataverses/$dv/groups/$groupAlias/roleAssignees/$roleAssigneeIdentifier
Remove a single role assignee from an explicit group:
DELETE http://$server/api/dataverses/$dv/groups/$groupAlias/roleAssignees/$roleAssigneeIdentifier
Management of Shibboleth groups via API is documented in the Shibboleth section of the Installation Guide.
CORS Get the Dataverse version. The response contains the version and build numbers:
GET http://$SERVER/api/info/version
Get the server name. This is useful when a Dataverse system is composed of multiple Java EE servers behind a load balancer:
GET http://$SERVER/api/info/server
For now, only the value for the :DatasetPublishPopupCustomText
setting from the Configuration section of the Installation Guide is exposed:
GET http://$SERVER/api/info/settings/:DatasetPublishPopupCustomText
CORS Lists brief info about all metadata blocks registered in the system:
GET http://$SERVER/api/metadatablocks
CORS
Return data about the block whose identifier
is passed. identifier
can either be the block’s id, or its name:
GET http://$SERVER/api/metadatablocks/$identifier
This is the administrative part of the API. For security reasons, it is absolutely essential that you block it before allowing public access to a Dataverse installation. Blocking can be done using settings. See the post-install-api-block.sh
script in the scripts/api
folder for details. See also “Blocking API Endpoints” under “Securing Your Installation” in the Configuration section of the Installation Guide.
List all settings:
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/settings
Sets setting name
to the body of the request:
PUT http://$SERVER/api/admin/settings/$name
Get the setting under name
:
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/settings/$name
Delete the setting under name
:
DELETE http://$SERVER/api/admin/settings/$name
List the authentication provider factories. The alias field of these is used while configuring the providers themselves.
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/authenticationProviderFactories
List all the authentication providers in the system (both enabled and disabled):
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/authenticationProviders
Add new authentication provider. The POST data is in JSON format, similar to the JSON retrieved from this command’s GET
counterpart.
POST http://$SERVER/api/admin/authenticationProviders
Show data about an authentication provider:
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/authenticationProviders/$id
Enable or disable an authentication provider (denoted by id
):
PUT http://$SERVER/api/admin/authenticationProviders/$id/enabled
Note
The former endpoint, ending with :enabled
(that is, with a colon), is still supported, but deprecated.
Check whether an authentication proider is enabled:
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/authenticationProviders/$id/enabled
The body of the request should be either true
or false
. Content type has to be application/json
, like so:
curl -H "Content-type: application/json" -X POST -d"false" http://localhost:8080/api/admin/authenticationProviders/echo-dignified/:enabled
Deletes an authentication provider from the system. The command succeeds even if there is no such provider, as the postcondition holds: there is no provider by that id after the command returns.
DELETE http://$SERVER/api/admin/authenticationProviders/$id/
List all global roles in the system.
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/roles
Creates a global role in the Dataverse installation. The data POSTed are assumed to be a role JSON.
POST http://$SERVER/api/admin/roles
List all users:
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/authenticatedUsers
List user whose identifier
(without the @
sign) is passed:
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/authenticatedUsers/$identifier
Sample output using “dataverseAdmin” as the identifier
:
{
"authenticationProviderId": "builtin",
"persistentUserId": "dataverseAdmin",
"position": "Admin",
"id": 1,
"identifier": "@dataverseAdmin",
"displayName": "Dataverse Admin",
"firstName": "Dataverse",
"lastName": "Admin",
"email": "dataverse@mailinator.com",
"superuser": true,
"affiliation": "Dataverse.org"
}
Create an authenticateUser:
POST http://$SERVER/api/admin/authenticatedUsers
POSTed JSON example:
{
"authenticationProviderId": "orcid",
"persistentUserId": "0000-0002-3283-0661",
"identifier": "@pete",
"firstName": "Pete K.",
"lastName": "Dataversky",
"email": "pete@mailinator.com"
}
Toggles superuser mode on the AuthenticatedUser
whose identifier
(without the @
sign) is passed.
POST http://$SERVER/api/admin/superuser/$identifier
List all role assignments of a role assignee (i.e. a user or a group):
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/assignments/assignees/$identifier
Note that identifier
can contain slashes (e.g. &ip/localhost-users
).
List permissions a user (based on API Token used) has on a dataverse or dataset:
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/permissions/$identifier
The $identifier
can be a dataverse alias or database id or a dataset persistent ID or database id.
List a role assignee (i.e. a user or a group):
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/assignee/$identifier
The $identifier
should start with an @
if it’s a user. Groups start with &
. “Built in” users and groups start with :
. Private URL users start with #
.
Lists all the ip groups:
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/groups/ip
Adds a new ip group. POST data should specify the group in JSON format. Examples are available at the data
folder. Using this method, an IP Group is always created, but its alias
might be different than the one appearing in the
JSON file, to ensure it is unique.
POST http://$SERVER/api/admin/groups/ip
Creates or updates the ip group $groupAlias
.
POST http://$SERVER/api/admin/groups/ip/$groupAlias
Returns a the group in a JSON format. $groupIdtf
can either be the group id in the database (in case it is numeric), or the group alias.
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/groups/ip/$groupIdtf
Deletes the group specified by groupIdtf
. groupIdtf
can either be the group id in the database (in case it is numeric), or the group alias. Note that a group can be deleted only if there are no roles assigned to it.
DELETE http://$SERVER/api/admin/groups/ip/$groupIdtf
The Saved Search, Linked Dataverses, and Linked Datasets features shipped with Dataverse 4.0, but as a “superuser-only” because they are experimental (see #1364, #1813, #1840, #1890, #1939, #2167, #2186, #2053, and #2543). The following API endpoints were added to help people with access to the “admin” API make use of these features in their current form. Of particular interest should be the “makelinks” endpoint because it needs to be called periodically (via cron or similar) to find new dataverses and datasets that match the saved search and then link the search results to the dataverse in which the saved search is defined (#2531 shows an example). There is a known issue (#1364) that once a link to a dataverse or dataset is created, it cannot be removed (apart from database manipulation and reindexing) which is why a DELETE
endpoint for saved searches is neither documented nor functional. The Linked Dataverses feature is powered by Saved Search and therefore requires that the “makelinks” endpoint be executed on a periodic basis as well.
List all saved searches.
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/savedsearches/list
List a saved search by database id.
GET http://$SERVER/api/admin/savedsearches/$id
Execute a saved search by database id and make links to dataverses and datasets that are found. The JSON response indicates which dataverses and datasets were newly linked versus already linked. The debug=true
query parameter adds to the JSON response extra information about the saved search being executed (which you could also get by listing the saved search).
PUT http://$SERVER/api/admin/savedsearches/makelinks/$id?debug=true
Execute all saved searches and make links to dataverses and datasets that are found. debug
works as described above.
PUT http://$SERVER/api/admin/savedsearches/makelinks/all?debug=true
Recalculate the UNF value of a dataset version, if it’s missing, by supplying the dataset version database id:
POST http://$SERVER/api/admin/datasets/integrity/{datasetVersionId}/fixmissingunf