Open Science Framework API

Free to Use
48 D
Measured Score 0 50 100 Speed 3/30 Consistency 17/20 Security 20/20 Browser access 0/15 Transparency 8/15 TESTED 2026-08-10

Overview

The Open Science Framework (OSF) API gives you access to a large open repository of research materials, datasets, preprints, and study designs from researchers around the world. No authentication is needed to read public content, making it easy to search and retrieve publicly shared scientific work. It is useful for developers building research tools, literature aggregators, or academic data dashboards.

Beginner Tip

Start by browsing public projects with a simple GET request — the response includes pagination links in the "links" object, so follow the "next" link to walk through pages of results without figuring out offset parameters manually.

Measurement Record

What actually happened when we called this API from our own infrastructure. Every value below was recorded by the request, not copied from the provider's documentation.

Request
GET https://api.osf.io/v2/nodes/?filter[public]=true&page[size]=5
Result
HTTP 200 · application/vnd.api+json · 23,351 bytes · compressed
Response time
891 ms (median of 3) · fastest 818 ms
Transport
TLSv1.3 · TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 · certificate issued by Let's Encrypt
Browser CORS
No Access-Control-Allow-Origin header — call it from a server, not the browser
Served by
nginx
Recorded
2026-08-10

Fields Returned

Top-level fields present in the response we captured, with the type and value we actually received.

Field Type Value received
id string fe7vm
type string nodes
attributes object {1 fields}
relationships object {1 fields}
links object {1 fields}

Captured Response

Captured from a real request to https://api.osf.io/v2/nodes/?filter[public]=true&page[size]=5 on 2026-08-10. Long arrays and nested objects are truncated to keep the shape readable.

JSON Response · Captured
{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "fe7vm",
      "type": "nodes",
      "attributes": {
        "…": "(21 more fields)"
      },
      "relationships": {
        "…": "(29 more fields)"
      },
      "links": {
        "…": "(3 more fields)"
      }
    }
  ],
  "links": {
    "first": null,
    "last": "https://api.osf.io/v2/nodes/?filter%5Bpublic%5D=true&page=126828&page%5Bsize%5D=5",
    "prev": null,
    "next": "https://api.osf.io/v2/nodes/?filter%5Bpublic%5D=true&page=2&page%5Bsize%5D=5",
    "meta": {
      "total": 634137,
      "per_page": 5
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "version": "2.0"
  }
}

Field Reference

data Array of resource objects (projects, files, etc.) matching your query.
links Pagination links including "next", "prev", "first", and "last" URLs for navigating through results.
meta Metadata about the response including "total" count of matching records and current page info.
attributes Within each data item, contains the resource actual properties like title, description, date_created, and tags.
type The type of resource returned, such as "nodes" for projects or "files" for uploaded files.
id The unique GUID identifier for the resource, used to construct URLs for fetching more details.

Implementation Example

Calls a real endpoint of this API. Replace any placeholder credentials with your own key.

Request
const url = "https://api.osf.io/v2/nodes/?filter[public]=true&page[size]=5";
const response = await fetch(url);
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

What Can You Build?

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

How This API Fails

We deliberately sent this API a broken request and recorded exactly what came back on 2026-08-10. Knowing the shape of an error before you hit it makes error handling much easier to write.

HTTP 404 Requesting a path that does not exist application/vnd.api+json
{
  "errors": [
    {
      "detail": "Not found."
    }
  ]
}
HTTP 400 Sending an invalid value for "filter[public]" application/vnd.api+json
{
  "errors": [
    {
      "source": {
        "parameter": "filter"
      },
      "detail": "Value '!!!invalid!!!' is not valid for a filter on type bool.",
      "meta": {},
      "status": "400"
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "version": "2.0"
  }
}

Common Errors & Troubleshooting

Generated guidance based on this API's documentation, not observed by us. Treat it as a starting point and check against the provider's own error reference.

401 Unauthorized on private resources You are trying to access a private project or file without authentication.
Only public resources are accessible without a token. To access private data, generate a Personal Access Token in your OSF account settings and include it as a Bearer token.
Large response slowing down your app The default page size returns many records with nested relationships.
Use the page[size] parameter (e.g., page[size]=5) to limit results, and request only needed fields with fields[nodes]=title,description.
404 Not Found for a node The project GUID in the URL does not exist or has been made private or deleted.
Verify the project GUID from the OSF website URL (e.g., osf.io/abc12) and check that the project is publicly accessible.

Measured Score Breakdown

Live HTTP request to the API endpoint

Speed 3/30
Consistency 17/20
Security 20/20
Browser access 0/15
Transparency 8/15
Endpoint Response Time 891ms

Fully tested on Aug 10, 2026

Technical Specifications

Auth No Auth
HTTPS REQUIRED
CORS UNKNOWN
Category Science & Math
Difficulty Beginner
Endpoint last called: 2026-08-10

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