Overview
OpenStreetMap is a free, community-built map of the world that lets you read and contribute geographic data. You can use its API to fetch map tiles, search for places, and retrieve raw map data using OAuth authentication. It is a great open-source alternative to paid mapping services.
Beginner Tip
Start by exploring the read-only endpoints which do not require authentication—you only need OAuth when writing or editing map data. Rate limits apply, so cache responses whenever possible.
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.openstreetmap.org/api/0.6/node/1
- Result
- HTTP 200 · application/json · 716 bytes · compressed
- Response time
- 244 ms (median of 3) · fastest 237 ms
- Transport
- TLSv1.3 · TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 · certificate issued by Let's Encrypt
- Browser CORS
- Allowed — Access-Control-Allow-Origin: https://apisscore.com
- Served by
- Apache
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| version | string | 0.6 |
| generator | string | openstreetmap-cgimap 2.1.0 (3558378 spike-08.… |
| copyright | string | OpenStreetMap and contributors |
| attribution | string (url) | http://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright |
| license | string (url) | http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/ |
| elements | array | [1 item] |
Captured Response
Captured from a real request to https://api.openstreetmap.org/api/0.6/node/1 on 2026-08-10. Long arrays and nested objects are truncated to keep the shape readable.
{
"version": "0.6",
"generator": "openstreetmap-cgimap 2.1.0 (3558378 spike-08.openstreetmap.org)",
"copyright": "OpenStreetMap and contributors",
"attribution": "http://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright",
"license": "http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/",
"elements": [
{
"type": "node",
"id": 1,
"lat": 42.7957187,
"lon": 13.5690032,
"timestamp": "2026-05-06T15:01:45Z",
"version": 47,
"changeset": 182299518,
"user": "Taya_S",
"uid": 15944521,
"tags": {
"…": "(9 more fields)"
}
}
]
} Field Reference
id Unique identifier of the OSM element (node, way, or relation). lat Latitude coordinate of the node in decimal degrees. lon Longitude coordinate of the node in decimal degrees. version Edit version number of the element; increments with each modification. tags Key-value pairs that describe the feature, such as name, highway, or amenity. Implementation Example
Calls a real endpoint of this API. Replace any placeholder credentials with your own key.
const url = "https://api.openstreetmap.org/api/0.6/node/1";
// Replace headers or query params with the values required by this API.
const response = await fetch(url, {
headers: {
"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
}
});
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.
Returned an HTML error page rather than JSON — worth knowing if your client assumes every response can be parsed as JSON.
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.
Measured Score Breakdown
Live HTTP request to the API endpoint
Fully tested on Aug 10, 2026
Technical Specifications
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