data.gouv.fr API
Free French government open data API with no key: search tens of thousands of public datasets with metadata, resources and download links. Tested example.
Endpoint tested and returned HTTP 200 on 2026-08-20
What is the data.gouv.fr API?
The data.gouv.fr API is the free, key-free interface to France's national open data platform, providing search and metadata for tens of thousands of public datasets published by French government bodies and local authorities.
data.gouv.fr is France's central open data portal, aggregating datasets from ministries, agencies, regions and communes. The API exposes full search with rich metadata about each dataset and its downloadable resources.
Coverage is genuinely broad — transport, health, environment, elections, budgets and demographics — and each dataset lists its resources with format and direct download URL, so you can go from search to CSV in two requests.
Quick facts
- Base URL
https://www.data.gouv.fr/api/1- Authentication
- Reading public datasets needs no key. Publishing requires an API key.
- Rate limit
- No published hard limit; fair use expected.
- Pricing
- Free open data; individual datasets carry their own licences.
- CORS
- Not enabled — call it from your server
- Official docs
- Read the docs
How to use the data.gouv.fr API
Every request below was executed against the live API on 2026-08-20, and the response shown is the real body it returned — not an illustration.
1. Search French open datasets
GET https://www.data.gouv.fr/api/1/datasets/?page_size=1
curl 'https://www.data.gouv.fr/api/1/datasets/?page_size=1'const res = await fetch("https://www.data.gouv.fr/api/1/datasets/?page_size=1");
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${res.status}`);
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);import requests
res = requests.get("https://www.data.gouv.fr/api/1/datasets/?page_size=1", timeout=20)
res.raise_for_status()
print(res.json()){
"data": [
{
"access_audiences": [],
"access_type": "open",
"access_type_reason": null,
"access_type_reason_category": null,
"acronym": null,
"archived": null,
"authorization_request_url": null,
"badges": [],
"contact_points": [],
"created_at": "2026-08-19T15:34:28.337000+00:00",
"deleted": null,
"description": "Liste des représentations d'opéra pour la saison 2023/2024.",
"description_short": null,
"extras": {},
"featured": false,
"frequency": "annual",
"frequency_date": null,
"harvest": null,
"id": "6a85cd04d0119c002a680e3a",
"internal": {
"created_at_internal": "2026-08-19T15:34:28.337000+00:00",
"last_modified_internal": "2026-08-19T15:34:30.451000+00:00"
},
"last_modified": "2026-08-19T15:34:30.451000+00:00",
"last_update": "2026-08-19T17:34:30.377000+00:00",
"license": "notspecified",
"metrics": {
"dataservices": 0,
"discussions": 0,
"discussions_open": 0,
"followers": 0,
"followers_by_months": 0,
"resources_downloads": 0,
"reuses": 0,
"reuses_by_months": 0,
"views": 0
},
"organization": {
"acronym": "ROF",
"badges": [
{
"kind": "association"
}
],
"class": "Organization",
"id": "66606160ad573ed936f8c2c1",
"logo": "https://udata-avatars.s3.rbx.io.cloud.ovh.net/7e/1bdc5714f8442c8bbd6dff54917f73.png",
"logo_thumbnail": "https://udatParameters
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
datasets/ | path | Optional | Dataset search and listing. datasets/ |
q | string | Optional | Search query. transport |
page_size | integer | Optional | Results per page. 20 |
organization | string | Optional | Filter by publishing organisation id. 534fff75a3a7292c64a77de4 |
format | string | Optional | Filter by resource format. csv |
Response fields
dataarray- Matching datasets.
data[].titlestring- Dataset title, in French.
data[].descriptionstring- Description, often Markdown.
data[].organizationobject- Publishing body.
data[].resourcesarray- Downloadable files with format, URL and size.
data[].licensestring- Licence identifier, commonly `lov2` (Open Licence 2.0).
total / page / page_sizeinteger- Pagination metadata.
What you can build with the data.gouv.fr API
- Discover French public datasets programmatically
- Automate downloads of regularly updated government CSVs
- Build a French open data search interface
- Monitor a public body for newly published datasets
Common errors and how to fix them
Resources with dead URLs
Datasets are published by many separate bodies.
Fix: Resource links are not centrally validated; handle download failures.
French-language metadata
Titles and descriptions are in French.
Fix: Expect this — there is no English translation layer.
Inconsistent formats
Publishers use CSV, XLS, JSON, XML and shapefiles.
Fix: Filter by the `format` parameter rather than assuming CSV.
data.gouv.fr API — frequently asked questions
Is the data.gouv.fr API free?
Yes, reading public datasets requires no API key. Publishing datasets requires one.
Is the metadata in English?
No, titles and descriptions are in French, as you would expect from a French government portal. There is no translation layer.
What licence is the data under?
Most datasets use Licence Ouverte 2.0 (`lov2`), which permits reuse including commercially with attribution. Check the licence field per dataset.
How do I download an actual dataset?
Each dataset's `resources` array contains files with their format and a direct URL. Search first, then fetch the resource URL.
Tools that pair with this API
JSON Formatter
Format, beautify and minify JSON online with 2-space, 4-space or tab indentation. Sort keys alphabetically and catch syntax errors instantly — free and private.
CSV to JSON Converter
Convert CSV to a JSON array of objects online. Header-row detection, comma/semicolon/tab delimiters and pretty-printed output — 100% in your browser.
data.gouv.fr is an independent third-party service and is not affiliated with ByteTools or ByteVancer. Details on this page were verified on 2026-08-20; always check the official documentation before relying on this API in production, as terms and limits can change.