DigitalNZ API

{
  "service_type": "platform",
  "base_url": "https://api.digitalnz.org",
  "auth_method": "api_key",
  "auth_config": {
    "api_key": {
      "type": "string",
      "location": "query",
      "parameter": "api_key",
      "required": true,
      "description": "An API key must be supplied with every request. Keys are obtained by signing up at digitalnz.org/developers."
    }
  },
  "endpoints": [
    {
      "path": "/v3/records/search",
      "method": "GET",
      "description": "Search DigitalNZ records across contributing institutions. Supports full-text search, faceted filtering, and pagination.",
      "parameters": {
        "text": "string (full-text query)",
        "and": "string (all terms must match)",
        "or": "string (any term may match)",
        "without": "string (exclude terms)",
        "geo_bbox": "string (bounding box filter)",
        "geo_radius": "string (radius filter)",
        "geo_distance": "string",
        "include": "string (comma-separated fields to include)",
        "exclude": "string (comma-separated fields to exclude)",
        "facets": "string (comma-separated facet fields)",
        "facet_num_results": "integer",
        "sort": "string",
        "direction": "string",
        "page": "integer",
        "per_page": "integer",
        "api_key": "string (required)"
      },
      "returns": "Results object with records, facets, total count, and pagination metadata"
    },
    {
      "path": "/v3/records/{id}",
      "method": "GET",
      "description": "Retrieve a single record by its DigitalNZ ID.",
      "parameters": {
        "id": "string (record identifier, path parameter)",
        "api_key": "string (required)"
      },
      "returns": "Single record object containing metadata fields from the source institution"
    },
    {
      "path": "/v3/records/{id}/more_like_this",
      "method": "GET",
      "description": "Find records similar to the given record.",
      "parameters": {
        "id": "string (record identifier, path parameter)",
        "api_key": "string (required)"
      },
      "returns": "Results object with similar records"
    },
    {
      "path": "/v3/records",
      "method": "GET",
      "description": "Alias / general records endpoint (equivalent to search without text).",
      "parameters": {
        "api_key": "string (required)"
      },
      "returns": "Results object"
    }
  ],
  "pricing_model": {
    "type": "free",
    "details": {
      "notes": "DigitalNZ is a national digital content aggregation service operated by the National Library of New Zealand. API access is free of charge. Users register for an API key, and usage is subject to fair-use terms; extremely high-volume commercial usage may require discussion with DigitalNZ."
    }
  },
  "rate_limits": {
    "documented": false,
    "notes": "DigitalNZ does not publish an explicit numeric rate limit in their public documentation. They request that clients be considerate, cache responses where possible, and contact them before very large harvesting operations. Typical guidance is a few requests per second."
  },
  "capabilities": [
    "Full-text search across aggregated New Zealand digital heritage collections",
    "Faceted filtering (by category, creator, date, rights, usage, collection, etc.)",
    "Geospatial search (bounding box, radius) over geo-tagged records",
    "Retrieval of individual records by DigitalNZ ID",
    "Content-based discovery via 'more like this' similarity",
    "Field inclusion/exclusion to shape response payloads",
    "Pagination and custom sorting of result sets",
    "Aggregation of metadata from hundreds of contributing institutions (museums, libraries, archives, galleries)",
    "OpenAPI/Swagger specification published for client code generation",
    "No-cost API access for developers, researchers, and application builders"
  ],
  "raw_analysis": "DigitalNZ is a platform operated by the National Library of New Zealand that aggregates digitised and born-digital cultural heritage content from a large network of New Zealand institutions — museums, libraries, archives, galleries, government agencies, and community organisations. It functions as a national discovery layer over heterogeneous collections rather than a single content repository.\n\nPurpose and audience: The service is aimed at developers, researchers, educators, journalists, and cultural sector professionals who want programmatic access to New Zealand digital heritage metadata. The Record API (v3) is the primary developer-facing interface, documented via an OpenAPI specification and a developer portal at digitalnz.org/developers.\n\nMaturity and credibility: DigitalNZ has been operating for well over a decade (launched in 2008) and is a well-known example of a national aggregator, similar in spirit to Europeana. Its API is stable, versioned (currently v3), and documented with a formal OpenAPI spec, which indicates a mature and maintained platform.\n\nAuthentication

0/3 tests passed

```json
{
  "overall": 71,
  "dimensions": {
    "token_efficiency": 8.0,
    "first_try_success": 6.5,
    "response_parseability": 8.5,
    "error_clarity": 6.0,
    "doc_quality": 7.5,
    "auth_simplicity": 6.0,
    "latency": 8.0,
    "consistency": 6.0
  },
  "pricing_normalized": {
    "model": "free",
    "notes": "Free API key registration; fair-use terms; high-volume commercial use may require contacting DigitalNZ. No metered costs disclosed.",
    "cost_tier": "free"
  },
  "issues": [
    "Direct website check returned HTTP 403 (likely CDN/WAF blocking automated requests), which could cause initial agent probes to falsely conclude the service is unavailable.",
    "No robots.txt found (404), reducing crawlability transparency for agents.",
    "No llms.txt found (404), so agents lack a machine-optimized discovery/instruction file.",
    "Auth requires manual API key registration, adding friction versus magic-link or provider-based onboarding.",
    "No status page or uptime signal surfaced in checks; reliability must be inferred from docs.",
    "Fair-use limits are described vaguely ('extremely high-volume may require discussion'), which can cause unpredictable behavior at scale."
  ],
  "recommendations": [
    "Add an llms.txt file describing the API, auth flow, endpoints, and fair-use limits to improve agent discoverability.",
    "Publish a robots.txt allowing reasonable crawl access for discovery while protecting sensitive routes.",
    "Provide a public status/uptime page so agents can assess reliability programmatically.",
    "Document precise rate limits and quota thresholds rather than 'fair use' language to enable deterministic agent behavior.",
    "Consider self-serve instant API key issuance or SSO/magic-link onboarding to reduce manual friction.",
    "Ensure the OpenAPI spec is prominently linked and stable, with example requests/responses for quick validation.",
    "Add a lightweight unauthenticated health endpoint to allow uptime probes without WAF false positives."
  ]
}
```