Rice University Datasets API

openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  title: Rice Kinder Institute Urban Data Platform Datasets API
  version: '2026-09-01'
  summary: Public read API behind the Kinder Institute Urban Data Platform dataset catalog.
  description: 'The Urban Data Platform (UDP) is operated by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at

    Rice University. It is the only institution-operated, publicly callable JSON API found on

    Rice''s public surface: an AWS API Gateway fronting Lambda handlers that serve the

    platform''s dataset catalog to the Vue single-page application at https://www.kinderudp.org/.


    THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT PUBLISHED BY RICE UNIVERSITY. Rice publishes no OpenAPI, no

    developer portal and no written reference for this API. Every path, parameter, response

    shape and status code below was recorded from live unauthenticated probes on 2026-09-01

    and is described exactly as observed, including the defects. Where behaviour is wrong

    (see /datasets/{datasetId} 200-on-error) it is documented as wrong, not corrected.


    Operator attribution: institution. The host is AWS infrastructure rather than a

    rice.edu name, so a hostname-only verdict cannot see this. It is Rice''s own engineering

    on three independent signals — (1) the API''s own `suggestedCitation` field names

    "Rice University-Kinder Institute: UDP" as the publisher, (2) Rice''s Kinder Institute

    endorses and links the platform from its own domain at

    https://kinder.rice.edu/initiative/urban-data-platform, and (3) datasets carry DOIs under

    prefix 10.25612, a DataCite prefix registered to DataCite client RICE.KINDER

    ("Kinder Institute Urban Data Platform") under DataCite member `rice`

    ("Fondren Library, Rice University", ROR https://ror.org/008zs3103).'
  contact:
    name: Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Rice University
    url: https://kinder.rice.edu/initiative/urban-data-platform
  x-operator: institution
  x-provenance:
    generated: '2026-09-01'
    method: probed
    source: Live unauthenticated HTTP probes of https://lg4tooqkr1.execute-api.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/prod/ on 2026-09-01, plus the production base URL literal read from the platform's own JavaScript bundle at https://www.kinderudp.org/js/app.9647dfb4.js. No credentials were used and no access control was defeated; every endpoint described here answers an anonymous GET.
servers:
- url: https://lg4tooqkr1.execute-api.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/prod
  description: Production API Gateway stage, read from the platform's own app bundle.
- url: https://5l498ma30i.execute-api.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/dev
  description: Development stage, also named in the app bundle. Present for completeness; not probed and not intended for consumers.
  x-status: non-production
security: []
tags:
- name: Datasets
  description: The public dataset catalog of the Urban Data Platform.
paths:
  /datasets:
    get:
      operationId: listDatasets
      tags:
      - Datasets
      summary: List every publicly visible dataset in the catalog
      description: Returns the full catalog as a single unpaginated JSON array. 431 dataset summaries (354,891 bytes) were returned on 2026-09-01. There is no observed pagination, filtering or query parameter — the client filters in the browser.
      security: []
      responses:
        '200':
          description: The complete catalog.
          headers:
            access-control-allow-origin:
              schema:
                type: string
                const: '*'
              description: Observed as `*`; the catalog is readable cross-origin by any page.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: array
                items:
                  $ref: '#/components/schemas/DatasetSummary'
              examples:
                firstRecord:
                  externalValue: ../examples/rice-kinder-udp-datasets-example.json
  /datasets/{datasetId}:
    get:
      operationId: getDataset
      tags:
      - Datasets
      summary: Retrieve the full catalog record for one dataset
      security: []
      parameters:
      - name: datasetId
        in: path
        required: true
        description: The opaque 12-character catalog identifier, e.g. `g79ekp1m5xyq`.
        schema:
          type: string
          pattern: ^[a-z0-9]{12}$
          examples:
          - g79ekp1m5xyq
      responses:
        '200':
          description: The dataset record. NOTE — an unknown datasetId ALSO returns HTTP 200, with a raw AWS Lambda runtime error body instead of a record. See errors/rice-errors.yml. A client must inspect the body, not the status.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                oneOf:
                - $ref: '#/components/schemas/DatasetDetail'
                - $ref: '#/components/schemas/LambdaRuntimeError'
              examples:
                dataset:
                  externalValue: ../examples/rice-kinder-udp-dataset-detail-example.json
  /datasets/{datasetId}/vrde:
    get:
      operationId: getDatasetVrde
      tags:
      - Datasets
      summary: Retrieve the dataset record with its Virtual Research Data Environment location
      description: Same record as /datasets/{datasetId} plus `folderPathMulti`, the path at which the dataset is mounted inside the Kinder Institute's Virtual Research Data Environment (VRDE) for approved researchers.
      security: []
      parameters:
      - name: datasetId
        in: path
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
          pattern: ^[a-z0-9]{12}$
      responses:
        '200':
          description: The dataset record with a VRDE folder path.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                allOf:
                - $ref: '#/components/schemas/DatasetDetail'
                - type: object
                  properties:
                    folderPathMulti:
                      type: string
                      description: VRDE mount path, of the form 'Inside VRDE- K:\Library\Harris\Environment\...'.
  /user/catalog:
    get:
      operationId: getUserCatalog
      tags:
      - Datasets
      summary: The signed-in member's view of the catalog
      description: Requires an authenticated platform member. Anonymous requests return 401 `{"message":"Unauthorized"}`. The authentication scheme is not publicly documented; the app registers members at https://www.kinderudp.org/#/register. NOT PROBED beyond the anonymous 401 — no credentials were used.
      responses:
        '401':
          description: '`{"message":"Unauthorized"}` — observed for an anonymous request.'
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/AuthorizerError'
components:
  schemas:
    AuthorizerError:
      type: object
      properties:
        message:
          type: string
          examples:
          - Unauthorized
          - Missing Authentication Token
    LambdaRuntimeError:
      type: object
      description: A raw AWS Lambda runtime failure, returned with HTTP 200. This is a defect, recorded as observed. It is what an unknown datasetId produces.
      properties:
        errorMessage:
          type: string
        errorType:
          type: string
        requestId:
          type: string
        stackTrace:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
    DatasetDetail:
      allOf:
      - $ref: '#/components/schemas/DatasetSummary'
      - type: object
        properties:
          fullDescription:
            type:
            - string
            - 'null'
            description: HTML-bearing prose (contains <br> markup).
          doi:
            type:
            - string
            - 'null'
            description: DataCite DOI. Observed values sit under prefix 10.25612, registered to DataCite client RICE.KINDER.
            examples:
            - 10.25612/837.16MO4PKRWM20
          dataciteName:
            type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          geoResolution:
            type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          tabularResolution:
            type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          updateFreq:
            type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          versionNo:
            type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          released:
            type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          isInGdb:
            type:
            - boolean
            - 'null'
          isHiddenFromPublic:
            type:
            - boolean
            - 'null'
          originalDataCitation:
            type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          paperCitation:
            type:
            - string
            - 'null'
          suggestedCitation:
            type:
            - string
            - 'null'
            description: 'Citation string naming the publisher. Observed values name "Rice University-Kinder Institute: UDP" — the API''s own attestation of its operator.'
          relatedDatasets:
            type: array
            items:
              type: object
              properties:
                relationType:
                  type: string
                  description: A DataCite RelationType term; see the `dataciteRelationType` lookup.
                id:
                  type: string
    DatasetSummary:
      type: object
      description: One row of the public catalog listing.
      required:
      - id
      - udpName
      - category
      - accessRestriction
      - status
      - isInUdp
      properties:
        id:
          type: string
          description: Opaque catalog identifier.
          examples:
          - g79ekp1m5xyq
        udpName:
          type: string
          description: Dataset title as curated by the UDP.
        shortDescription:
          type:
          - string
          - 'null'
        accessRestriction:
          type: string
          enum:
          - Available to all members
          - Available to Affiliated Users Only
          - Authorization required
        status:
          type: string
          description: Curation state; see the `status` lookup for the full 8-term enumeration.
        source:
          type:
          - string
          - 'null'
          description: Originating data provider
          e.g. TCEQ: null
          Census Bureau.: null
        category:
          type: string
          enum:
          - Census/ACS
          - Crime
          - Economy
          - Education
          - Environment
          - Health
          - Housing
          - Infrastructure
          - Surveys
          - Land Use
          - Other
          - Reference
          - Resources
          - Tax Assessor
        isGeocoded:
          type: boolean
        geoExtent:
          type:
          - string
          - 'null'
          description: Geographic coverage; see the `geoExtent` lookup (27 terms).
        isInUdp:
          type: boolean
          description: Whether the data itself is loaded into the platform.
        isDownloadable:
          type: boolean
        keywords:
          type:
          - string
          - 'null'
          description: Semicolon-delimited keyword string
          not an array.: null
        earliestDate:
          type:
          - string
          - 'null'
          format: date
        latestDate:
          type:
          - string
          - 'null'
          format: date
        specificYears:
          type:
          - string
          - 'null'
        releaseDate:
          type:
          - string
          - 'null'
          format: date
        lastModifiedDatetime:
          type:
          - integer
          - 'null'
          description: Epoch milliseconds.
  securitySchemes:
    memberSession:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      description: Undocumented. Inferred only from the API Gateway authorizer's 401 envelope on /user/catalog. Not verified — no credentials were obtained or used.