Boston University

aid: boston
name: Boston University
x-type: university
x-category: Private Research University
description: 'Boston University is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, chartered in 1869, serving roughly
  37,000 students across three campuses. Like most universities it is a federation of buyers rather than an API producer,
  and its programmable footprint has to be read that way. The one substantial machine-readable interface Boston University
  both operates AND authors is the WordPress REST API on www.bu.edu: nine of its fifteen namespaces are BU IS&T''s own plugins
  — bu-alert, bu-blocks, bu-navigation, bu-slideshow, bu-tts and others — open-sourced at github.com/bu-ist and documented
  at developer.bu.edu, with some routes public and some returning 401. Alongside it, Boston University operates a Shibboleth
  SAML 2.0 identity provider at shib.bu.edu whose entity metadata is public, registered by InCommon and exported to eduGAIN
  with the REFEDS Research & Scholarship and SIRTFI entity categories. Everything else that looks like a Boston University
  API is a vendor''s contract running under BU''s name: OpenBU is a DSpace 7.6 instance operated by Atmire (open.bu.edu CNAMEs
  to boston-prod.cname.atmire.com and its OAI-PMH Identify returns the vendor''s admin email), the library discovery layer
  is Ex Libris Primo, and the LMS is Blackboard Learn. Those are recorded here as tenant relationships, not as Boston University
  engineering. There is no central developer portal, no API key programme, no published API changelog, and the internal WEB
  APIs portal at webapi.bu.edu is NXDOMAIN.'
type: Index
position: Consuming
access: 3rd-Party
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/boston.png
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/boston/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
created: '2026-06-03'
modified: '2026-08-30'
specificationVersion: '0.23'
tags:
- University
- Higher Education
- Education
- United States
- Massachusetts
- Private Research University
- Research
- Research Data
- Library
- Identity Federation
- Content Management
- Open Access
deliveryModel:
  model: saas
  open_source: false
  commercial: false
  callable_host: true
  label: Institution-operated endpoints · you call their host
  confidence: high
  source:
  - probed
  generated: '2026-08-30'
  method: probed
accessModel:
  pricing: free
  onboarding: none
  trial: false
  try_now: true
  public: true
  label: Free · partially public, no registration offered
  confidence: high
  source:
  - probed
  generated: '2026-08-30'
  method: probed
x-coverage:
  state: covered
  reason: covered
  detail: 'Two institution-operated, institution-authored machine-readable surfaces were found and verified live: the WordPress
    REST API on www.bu.edu (237 routes across 15 namespaces, of which 31 routes in 9 namespaces are Boston University''s own
    plugins) and the Shibboleth SAML 2.0 identity provider metadata at shib.bu.edu. Three further surfaces are real but vendor-operated
    and are recorded as tenant relationships rather than credited to the institution: OpenBU (DSpace 7.6 on Atmire), Ex Libris
    Primo library discovery, and Blackboard Learn. Boston University publishes no developer portal, no API key programme,
    no OpenAPI, no llms.txt, no /.well-known/security.txt and no apis.json — all four were probed and returned a real HTTP
    404, not a soft 404. The previously catalogued internal portal at webapi.bu.edu is NXDOMAIN. Course catalog, registrar,
    dining, transit, open-data-portal and research-computing API surfaces were hunted and none was found; bus.bu.edu is a
    student-built shuttle tracker (BostonHacks) served from GitHub Pages on a delegated bu.edu subdomain with no API of its
    own, and profiles.bu.edu is a Profiles RNS deployment on Boston University''s own network with no reachable API (four
    candidate API paths returned 404).'
  evidence:
  - url: https://www.bu.edu/wp-json/
    status: 200
  - url: https://www.bu.edu/wp-json/wp/v2/pages?per_page=1
    status: 200
  - url: https://www.bu.edu/wp-json/bu-blocks/v1/search
    status: 200
  - url: https://www.bu.edu/wp-json/bu-slideshow/v1/shows
    status: 401
  - url: https://shib.bu.edu/idp/shibboleth
    status: 200
  - url: https://open.bu.edu/server/oai/request?verb=Identify
    status: 200
  - url: https://open.bu.edu/server/api
    status: 200
  - url: https://learn.bu.edu/learn/api/public/v1/system/version
    status: 200
  - url: https://bu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01BOSU_INST:BULS
    status: 200
  - url: https://profiles.bu.edu/search/
    status: 200
  - url: https://profiles.bu.edu/ProfilesRNSAPI
    status: 404
  - url: https://www.bu.edu/llms.txt
    status: 404
  - url: https://www.bu.edu/apis.json
    status: 404
  - url: https://www.bu.edu/.well-known/security.txt
    status: 404
  - url: https://webapi.bu.edu/
    status: 0
  generated: '2026-08-30'
  method: probed
apis:
- aid: boston:wordpress-rest-api
  name: Boston University WordPress REST API
  x-operator: institution
  description: 'The WordPress REST API on Boston University''s own web platform, and the one substantial machine-readable
    interface the institution both operates and authors. Its discovery document advertises 237 routes across 15 namespaces;
    nine of those namespaces — bu-alert, bu-access-control, bu-blocks, bu-cmb2-customizations, bu-navigation, bu-prepress,
    bu-site-manager, bu-slideshow and bu-tts, 31 routes in total — are implemented by WordPress plugins Boston University
    IS&T writes, open-sources at github.com/bu-ist and documents at developer.bu.edu. Read routes including /wp/v2/pages,
    /wp/v2/types, /wp/v2/taxonomies, /bu-blocks/v1/search and the per-namespace discovery documents answer anonymous callers;
    privileged routes such as /bu-navigation/v1/parents and /bu-access-control/v1/get-groups return HTTP 401 rest_forbidden.
    Boston University does not present this as a product: there is no developer registration, no key, no rate-limit statement
    and no changelog. The OpenAPI in this repository was derived from the live discovery document, not published by BU.'
  humanURL: https://developer.bu.edu/
  baseURL: https://www.bu.edu/wp-json
  tags:
  - Content Management
  - WordPress
  - Open-Source
  - Publishing
  - Web
  tags_raw:
  - Content Management
  - WordPress
  - Open Source
  - Publishing
  - Web
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/boston-wordpress-api-openapi.yml
  - type: x-openapi-original
    url: openapi/_original/boston-wordpress-api-openapi.yml
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/boston-wordpress-schemas.json
  - type: Examples
    url: examples/boston-wordpress-examples.yml
  - type: Authentication
    url: authentication/boston-authentication.yml
  - type: Errors
    url: errors/boston-errors.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://developer.bu.edu/
  - type: SourceCode
    url: https://github.com/bu-ist
- aid: boston:shibboleth-identity-federation
  name: Boston University Shibboleth Identity Provider
  x-operator: institution
  description: Boston University's SAML 2.0 identity provider, publishing machine-readable entity metadata at its own host.
    The EntityDescriptor carries entityID https://shib.bu.edu/idp/shibboleth, the Shibboleth scopes bu.edu and alum.bu.edu,
    and SingleSignOnService bindings for HTTP-POST, HTTP-POST-SimpleSign and HTTP-Redirect. The entity is registered by InCommon
    and exported to eduGAIN, the SWAMID Federation and the UK Access Management Federation, and asserts the REFEDS Research
    & Scholarship, SIRTFI and InCommon Research & Scholarship entity categories. This is institution-operated by definition
    and is the cleanest example in this profile of Boston University publishing a machine-readable contract of its own.
  humanURL: https://met.refeds.org/met/entity/https%3A%2F%2Fshib.bu.edu%2Fidp%2Fshibboleth/
  baseURL: https://shib.bu.edu/idp/shibboleth
  tags:
  - Identity Federation
  - SAML
  - Shibboleth
  - InCommon
  - eduGAIN
  - Single Sign-On
  properties:
  - type: Metadata
    url: conformance/boston-shibboleth-idp-metadata.xml
  - type: Conformance
    url: conformance/boston-conformance.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://met.refeds.org/met/entity/https%3A%2F%2Fshib.bu.edu%2Fidp%2Fshibboleth/
- aid: boston:openbu-oai
  name: OpenBU Repository — OAI-PMH and DSpace REST (Atmire-operated)
  x-operator: tenant
  x-vendor: Atmire
  x-vendor-evidence: open.bu.edu is a CNAME to boston-prod.cname.atmire.com; the OAI-PMH Identify response returns adminEmail
    atmirenv@gmail.com; the DSpace REST root advertises atmire-versions and atmirevaluepair endpoints.
  description: 'OpenBU is Boston University Libraries'' open-access institutional repository. The content, the collections
    and the 2144 Handle prefix are Boston University''s; the software is DSpace 7.6 and the deployment is Atmire''s. Both
    the OAI-PMH 2.0 endpoint and the DSpace 7 REST API answer anonymous callers — Identify returns repositoryName OpenBU with
    an earliest datestamp of 2005-08-12, ListMetadataFormats offers eight prefixes (oai_dc, qdc, mods, marc, dim, etdms, didl,
    uketd_dc) and ListSets returns 100 sets. Recorded as a tenant relationship: the repository is a real institutional surface,
    the contract describing it belongs to DSpace and Atmire, and no DSpace or Figshare specification is saved under this institution''s
    slug.'
  humanURL: https://open.bu.edu/
  baseURL: https://open.bu.edu/server/oai/request
  tags:
  - Research Data
  - Open Access
  - Institutional Repository
  - OAI-PMH
  - DSpace
  - Library
  - Metadata
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://open.bu.edu/
  - type: Conformance
    url: conformance/boston-conformance.yml
- aid: boston:primo-discovery
  name: BU Libraries Discovery (Ex Libris Primo)
  x-operator: tenant
  x-vendor: Ex Libris (Clarivate)
  x-vendor-evidence: Institution-specific subdomain on the vendor's own registrable domain, bu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com, with
    Boston University's view identifier vid=01BOSU_INST:BULS.
  description: Boston University Libraries' discovery layer runs on Ex Libris Primo under Boston University's tenant view
    01BOSU_INST:BULS. The catalogue data is the library's; the discovery API surface belongs to Ex Libris and is documented
    on the vendor's developer network, not Boston University's. No Ex Libris specification is saved under this institution's
    slug. Recorded so that the library's real programmable surface is legible and correctly attributed.
  humanURL: https://bu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01BOSU_INST:BULS
  tags:
  - Library
  - Discovery
  - Ex Libris
  - Primo
  - Catalog
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.bu.edu/library/
- aid: boston:blackboard-learn
  name: Blackboard Learn REST API (BU tenant)
  x-operator: tenant
  x-vendor: Anthology / Blackboard
  x-vendor-evidence: learn.bu.edu is a CNAME to bu.blackboard.com and on to learn.5deff46c33361.use1.prod-02.core.blackboard.com.
  description: Boston University's learning management system is Blackboard Learn, running on the vendor's infrastructure
    behind a bu.edu hostname. The Learn public REST API responds at /learn/api/public/v1/ — the unauthenticated system version
    endpoint returns Learn 4000.21.0 build rel.28+435d029 — while data endpoints such as /courses return HTTP 401. The contract
    is Blackboard's; only the tenancy is Boston University's, so no Blackboard specification is saved under this institution's
    slug.
  humanURL: https://learn.bu.edu/
  baseURL: https://learn.bu.edu/learn/api/public/v1
  x-baseurl-probe:
    status: 400
    note: The API base itself carries no resource and returns 400, which is normal. The live child verified on 2026-08-30
      is /system/version (HTTP 200); /courses returns 401. Recorded so a pointer-liveness pass does not read this base as
      dead.
  tags:
  - Learning Management
  - Blackboard
  - Education Technology
  - Teaching
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.bu.edu/tech/support/
- aid: boston:ai-api-access
  name: AI API Access (Azure OpenAI / Amazon Bedrock)
  x-operator: tenant
  x-vendor: Microsoft Azure OpenAI / Amazon Bedrock
  description: Boston University IS&T brokers Large Language Model API keys to affiliated faculty, researchers, staff and
    departments, reselling access to Microsoft Azure OpenAI and Amazon Bedrock (including Anthropic models). Access requires
    financial-administrator approval and an AI API Key Request Form, and provisioning details are supplied only after approval.
    There is no public base URL and no public documentation, and the APIs themselves are the cloud vendors' — what Boston
    University operates is the key-issuing process, which is not a machine-readable interface. Recorded as a tenant relationship
    and deliberately not credited as institutional engineering.
  humanURL: https://www.bu.edu/tech/services/cccs/collaboration/conversational-ai/ai-api-access/
  tags:
  - Artificial Intelligence
  - LLM
  - Gated
  - Azure OpenAI
  - Amazon Bedrock
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.bu.edu/tech/services/cccs/collaboration/conversational-ai/ai-api-access/
  - type: Authentication
    url: authentication/boston-authentication.yml
common:
- type: Website
  url: https://www.bu.edu/
- type: Documentation
  url: https://developer.bu.edu/
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/bu-ist
- type: SourceCode
  url: https://github.com/bu-rcs
- type: IdentityFederation
  url: https://shib.bu.edu/idp/shibboleth
- type: ResearchRepository
  url: https://open.bu.edu/
- type: LibraryCatalog
  url: https://bu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01BOSU_INST:BULS
- type: ResearchComputing
  url: https://www.bu.edu/tech/support/research/
- type: AIPolicy
  url: https://www.bu.edu/aida/ai-education/ai-at-work/generative-ai-guidelines-for-bu-faculty-staff/
- type: AITooling
  url: https://www.bu.edu/aida/
- type: Support
  url: https://www.bu.edu/tech/support/
- type: TermsOfService
  url: https://www.bu.edu/policies/conditions-of-use-policy-computing-ethics/
- type: PrivacyPolicy
  url: https://www.bu.edu/policies/digital-privacy-statement/
- type: Blog
  url: https://www.bu.edu/today/
- type: BlogRSS
  url: https://www.bu.edu/today/feed/
- type: LinkedIn
  url: https://www.linkedin.com/school/boston-university/
- type: Conformance
  url: conformance/boston-conformance.yml
- type: Authentication
  url: authentication/boston-authentication.yml
- type: Errors
  url: errors/boston-errors.yml
- type: Lifecycle
  url: lifecycle/boston-lifecycle.yml
- type: Vocabulary
  url: vocabulary/boston-vocabulary.yml
- type: JSONLD
  url: json-ld/boston-context.jsonld
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/boston-domain-security.yml
- type: Plans
  url: plans/boston-plans-pricing.yml
- type: RateLimits
  url: rate-limits/boston-rate-limits.yml
- type: FinOps
  url: finops/boston-finops.yml
- type: Review
  url: review.yml
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com