Western University
Western University is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada, ranked #120 in the QS World University Rankings order used by this cohort. Like almost every university, Western is a federation of buyers rather than an API producer: it runs no developer portal, no institutional API gateway (api.uwo.ca and developer.uwo.ca do not resolve), publishes no OpenAPI for anything, and serves no llms.txt or security.txt. What it genuinely operates is identity. Western Technology Services runs a Shibboleth Identity Provider, entityID https://shibidp.uwo.ca/idp/shibboleth, registered in the Canadian Access Federation since 2012 under CANARIE and exported to eduGAIN, declaring the REFEDS Research and Scholarship entity category and Sirtfi assurance — machine-readable SAML 2.0 metadata that is the single most consequential surface Western publishes. Alongside it runs an Apereo CAS server at ssocas.uwo.ca with a live CAS 3.0 validation endpoint and a second SAML descriptor whose entityID is still the stock Apereo placeholder. Both are end-user login federations, not developer authorization surfaces; OIDC is advertised by WTS but its discovery document returns 403. Western's two readable data surfaces are tenancies, not engineering: Scholarship@Western moved in 2025 to Scholaris, the national shared DSpace 8.4 service run by Scholars Portal (OCUL), exposing a HAL REST API and a conformant OAI-PMH 2.0 provider across thirteen metadata formats at uwo.scholaris.ca; and Western's research data lives in a 1,504-dataset collection on Borealis, the Canadian Dataverse Repository, minting DataCite DOIs on Scholars Portal's 10.5683 prefix. Library discovery is an Ex Libris Primo VE view on OCUL's shared platform. All four are recorded here as tenant relationships and deliberately not credited as Western engineering. There is no official course, timetable or open-data API: the academic calendar at westerncalendar.uwo.ca blocks every AI and search crawler in robots.txt, the undergraduate timetable is scrape-only, and the only APIs over that data are unofficial student projects on GitHub that Western does not endorse.
Western University publishes 6 APIs on the APIs.io network. Tagged areas include University, Higher Education, Education, Research, and Canada.
The Western University catalog on APIs.io includes 1 JSON-LD context.
Western University’s developer surface includes documentation, support, engineering blog, authentication, code examples, and 18 more developer resources.
6 APIs
Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.
Published pricing tiers and plan structures.
Documented rate limits and quota policies.
Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.
JSON-LD contexts and semantic vocabularies used across these APIs.
Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.
aid: western
name: Western University
x-type: university
x-category: Public Research University
description: 'Western University is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada, ranked #120 in the QS World University
Rankings order used by this cohort. Like almost every university, Western is a federation of buyers rather than an API producer:
it runs no developer portal, no institutional API gateway (api.uwo.ca and developer.uwo.ca do not resolve), publishes no
OpenAPI for anything, and serves no llms.txt or security.txt. What it genuinely operates is identity. Western Technology
Services runs a Shibboleth Identity Provider, entityID https://shibidp.uwo.ca/idp/shibboleth, registered in the Canadian
Access Federation since 2012 under CANARIE and exported to eduGAIN, declaring the REFEDS Research and Scholarship entity
category and Sirtfi assurance — machine-readable SAML 2.0 metadata that is the single most consequential surface Western
publishes. Alongside it runs an Apereo CAS server at ssocas.uwo.ca with a live CAS 3.0 validation endpoint and a second
SAML descriptor whose entityID is still the stock Apereo placeholder. Both are end-user login federations, not developer
authorization surfaces; OIDC is advertised by WTS but its discovery document returns 403. Western''s two readable data surfaces
are tenancies, not engineering: Scholarship@Western moved in 2025 to Scholaris, the national shared DSpace 8.4 service run
by Scholars Portal (OCUL), exposing a HAL REST API and a conformant OAI-PMH 2.0 provider across thirteen metadata formats
at uwo.scholaris.ca; and Western''s research data lives in a 1,504-dataset collection on Borealis, the Canadian Dataverse
Repository, minting DataCite DOIs on Scholars Portal''s 10.5683 prefix. Library discovery is an Ex Libris Primo VE view
on OCUL''s shared platform. All four are recorded here as tenant relationships and deliberately not credited as Western
engineering. There is no official course, timetable or open-data API: the academic calendar at westerncalendar.uwo.ca blocks
every AI and search crawler in robots.txt, the undergraduate timetable is scrape-only, and the only APIs over that data
are unofficial student projects on GitHub that Western does not endorse.'
type: Index
deliveryModel:
model: saas
open_source: false
commercial: true
callable_host: true
label: Hosted service · you call their endpoint
confidence: medium
source:
- pricing
generated: '2026-08-28'
method: derived
accessModel:
pricing: free
onboarding: unknown
trial: false
try_now: false
public: false
label: Free
confidence: medium
source:
- plans
generated: '2026-07-22'
method: derived
position: Consuming
access: 3rd-Party
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/western.png
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/western/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
tags:
- University
- Higher Education
- Education
- Research
- Canada
- Ontario
- U15
- Identity Federation
- Research Repository
- Research Data
- Open Access
- OAI-PMH
- Library
created: '2026-06-03'
modified: '2026-08-30'
specificationVersion: '0.23'
x-coverage:
state: covered
reason: covered
detail: 'Every surface on this profile was settled on the operator axis by live probe on 2026-08-30 before anything was
saved, and the operator axis is the whole finding. Western operates exactly one class of machine-readable surface itself
— identity — and it was missing from the June 2026 profile entirely: a Shibboleth IdP registered in the Canadian Access
Federation aggregate (202 entities, exactly one uwo.ca entityID) and exported to eduGAIN, plus a live CAS 3.0 validation
endpoint and a CAS-emitted SAML descriptor. Everything else readable is a tenancy — Scholaris (Scholars Portal DSpace),
Borealis (Scholars Portal Dataverse) and Omni (Ex Libris Primo VE on OCUL) — recorded as relationships with x-operator
tenant, with no vendor contract saved under Western''s slug. No OpenAPI exists for any of it and none was generated. Deliberate
exclusions, each with a reason: api.uwo.ca and developer.uwo.ca do not resolve; data.uwo.ca resolves but redirects to
the Office of Institutional Planning and Budgeting, an HTML dashboard site with no API, so it is not recorded as an OpenData
surface; the GitHub organisations western-university and uwo-ca both exist but hold zero public repositories and carry
no name, email, blog or location, so neither can be attributed to Western and no GitHubOrganization pointer is emitted;
the unofficial timetable APIs (cbaron3/uwo-tt-api, shrumit/Western-Timetable-Maker) are student projects on non-Western
domains with no institutional endorsement and are not credited. The one thing that could not be read is OIDC: WTS advertises
it, but the discovery document and JWKS both return 403.'
evidence:
- url: https://caf-shib2ops.ca/CoreServices/caf_metadata_signed_sha256.xml
status: 200
- url: https://ssocas.uwo.ca/cas/idp/metadata
status: 200
- url: https://ssocas.uwo.ca/cas/p3/serviceValidate
status: 200
- url: https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request?verb=Identify
status: 200
- url: https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/api
status: 200
- url: https://borealisdata.ca/api/dataverses/westernu
status: 200
- url: https://ssocas.uwo.ca/cas/oidc/.well-known/openid-configuration
status: 403
- url: https://www.uwo.ca/llms.txt
status: 404
- url: https://api.uwo.ca/
status: 0
checked: '2026-08-30'
apis:
- aid: western:identity-federation
name: Western University Shibboleth Identity Provider (SAML 2.0 metadata)
description: Western's institutional identity provider, publishing machine-readable SAML 2.0 metadata through the Canadian
Access Federation. entityID https://shibidp.uwo.ca/idp/shibboleth, mdui:DisplayName "University of Western Ontario", shibmd:Scope
uwo.ca, registrationAuthority http://www.canarie.ca, registered 2012-01-01. Declares the REFEDS Research and Scholarship
entity category and asserts REFEDS Sirtfi, and is exported to eduGAIN in CAF's interfederation aggregate. SSO endpoints
are declared for HTTP-POST, HTTP-POST-SimpleSign and HTTP-Redirect, with SOAP artifact resolution and attribute query
on port 8443. This is institution-operated by definition, it is the most consequential machine-readable surface Western
runs, and it was absent from the June 2026 profile.
humanURL: https://wts.uwo.ca/services/o/single-sign-on-sso-saml2-oauth-oidc-cas/index.html
baseURL: https://caf-shib2ops.ca/CoreServices/caf_metadata_signed_sha256.xml
x-entity-id: https://shibidp.uwo.ca/idp/shibboleth
x-entity-id-note: 'The entityID is a SAML identifier, not a document location, and returns HTTP 404 when fetched. That is
normal Shibboleth behaviour: Western''s metadata is published through the Canadian Access Federation aggregate, which
is what baseURL points at. It is recorded here as x-entity-id rather than as a pointer so it is never graded as a dead
link.'
tags:
- Identity Federation
- SAML
- Shibboleth
- eduGAIN
- CANARIE
- Single Sign-On
x-operator: institution
x-operator-evidence: Entity is under Western's own registrable domain (uwo.ca), self-asserts "University of Western Ontario"
as its display name, and is registered by CANARIE in the Canadian Access Federation aggregate as the only uwo.ca entity
present.
x-developer-usable: false
x-developer-note: An end-user login federation, not a developer authorization surface. There is no client registration path,
no token endpoint and no consent screen an outside developer could integrate against; service-provider registration runs
through CAF or a WTS request.
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://wts.uwo.ca/services/o/single-sign-on-sso-saml2-oauth-oidc-cas/index.html
- type: Examples
url: examples/western-shibboleth-idp-caf-metadata-example.xml
- type: Authentication
url: authentication/western-authentication.yml
- type: Conformance
url: conformance/western-conformance.yml
- type: Federation
url: https://caf-shib2ops.ca/CoreServices/caf_metadata_signed_sha256.xml
- aid: western:sso-cas
name: Western Single Sign-On (Apereo CAS — CAS 3.0, SAML2, OIDC)
description: Western Technology Services operates an Apereo CAS server at ssocas.uwo.ca. The CAS 3.0 protocol is publicly
reachable — /cas/p3/serviceValidate returns a well-formed cas:serviceResponse to an anonymous request — and the server
also emits a SAML 2.0 IdP descriptor at /cas/idp/metadata (HTTP 200, IDPSSODescriptor, shibmd:Scope uwo.ca, signing certificate
CN=ssocas.uwo.ca valid to 2045), and exposes a Spring Boot actuator link document at /cas/actuator. OIDC is advertised
in the WTS service catalogue but its discovery document and JWKS both return 403, so no OIDC surface is publicly usable.
Integration is request-based through WTS and gated behind institutional affiliation rather than open self-service registration.
humanURL: https://wts.uwo.ca/services/o/single-sign-on-sso-saml2-oauth-oidc-cas/index.html
baseURL: https://ssocas.uwo.ca/cas
tags:
- Identity
- Authentication
- SSO
- SAML
- CAS
- OpenID Connect
x-operator: institution
x-operator-evidence: Host ssocas.uwo.ca is under Western's own registrable domain and the TLS and SAML signing certificates
are both issued to CN=ssocas.uwo.ca.
x-developer-usable: false
x-developer-note: Documented but affiliation-gated. No self-serve client registration, no published scopes, no token endpoint
reachable anonymously.
x-caveat: The SAML descriptor served here carries the stock Apereo CAS placeholder entityID https://cas.example.org/idp.
It is live and correctly scoped to uwo.ca, but the entityID was never configured and this is not the entity registered
in the federation.
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://wts.uwo.ca/services/o/single-sign-on-sso-saml2-oauth-oidc-cas/index.html
- type: Authentication
url: authentication/western-authentication.yml
- type: Conformance
url: conformance/western-conformance.yml
- aid: western:scholaris-rest
name: Scholarship@Western on Scholaris — DSpace REST API (tenant)
description: 'The HAL+JSON REST API of Western University''s Open Repository, reachable anonymously at https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/api.
The root document self-reports dspaceName "Western University''s Open Repository" and dspaceVersion "DSpace 8.4"; /server/api/core/communities
returns 200 while /server/api/core/items returns 401, so the surface is genuinely access-controlled rather than uniformly
open. Recorded as a tenant relationship: Western owns the content, the DOIs and the admin contact (rsclib@uwo.ca), but
the host is Scholaris — the national shared DSpace 8 service operated by Scholars Portal for the Ontario Council of University
Libraries — and the contract shape is upstream DSpace''s. No specification is saved here for that reason; saving a generic
DSpace spec under an institution''s slug is precisely the misattribution this profile exists to avoid.'
humanURL: https://uwo.scholaris.ca/home
baseURL: https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/api
tags:
- Research Repository
- Institutional Repository
- DSpace
- REST
- HAL
- Open Access
x-operator: tenant
x-operator-evidence: Institution-specific subdomain (uwo.scholaris.ca) on a vendor platform (scholaris.ca, operated by Scholars
Portal / OCUL). Western's repository name and admin email; Scholars Portal's host, software and contract.
x-vendor: Scholars Portal (Ontario Council of University Libraries) — DSpace 8.4
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://uwo.scholaris.ca/home
- type: APIReference
url: https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/api
- aid: western:scholaris-oai-pmh
name: Scholarship@Western OAI-PMH 2.0 provider (tenant)
description: OAI-PMH 2.0 metadata harvesting for Western University's Open Repository. Identify returns repositoryName "Western
University's Open Repository", repositoryIdentifier uwo.scholaris.ca, adminEmail rsclib@uwo.ca, earliestDatestamp 2025-05-27T13:31:41Z,
deletedRecord transient, granularity YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ. ListMetadataFormats returns thirteen prefixes — didl, mods,
ore, mets, xoai, dim, rioxx, uketd_dc, qdc, oai_dc, rdf, marc, etdms — and ListSets returns DSpace community and collection
sets under handle prefix 20.500.14721. This is the surface that satisfies the `oai-pmh` domain standard in the Kin Score
education regime, and it was documented in this repository's README but never recorded as an API entry until now.
humanURL: https://www.lib.uwo.ca/scholarship/scholarshipatwestern.html
baseURL: https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request
tags:
- OAI-PMH
- Metadata Harvesting
- Research Repository
- Open Access
- DSpace
x-operator: tenant
x-operator-evidence: Same host and same operator as the DSpace REST API above — Western's repository running on Scholars
Portal's national Scholaris service. The OAI implementation is DSpace's.
x-vendor: Scholars Portal (Ontario Council of University Libraries) — DSpace 8.4
properties:
- type: Examples
url: examples/western-scholaris-oai-identify-example.xml
- type: Conformance
url: conformance/western-conformance.yml
- aid: western:borealis-dataverse
name: Western University Repository on Borealis — Dataverse API (tenant)
description: Western's research data repository, a Dataverse collection with alias "westernu" and affiliation "Western University"
on Borealis, the Canadian Dataverse Repository operated by Scholars Portal. Reachable through the Dataverse 6.8.4 native
API at https://borealisdata.ca/api/dataverses/westernu, which returns the collection metadata and, at /contents, the sub-collections
beneath it — including the Western University Research Data Repository Dataverse, CFMM, OwenLab and Geomorphology @ Western.
A subtree search returns 1,504 datasets, each carrying a DataCite DOI on prefix 10.5683. Deposit is arranged through rdm@uwo.ca.
Recorded as a tenant relationship and previously absent from this profile entirely.
humanURL: https://borealisdata.ca/dataverse/westernu
baseURL: https://borealisdata.ca/api/dataverses/westernu
tags:
- Research Data
- Dataverse
- DataCite
- Open Data
- Research Repository
x-operator: tenant
x-operator-evidence: Institution-specific account (dataverse alias "westernu", affiliation "Western University") on a shared
vendor platform (borealisdata.ca, operated by Scholars Portal). The DataCite prefix 10.5683 used by its DOIs belongs to
Scholars Portal, not to Western.
x-vendor: Scholars Portal / Borealis — Dataverse 6.8.4
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://guides.lib.uwo.ca/rdm
- type: Conformance
url: conformance/western-conformance.yml
- aid: western:omni-primo
name: Omni library discovery — Ex Libris Primo VE (tenant)
description: 'Western Libraries'' discovery layer is Omni, the Ontario Council of University Libraries'' shared Ex Libris
Alma/Primo VE deployment. Western''s view is ocul-uwo.primo.exlibrisgroup.com with vid=01OCUL_UWO:UWO_DEFAULT. Recorded
so the relationship is visible, but no contract is saved: the Primo and Alma APIs are Ex Libris products documented on
developers.exlibrisgroup.com, shared by every Alma customer, and crediting them to Western would be the exact misattribution
this profile guards against.'
humanURL: https://ocul-uwo.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01OCUL_UWO:UWO_DEFAULT
tags:
- Library
- Discovery
- Primo
- Ex Libris
- Catalog
x-operator: tenant
x-operator-evidence: Institution-specific subdomain and view id on a generic vendor host (primo.exlibrisgroup.com). The
platform is Ex Libris's, the consortial tenancy is OCUL's, the view is Western's.
x-vendor: Ex Libris (Clarivate) via the Ontario Council of University Libraries
properties:
- type: Documentation
url: https://www.lib.uwo.ca/
common:
- type: Website
url: https://www.uwo.ca/
- type: Documentation
url: https://wts.uwo.ca/services/index.html
- type: Support
url: https://wts.uwo.ca/
- type: PrivacyPolicy
url: https://www.uwo.ca/legalcounsel/privacy/
- type: LinkedIn
url: https://ca.linkedin.com/school/westernuniversity/
- type: Twitter
url: https://x.com/westernu
- type: Blog
url: https://news.westernu.ca/
- type: BlogRSS
url: https://news.westernu.ca/feed
- type: IdentityFederation
url: https://ssocas.uwo.ca/cas/idp/metadata
- type: ResearchRepository
url: https://uwo.scholaris.ca/home
- type: LibraryCatalog
url: https://ocul-uwo.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?vid=01OCUL_UWO:UWO_DEFAULT
- type: CourseCatalog
url: https://westerncalendar.uwo.ca/
- type: AIPolicy
url: https://ai.uwo.ca/governance/policies.html
- type: AITooling
url: https://ai.uwo.ca/resources/ai-tools.html
- type: Authentication
url: authentication/western-authentication.yml
- type: Conformance
url: conformance/western-conformance.yml
- type: Examples
url: examples/western-shibboleth-idp-caf-metadata-example.xml
- type: JSONLD
url: json-ld/western-context.jsonld
- type: DomainSecurity
url: security/western-domain-security.yml
- type: Plans
url: plans/western-plans-pricing.yml
- type: RateLimits
url: rate-limits/western-rate-limits.yml
- type: FinOps
url: finops/western-finops.yml
- type: Review
url: review.yml
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
email: kin@apievangelist.com
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