Department of the Interior API Rules

x-name: Department of the Interior API Rules
description: >-
  Rules and constraints governing access to Interior bureau APIs.
rules:
  - id: nps-api-key-required
    description: NPS Data API requires an api_key query parameter or X-Api-Key header issued via api.nps.gov.
    appliesTo: ["nps-data-api"]
    severity: must
  - id: nps-pagination
    description: NPS Data API responses default to 50 records and a maximum page size of 50; consumers must page using start and limit.
    appliesTo: ["nps-data-api"]
    severity: must
  - id: usgs-fdsn-limits
    description: USGS FDSN event queries enforce a 20,000-event maximum per query; large historical pulls must be chunked by time.
    appliesTo: ["usgs-earthquake-api"]
    severity: must
  - id: usgs-water-rate-limits
    description: USGS Water Services consumers must respect documented rate limits and prefer the period parameter for recent queries.
    appliesTo: ["usgs-water-services-api"]
    severity: should
  - id: public-domain-attribution
    description: Interior data is U.S. government work in the public domain; attribute the originating bureau when republishing.
    appliesTo: ["*"]
    severity: should
  - id: image-rights
    description: NPS image properties may carry separate copyright and credit; consumers must surface the credit and altText fields when displaying images.
    appliesTo: ["nps-data-api"]
    severity: must