Data Services API v0.0.2

Introduction

The CARTO Data Services API offers a set of location based services that can be used to programatically customize subsets of data for your visualizations.

The contents described in this document are subject to CARTO’s Terms of Service

Authentication

Data Services API, like any other CARTO platform’s component, requires using an API Key. From your CARTO dashboard, click Your API keys from the avatar drop-down menu to view your uniquely generated API Key for managing data with CARTO Engine.

Learn more about the basics of authorization, or dig into the details of Auth API, if you want to know more about this part of CARTO platform.

The examples in this documentation may include a placeholder for the API Key. Ensure that you modify any placeholder parameters with your own credentials.

Versioning

Data Services API uses Semantic Versioning. View our Github repository to find tags for each release.

Error handling

Most of the errors fired by the API are handled by the API itself. It triggers a CartoError every time an error happens.

A cartoError is an object containing a single message field with a string explaining the error.

Geocoding Functions

The geocoder functions allow you to match your data with geometries on your map. This geocoding service can be used programatically to geocode datasets via the CARTO SQL API. It is fed from Open Data and it serves geometries for countries, provinces, states, cities, postal codes, IP addresses and street addresses. CARTO provides functions for several different categories of geocoding through the Data Services API.

Warning: This service is subject to quota limitations and extra fees may apply. View the Quota Information section for details and recommendations about to quota consumption.

The following example displays how to geocode a single country:

1
https://{username}.carto.com/api/v2/sql?q=SELECT cdb_geocode_admin0_polygon('USA')&api_key={api_key}

In order to geocode an existent CARTO dataset, an SQL UPDATE statement must be used to populate the geometry column in the dataset with the results of the Data Services API. For example, if the column where you are storing the country names for each one of our rows is called country_column, run the following statement in order to geocode the dataset:

1
https://{username}.carto.com/api/v2/sql?q=UPDATE {tablename} SET the_geom = cdb_geocode_admin0_polygon('USA')&api_key={api_key}

Notice that you can make use of Postgres or PostGIS functions in your Data Services API requests, as the result is a geometry that can be handled by the system. For example, suppose you need to retrieve the centroid of a specific country, you can wrap the resulting geometry from the geocoder functions inside the PostGIS ST_Centroid function:

1
https://{username}.carto.com/api/v2/sql?q=UPDATE {tablename} SET the_geom = ST_Centroid(cdb_geocode_admin0_polygon('USA'))&api_key={api_key}

The following geocoding functions are available, grouped by categories.

Country Geocoder

This function geocodes your data into country border geometries. It recognizes the names of the different countries either by different synonyms (such as their English name or their endonym), or by ISO (ISO2 or ISO3) codes.

cdb_geocode_admin0polygon(_country_name text)

Geocodes the text name of a country into a country_name geometry, displayed as polygon data.

Arguments

Returns

Geometry (polygon, EPSG 4326) or null

Example

Update the geometry of a table to geocode it

1
UPDATE {tablename} SET the_geom = cdb_geocode_admin0_polygon({country_column})

Insert a geocoded row into a table

1
INSERT INTO {tablename} (the_geom) SELECT cdb_geocode_admin0_polygon('France')

Level-1 Administrative Regions Geocoder

This function geocodes your data into polygon geometries for Level 1, or NUTS-1, administrative divisions (or units) of countries. For example, a “state” in the United States, “départements” in France, or an autonomous community in Spain.

cdb_geocode_admin1polygon(_admin1_name text)

Geocodes the name of the province/state into a Level-1 administrative region, displayed as a polygon geometry.

Arguments

Returns

Geometry (polygon, EPSG 4326) or null

Example

Update the geometry of a table to geocode it

1
UPDATE {tablename} SET the_geom = cdb_geocode_admin1_polygon({province_column})

Insert a geocoded row into a table

1
INSERT INTO {tablename} (the_geom) SELECT cdb_geocode_admin1_polygon('Alicante')

cdb_geocode_admin1polygon(_admin1_name text, country_name text)

Geocodes the name of the province/state for a specified country into a Level-1 administrative region, displayed as a polygon geometry.

Arguments

Returns

Geometry (polygon, EPSG 4326) or null

Example

Update the geometry of a table to geocode it

1
UPDATE {tablename} SET the_geom = cdb_geocode_admin1_polygon({province_column}, {country_column})

Insert a geocoded row into a table

1
INSERT INTO {tablename} (the_geom) SELECT cdb_geocode_admin1_polygon('Alicante', 'Spain')

City Geocoder

This function geocodes your data into point geometries for names of cities. It is recommended to use geocoding functions that require more defined parameters — this returns more accurate results when several cities have the same name. If there are duplicate results for a city name, the city name with the highest population will be returned.

cdb_geocode_namedplace_point(city_name text)

Geocodes the text name of a city into a named place geometry, displayed as point data.

Arguments

Returns

Geometry (point, EPSG 4326) or null

Example

Select

Update the geometry of a table to geocode it

1
UPDATE {tablename} SET the_geom = cdb_geocode_namedplace_point({city_column})

Insert a geocoded row into a table

1
INSERT INTO {tablename} (the_geom) SELECT cdb_geocode_namedplace_point('Barcelona')

cdb_geocode_namedplace_point(city_name text, country_name text)

Geocodes the text name of a city for a specified country into a named place point geometry.

Arguments

Returns

Geometry (point, EPSG 4326) or null

Example

Update the geometry of a table to geocode it

1
UPDATE {tablename} SET the_geom = cdb_geocode_namedplace_point({city_column}, 'Spain')

Insert a geocoded row into a table

1
INSERT INTO {tablename} (the_geom) SELECT cdb_geocode_namedplace_point('Barcelona', 'Spain')

cdb_geocode_namedplace_point(city_name text, admin1_name text, country_name text)

Geocodes your data into a named place point geometry, containing the text name of a city, for a specified province/state and country. This is recommended for the most accurate geocoding of city data.

Arguments

Returns

Geometry (point, EPSG 4326) or null

Example

Update the geometry of a table to geocode it

1
UPDATE {tablename} SET the_geom = cdb_geocode_namedplace_point({city_column}, {province_column}, 'USA')

Insert a geocoded row into a table

1
INSERT INTO {tablename} (the_geom) SELECT cdb_geocode_namedplace_point('New York', 'New York', 'USA')

Postal Code Geocoder

These functions geocode your data into point, or polygon, geometries for postal codes. The postal code geocoder covers the United States, France, Australia and Canada; a request for a different country will return an empty response.

Note: For the USA, US Census Zip Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTA) are used to reference geocodes for USPS postal codes service areas. This is not a CARTO restriction, this is a US Government licensing protection of their zip code data source; which is not publicly available. Additionally, zip codes are considered service areas and are not actually geometric areas. As a solution, the US Census provides ZCTA data, which tabulates GIS postal codes for USPS locations by aggregating census blocks. For details about how ZCTAs are created, see ZIP Code™ Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs™). If you are geocoding data and your zip codes fail, ensure you are using ZCTAs for the postal code.

cdb_geocode_postalcode_polygon(postal_code text, country_name text)

Geocodes the postal code for a specified country into a polygon geometry.

Arguments

Returns

Geometry (polygon, EPSG 4326) or null

Example

Update the geometry of a table to geocode it

1
UPDATE {tablename} SET the_geom = cdb_geocode_postalcode_polygon({postal_code_column}, 'USA')

Insert a geocoded row into a table

1
INSERT INTO {tablename} (the_geom) SELECT cdb_geocode_postalcode_polygon('11211', 'USA')

cdb_geocode_postalcode_point(code text, country_name text)

Geocodes the postal code for a specified country into a point geometry.

Arguments

Returns

Geometry (point, EPSG 4326) or null

Example

Update the geometry of a table to geocode it

1
UPDATE {tablename} SET the_geom = cdb_geocode_postalcode_point({postal_code_column}, 'USA')

Insert a geocoded row into a table

1
INSERT INTO {tablename} (the_geom) SELECT cdb_geocode_postalcode_point('11211', 'USA')

IP Addresses Geocoder

This function geocodes your data into point geometries for IP addresses. This is useful if you are analyzing location based data, based on a set of user’s IP addresses.

cdb_geocode_ipaddress_point(ip_address text)

Geocodes a postal code from a specified country into an IP address, displayed as a point geometry.

Arguments

Returns

Geometry (point, EPSG 4326) or null

Example

Update the geometry of a table to geocode it

1
UPDATE {tablename} SET the_geom = cdb_geocode_ipaddress_point('102.23.34.1')

Insert a geocoded row into a table

1
INSERT INTO {tablename} (the_geom) SELECT cdb_geocode_ipaddress_point('102.23.34.1')

Street-Level Geocoder

These functions geocode your data into a point geometry for a street address. CARTO platform uses TomTom geocoding services by default as the service provider for street-level geocoding. Contact us if you have any specific questions or requirements about the location data service provider being used with your account.

This service is subject to quota limitations, and extra fees may apply. View the Quota information for details and recommendations about quota consumption.

cdb_geocode_street_point(search_text text, [city text], [state text], [country text])

Geocodes a complete address into a single street geometry, displayed as point data.

Arguments

Returns

Geometry (point, EPSG 4326) or null

Example

Update the geometry of a table to geocode it

1
UPDATE {tablename} SET the_geom = cdb_geocode_street_point({street_name_column})

Insert a geocoded row into a table

1
INSERT INTO {tablename} (the_geom) SELECT cdb_geocode_street_point('651 Lombard Street', 'San Francisco', 'California', 'United States')

cdb_bulk_geocode_street_point (query text, street_column text, [city_column text], [state_column text], [country_column text], [batch_size integer])

Geocodes complete street addresses into point data. Similar to cdb_geocode_street_point, but using batch services and therefore allowing for several addresses to be geocoded in a single API call.

Arguments

Returns

Geocoding results are returned in an array. Each array element contains:

The metadata JSON type includes the following attributes when geocoding was successful:

Example

Update the geometries of an entire table by geocoding all the rows based on a street address

1
WITH geocoding_results AS (SELECT cartodb_id, the_geom FROM cdb_bulk_geocode_street_point('SELECT cartodb_id, {address_column} from {tablename}', '{address_column}')) UPDATE {tablename} tn SET the_geom = geocoding_results.the_geom FROM geocoding_results WHERE tn.cartodb_id = geocoding_results.cartodb_id

Isoline Functions

Isolines are contoured lines that display equally calculated levels over a given surface area. This enables you to view polygon dimensions by forward or reverse measurements. Isoline functions are calculated as the intersection of areas from the origin point, measured by distance (isodistance) or time (isochrone). For example, the distance of a road from a sidewalk. Isoline services through CARTO are available by requesting a single function in the Data Services API.

This service is subject to quota limitations and extra fees may apply. View the Quota Information section for details and recommendations about to quota consumption.

You can use the isoline functions to retrieve, for example, isochrone lines from a certain location, specifying the mode and the ranges that will define each of the isolines. The following query calculates isolines for areas that are 5, 10 and 15 minutes (300, 600 and 900 seconds, respectively) away from the location by following a path defined by car routing and inserts them into a table.

1
https://{username}.carto.com/api/v2/sql?q=INSERT INTO {table} (the_geom) SELECT  the_geom FROM cdb_isodistance('POINT(-3.70568 40.42028)'::geometry, 'car', ARRAY[300, 600, 900]::integer[])&api_key={api_key}

The following functions provide an isoline generator service, based on time or distance. This service uses the isolines service defined for your account. The default service limits the usage of displayed polygons represented on top of Mapbox maps.

cdb_isodistance(source geometry, mode text, range integer[], [options text[]])

Displays a contoured line on a map, connecting geometries to a defined area, measured by an equal range of distance (in meters).

Note that not all the providers, for example TomTom, provide us a way to define the isoline limit in distance so we need to make some estimations. Due that estimations the produced isolines could not be 100% precise.

Arguments

Returns

Examples

Calculate and insert isodistance polygons from a point into another table

1
INSERT INTO {table} (the_geom) SELECT  the_geom FROM cdb_isodistance('POINT(-3.70568 40.42028)'::geometry, 'walk', ARRAY[300, 600, 900]::integer[])

or equivalently:

1
INSERT INTO {table} (the_geom) SELECT (cdb_isodistance('POINT(-3.70568 40.42028)'::geometry, 'walk', ARRAY[300, 600, 900]::integer[])).the_geom

Calculate and insert the generated isolines from points_table table to another table

1
INSERT INTO {table} (the_geom) SELECT (cdb_isodistance(the_geom, 'walk', string_to_array(distance, ',')::integer[])).the_geom FROM {points_table}

cdb_isochrone(source geometry, mode text, range integer[], [options text[]])

Displays a contoured line on a map, connecting geometries to a defined area, measured by an equal range of time (in seconds).

Arguments

This function uses the same parameters and information as the cdb_isodistance function, with the exception that the range is measured in seconds instead of meters.

Examples

Calculate and insert isochrone polygons from a point into another table

1
INSERT INTO {table} (the_geom) SELECT  the_geom FROM cdb_isochrone('POINT(-3.70568 40.42028)'::geometry, 'car', ARRAY[300, 900, 12000]::integer[], ARRAY['mode_traffic=enabled','quality=3']::text[])

or equivalently:

1
INSERT INTO {table} (the_geom) SELECT (cdb_isochrone('POINT(-3.70568 40.42028)'::geometry, 'car', ARRAY[300, 900, 12000]::integer[], ARRAY['mode_traffic=enabled','quality=3']::text[])).the_geom

Calculate and insert the generated isolines from points_table table into another table

1
INSERT INTO {table} (the_geom) SELECT (cdb_isochrone(the_geom, 'walk', string_to_array(time_distance, ',')::integer[])).the_geom FROM {points_table}

Optional isoline parameters

The optional value parameters must be passed using the format: option=value.

Routing Functions

Routing is the navigation from a defined start location to a defined end location. The calculated results are displayed as turn-by-turn directions on your map, based on the transportation mode that you specified. Routing services through CARTO are available by using the available functions in the Data Services API.

cdb_route_point_to_point(origin geometry(Point), destination geometry(Point), mode text, [options text[], units text])

Returns a route from origin to destination.

Arguments

Returns

Examples

Insert the values from the calculated route in your table

1
INSERT INTO <TABLE> (duration, length, the_geom) SELECT duration, length, shape FROM cdb_route_point_to_point('POINT(-3.70237112 40.41706163)'::geometry,'POINT(-3.69909883 40.41236875)'::geometry, 'car')

Update the geometry field with the calculated route shape

1
UPDATE <TABLE> SET the_geom = (SELECT shape FROM cdb_route_point_to_point('POINT(-3.70237112 40.41706163)'::geometry,'POINT(-3.69909883 40.41236875)'::geometry, 'car', ARRAY['mode_type=shortest']::text[]))

cdb_route_with_waypoints(waypoints geometry(Point)[], mode text, [options text[], units text])

Returns a route that goes from origin to destination and whose path travels through the defined locations.

Arguments

Returns

Note: A request to the function cdb_route_with_waypoints(waypoints geometry(Point)[], mode text, [options text[], units text]) with only two points in the geometry array are automatically defined as origin and destination. It is equivalent to performing the following request with these two locations as parameters: cdb_route_point_to_point(origin geometry(Point), destination geometry(Point), mode text, [options text[], units text]).

Examples

Insert the values from the calculated route in your table

1
INSERT INTO <TABLE> (duration, length, the_geom) SELECT duration, length, shape FROM cdb_route_with_waypoints(Array['POINT(-3.7109 40.4234)'::GEOMETRY, 'POINT(-3.7059 40.4203)'::geometry, 'POINT(-3.7046 40.4180)'::geometry]::geometry[], 'walk')

Update the geometry field with the calculated route shape

1
UPDATE <TABLE> SET the_geom = (SELECT shape FROM cdb_route_with_waypoints(Array['POINT(-3.7109 40.4234)'::GEOMETRY, 'POINT(-3.7059 40.4203)'::geometry, 'POINT(-3.7046 40.4180)'::geometry]::geometry[], 'car', ARRAY['mode_type=shortest']::text[]))

Optional routing parameters

The optional value parameters must be passed using the format: option=value. Not all are available for all the routing providers