Introduction

This page covers the fundamentals of interacting with the RIPE Atlas REST API, including the base URL, versioning scheme, response formats, and general browsing tips.

The Base URL

All API requests are made against the following base URL:

https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/

To access a specific resource, append the object type name to the base URL. For example:

• Measurements: https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/measurements/
• Probes: https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/probes/

The object part of the URL should always be plural and lower case.

WARNING

The API is only served over TLS (HTTPS). Plain HTTP requests will not work.

API Versioning

Starting from version 2, the RIPE Atlas API follows semantic versioning:

Version Change	Example	Description
Patch (2.0.x)	2.0.0 to 2.0.1	Bug fixes only. No changes to the interface.
Minor (2.x.0)	2.0.0 to 2.1.0	Backwards-compatible extensions. New fields or endpoints may be added, but existing behaviour is preserved.
Major (x.0.0)	2.0.0 to 3.0.0	Breaking changes. Response formats or endpoint behaviour may change in incompatible ways.

Only the major version number appears in the URL (e.g. /api/v2/). Minor and patch updates are applied transparently.

Response Formats

The API supports multiple response formats, controlled by the format query parameter:

Format	Value	Description
JSON	json	Standard JSON. Default when the request comes from a script or programmatic client.
Browsable API	api	An HTML rendering of the response. Default when browsing with a web browser. Useful for exploring the API interactively.
Text (JSONL)	txt	Line-delimited JSON (one JSON object per line). Useful for streaming large responses and processing them incrementally.

You can explicitly set the format on any request:

https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/measurements/?format=json

Browsing the API

There are a few ways to explore the API. One is to open the API root in your browser:

https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/

Another is to look at the REST API Reference section. Most pages here have a "Try it out" section and button that let you make real API requests directly from the page. This is a quick way to experiment with different endpoints and parameters without writing any code.

Some API calls require authentication. Most read operations work without it, but creating measurements, managing probes, and accessing private data require an API key. See Authentication for details.

Here is an example request that fetches a small list of measurements:

GET /api/v2/measurements?page_size=3

Try it out

Resources

The API exposes the following resource areas:

• Measurements — Network measurements (ping, traceroute, DNS, SSL/TLS, HTTP, NTP) run by probes. The largest part of the API, covering creation, results, status checks, and more.
• Probes — The RIPE Atlas probes deployed worldwide. Query their status, location, network properties, and tags.
• Anchors — Enhanced probes in data centres that serve as stable measurement targets and sources.
• Anchor Measurements — Automated mesh measurements between anchors.
• Credits — The credit system that funds measurements. View balances, income, expenses, and transfer credits.
• Participation Requests — Add or remove probes from running measurements.
• Keys — Programmatic management of API keys and permissions.