inaturalistjs

JavaScript package for iNaturalist.org. Supports CRUD for iNat data. This is an isomorphic library that can be used in the browser and within node.js code. Each method returns a JavaScript Promise.

Simple Example

import inatjs from "inaturalistjs";
inatjs.observations.search({ taxon_id: 4 }).then( rsp => { });

Creating Records

Create and update methods accept a JSON object with the new instance properties nested under the instance class name.

var params = {
  comment: {
    body: "... comment body ...",
    parent_type: "Observation",
    parent_id: 12345,
    user_id: 67890
  }
};
inatjs.comments.create( params ).then( c => { } );

Updating Records

Updates also need the ID of the record being updated.

var params = {
  id: 1,
  comment: { ... }
};
inatjs.comments.update( params ).then( c => { } );

Deleting Records

Deletes only need the ID.

inatjs.comments.delete({ id: 1 }).then( () => { } );

Errors

Any non-200 response code is considered an error, and the promise will fail. Be sure to catch these errors:

inatjs.comments.delete({ id: 0 }).then( () => { }).catch( e => {
  console.log( "Delete failed:", e );
});

Uploads

Some methods need to upload files, and they use FormData (which is already defined in a browser context, otherwise uses the FormData package) for creating multiplart/form-data requests. There are various ways to upload files, for example setting the value of a parameter to a Blob, or a file read stream. ReactNative expands FormData to also accept uploads as an object with a uri, name, and type.

When given objects or arrays as parameter values, inatjs upload requests will flatten the parameters into a format expected by FormData:

{ attr: { nestedValue: [1] } } =>
["attr[nestedValue][0]"] = 1

In order to get the ReactNative uri approach to work, the file object that contains the URI must be wrapped in some class other than a basic JS Object. This will prevent it from being flattened, and ensure it is passed on to ReactNative's FormData extension as an object. You can use inatjs.FileUpload for this:

import inatjs, { FileUpload } from "inaturalistjs";
const params = {
  image: new FileUpload({
    uri: ...,
    name: ...,
    type: ...
  })
};
inatjs.uploadMethod( params ).then( () => { } );

API Token

In order to use methods requiring authentication, you'll need an OAuth token and a JSON Web Token (JWT):

1. Create an iNaturalist application
2. Retrieve an Oauth access token using one of the two methods described at https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/api+reference#auth
3. Use the Oauth token to retrieve a JSON Web Token, e.g

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_OAUTH_ACCESS_TOKEN" https://www.inaturalist.org/users/api_token

If running in the browser, iNaturalistJS will look for the JWT in an inaturalist-api-token meta tag and use that for authenticating requests:

<meta name="inaturalist-api-token" content="... api token ...">

Alternatively, the token can be passed as an option:

var options = { api_token: "... iNaturalist API token ..." };
inatjs.comments.create( params, options ).then( c => { } );

CSRF Token (intrasite only)

If you happen to be running the iNaturalist Rails codebase, CSRF tokens can be used for authenticating requests made from the browser. If a CSRF token is available, all requests will be made to the same origin from which the call was made. iNaturalistJS will look for the following meta tags:

<meta name="csrf-param" content="... param ...">
<meta name="csrf-token" content="... token ...">

Alternatively, the token can be passed as a parameter (use the actual name of the paramater and not csrf_param).

var params = {
  csrf_param: "... csrf token ..."
  comment: { ... }
};
inatjs.comments.create( params ).then( c => { } );

Configuring API Host

It might be necessary to change the API host to which this library sends queries (for example if you're a developer). Do not include the protocol in the host (for example set API_HOST=api.example.com). These values can be set in the browser with meta tags:

<meta name="config:inaturalist_api_host" content="... host ...">
<meta name="config:inaturalist_write_api_host" content="... host ...">

This can be done on the node.js end with environment variables:

API_HOST=a WRITE_API_HOST=b node app.js

And finally, in any environment there is a setConfig method for setting these values:

import inatjs from "inaturalistjs";
inatjs.setConfig({ apiHost: "...", writeApiHost: "..." });

Available Methods

Public

inatjs.observations.fetch( params, opts ).then( rsp => { ... } );
inatjs.observations.search( params, opts ).then( rsp => { ... } );
inatjs.observations.identifiers( params, opts ).then( rsp => { ... } );
inatjs.observations.observers( params, opts ).then( rsp => { ... } );
inatjs.observations.speciesCounts( params, opts ).then( rsp => { ... } );

inatjs.places.fetch( params, opts ).then( rsp => { ... } );

inatjs.taxa.fetch( params, opts ).then( rsp => { ... } );
inatjs.taxa.autocomplete( params, opts ).then( rsp => { ... } );

Authenticated

inatjs.comments.create( params, opts ).then( c => { ... } );
inatjs.comments.update( params, opts ).then( c => { ... } );
inatjs.comments.delete( params, opts ).then( () => { ... } );

inatjs.identifications.create( params, opts ).then( i => { ... } );
inatjs.identifications.update( params, opts ).then( i => { ... } );
inatjs.identifications.delete( params, opts ).then( () => { ... } );

inatjs.observations.create( params, opts ).then( o => { ... } );
inatjs.observations.update( params, opts ).then( o => { ... } );
inatjs.observations.delete( params, opts ).then( () => { ... } );
inatjs.observations.fave( params, opts ).then( o => { ... } );
inatjs.observations.unfave( params, opts ).then( o => { ... } );
inatjs.observations.review( params, opts ).then( () => { ... } );
inatjs.observations.unreview( params, opts ).then( () => { ... } );
inatjs.observations.setQualityMetric( params, opts ).then( () => { ... } );
inatjs.observations.deleteQualityMetric( params, opts ).then( () => { ... } );

inatjs.observationFieldValues.create( params, opts ).then( v => { ... } );
inatjs.observationFieldValues.update( params, opts ).then( v => { ... } );
inatjs.observationFieldValues.delete( params, opts ).then( () => { ... } );

inatjs.projects.join( params, opts ).then( () => { ... } );
inatjs.projects.leave( params, opts ).then( () => { ... } );