Nearmap Python API Docs | dltHub
Build a Nearmap-to-database pipeline in Python using dlt with AI Workbench support for Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.
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Nearmap's AI Feature API retrieves small areas of interest from vector maps using a polygon query and an API key. It provides access to Gen 3 AI content. The Rollup API summarizes AI Feature API data. The REST API base URL is https://api.nearmap.com and all requests require an API Key (present either as query parameter or Authorization header).
dlt is an open-source Python library that handles authentication, pagination, and schema evolution automatically. dlthub provides AI context files that enable code assistants to generate production-ready pipelines. Install with uv pip install "dlt[workspace]" and start loading Nearmap data in under 10 minutes.
What data can I load from Nearmap?
Here are some of the endpoints you can load from Nearmap:
| Resource | Endpoint | Method | Data selector | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ai_features | /ai/features/v4/features.json | GET | features | Retrieve AI vector features for an AOI polygon or survey |
| ai_rollups | /ai/rollups/v4/rollups.json | GET | features | Retrieve summarized rollup data for AOI in JSON/CSV/GeoJSON |
| coverage_point | /coverage/v2/point/{coord} | GET | surveys | Retrieve coverage/surveys metadata for a point |
| coverage_coord | /coverage/v2/coord/{z}{x}{y} | GET | coverage | Retrieve coverage metadata for a tile coordinate |
| tiles | /tiles/v3/{contentType}/{z}/{x}/{y}.{format} | GET | (returns image binary, not JSON) | Retrieve tile imagery (JPEG/PNG) |
| survey_features | /ai/surveyresources/{surveyResourceId}/features.json | GET | features | Retrieve AI features for a specific survey resource |
| photo_timestamp | /coverage/v2/point/{x},{y}/timestamp.{format} | GET | (text/timestamp) | Retrieve photo timestamp for a given point |
How do I authenticate with the Nearmap API?
Provide your API Key with every request either as the apikey URL query parameter (apikey=YOUR_API_KEY) or in the HTTP header Authorization: Apikey YOUR_API_KEY (note capital A). The API is HTTPS-only.
1. Get your credentials
- Sign in to your Nearmap account and go to the Developer/API Keys section in the dashboard. 2) Create or view an API Key for your project/subscription. 3) Copy the API key string and store it securely. 4) Use the key in requests as apikey query param or in the Authorization header as described.
2. Add them to .dlt/secrets.toml
[sources.nearmap_ai_feature_source] api_key = "your_nearmap_api_key_here"
dlt reads this automatically at runtime — never hardcode tokens in your pipeline script. For production environments, see setting up credentials with dlt for environment variable and vault-based options.
How do I set up and run the pipeline?
Set up a virtual environment and install dlt:
uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate uv pip install "dlt[workspace]"
1. Install the dlt AI Workbench:
dlt ai init --agent <your-agent> # <agent>: claude | cursor | codex
This installs project rules, a secrets management skill, appropriate ignore files, and configures the dlt MCP server for your agent. Learn more →
2. Install the rest-api-pipeline toolkit:
dlt ai toolkit rest-api-pipeline install
This loads the skills and context about dlt the agent uses to build the pipeline iteratively, efficiently, and safely. The agent uses MCP tools to inspect credentials — it never needs to read your secrets.toml directly. Learn more →
3. Start LLM-assisted coding:
Use /find-source to load data from the Nearmap API into DuckDB.
The rest-api-pipeline toolkit takes over from here — it reads relevant API documentation, presents you with options for which endpoints to load, and follows a structured workflow to scaffold, debug, and validate the pipeline step by step.
4. Run the pipeline:
python nearmap_ai_feature_pipeline.py
If everything is configured correctly, you'll see output like this:
Pipeline nearmap_ai_feature_pipeline load step completed in 0.26 seconds 1 load package(s) were loaded to destination duckdb and into dataset nearmap_ai_feature_data The duckdb destination used duckdb:/nearmap_ai_feature.duckdb location to store data Load package 1749667187.541553 is LOADED and contains no failed jobs
Inspect your pipeline and data:
dlt pipeline nearmap_ai_feature_pipeline show
This opens the Pipeline Dashboard where you can verify pipeline state, load metrics, schema (tables, columns, types), and query the loaded data directly.
Python pipeline example
This example loads ai_features and tiles from the Nearmap API into DuckDB. It mirrors the endpoint and data selector configuration from the table above:
import dlt from dlt.sources.rest_api import RESTAPIConfig, rest_api_resources @dlt.source def nearmap_ai_feature_source(api_key=dlt.secrets.value): config: RESTAPIConfig = { "client": { "base_url": "https://api.nearmap.com", "auth": { "type": "api_key", "api_key": api_key, }, }, "resources": [ {"name": "ai_features", "endpoint": {"path": "ai/features/v4/features.json", "data_selector": "features"}}, {"name": "tiles", "endpoint": {"path": "tiles/v3/{contentType}/{z}/{x}/{y}.{format}"}} ], } yield from rest_api_resources(config) def get_data() -> None: pipeline = dlt.pipeline( pipeline_name="nearmap_ai_feature_pipeline", destination="duckdb", dataset_name="nearmap_ai_feature_data", ) load_info = pipeline.run(nearmap_ai_feature_source()) print(load_info)
To add more endpoints, append entries from the resource table to the "resources" list using the same name, path, and data_selector pattern.
How do I query the loaded data?
Once the pipeline runs, dlt creates one table per resource. You can query with Python or SQL.
Python (pandas DataFrame):
import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("nearmap_ai_feature_pipeline").dataset() sessions_df = data.ai_features.df() print(sessions_df.head())
SQL (DuckDB example):
SELECT * FROM nearmap_ai_feature_data.ai_features LIMIT 10;
In a marimo or Jupyter notebook:
import dlt data = dlt.pipeline("nearmap_ai_feature_pipeline").dataset() data.ai_features.df().head()
See how to explore your data in marimo Notebooks and how to query your data in Python with dataset.
What destinations can I load Nearmap data to?
dlt supports loading into any of these destinations — only the destination parameter changes:
| Destination | Example value |
|---|---|
| DuckDB (local, default) | "duckdb" |
| PostgreSQL | "postgres" |
| BigQuery | "bigquery" |
| Snowflake | "snowflake" |
| Redshift | "redshift" |
| Databricks | "databricks" |
| Filesystem (S3, GCS, Azure) | "filesystem" |
Change the destination in dlt.pipeline(destination="snowflake") and add credentials in .dlt/secrets.toml. See the full destinations list.
Next steps
Continue your data engineering journey with the other toolkits of the dltHub AI Workbench:
data-exploration— Build custom notebooks, charts, and dashboards for deeper analysis with marimo notebooks.dlthub-runtime— Deploy, schedule, and monitor your pipeline in production.
dlt ai toolkit data-exploration install dlt ai toolkit dlthub-runtime install
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