DigitalNZ API

Name: DigitalNZ API API
Brand: DigitalNZ API
Availability: InStock

★ Only Publicly Available OpenAPI DocumentMediaContent DeliveryapiKey3 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Search and retrieve over 30 million records of New Zealand cultural and historical material — images, documents, audio, and video — by keyword, facet, or similarity. Useful for research, cultural-heritage and educational agents.

Quickstart

Get started with DigitalNZ API in minutes using your preferred integration method.

# Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf)
{
  "jentic": {
    "url": "https://api.jentic.com/mcp",
    "auth": "oauth"
  }
}

# Then ask your agent:
"search New Zealand archives"

# → Jentic returns the GET /events tool with parameter schema, agent executes.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with DigitalNZ API API.

Run keyword and faceted searches across 30M+ NZ heritage records via /records.{format}

Retrieve a single record's full metadata and source links via /records/{record_id}.{format}

Discover related items for a given record using /records/{record_id}/more_like_this.{format}

Filter searches by content_partner, primary_collection, category, copyright, year, and language facets

GET STARTED

Start building with DigitalNZ API API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Use for: Search DigitalNZ for photographs of Wellington in the 1920s, Find all audio recordings about the Treaty of Waitangi in DigitalNZ, Get the full metadata for a specific DigitalNZ record by ID, Retrieve records similar to a given DigitalNZ artefact

Not supported: Does not host the original media files, mediate copyright licensing, or expose write/upload operations — use for searching and retrieving aggregated NZ heritage record metadata only.

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI document for DigitalNZ API, keeping it validated and agent-ready.

DigitalNZ aggregates over 30 million records from New Zealand's libraries, museums, archives, and public broadcasters into a single searchable index. The Records API exposes that index over three GET endpoints: full-text and faceted search, single-record retrieval, and a more-like-this similarity query. It is widely used by educators, researchers, journalists, and cultural-heritage projects to embed verified Aotearoa source material into apps and AI workflows.

Use Cases

Patterns agents use DigitalNZ API API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Cultural Heritage Research and Education

Researchers, teachers, and students can build classroom resources and academic projects on top of DigitalNZ's aggregated index of New Zealand archives, libraries, and museum collections. The /records.{format} endpoint supports keyword and faceted search, returning rich metadata and source links so users can cite and link back to the originating institution. Free API access combined with permissive Creative Commons filtering makes it suitable for open educational resources.

Call /records.json with a query of 'Treaty of Waitangi' filtered to primary_collection=Te Papa and return the top 10 records with title, thumbnail, and source URL.

Embedding NZ Source Material in Newsrooms and Blogs

Journalists and content sites can pull verified historical photographs, documents, and recordings into articles by querying DigitalNZ for relevant records and rendering thumbnails with attribution. The more_like_this endpoint suggests related material to deepen storytelling. Because results include rights metadata, editorial teams can filter to clearly licensed content before publication.

Search DigitalNZ for 'Christchurch earthquake 1931' filtered to copyright='No known copyright restrictions' and return image URLs with attribution strings.

Building Recommendation Surfaces for Cultural Apps

Cultural app developers can power 'see also' panels by calling /records/{record_id}/more_like_this.json after a user opens a record. DigitalNZ scores similarity using shared metadata facets such as primary collection and subject. This reduces development time compared with building an in-house similarity engine and keeps recommendations grounded in curated heritage data.

For DigitalNZ record_id 12345, call /records/12345/more_like_this.json and return the top five similar records with their titles and primary collection.

AI Agent Heritage Research Assistant

AI agents can act as research assistants for New Zealand history and culture by calling DigitalNZ through Jentic. Agents combine the search and more-like-this operations to gather primary sources, then summarise findings with citations. Jentic isolates the API key in MAXsystem so the agent never sees the raw token.

Search Jentic for 'search New Zealand archives', load the DigitalNZ records.json operation, and execute it with the query 'Suffrage petition 1893' to gather primary-source records for a research summary.

Key Endpoints

3 endpoints — digitalnz aggregates over 30 million records from new zealand's libraries, museums, archives, and public broadcasters into a single searchable index.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/records.{format}

Search the aggregated DigitalNZ index with keywords and facets

GET

/records/{record_id}.{format}

Retrieve a single record by ID

GET

/records/{record_id}/more_like_this.{format}

Find records similar to a given record

GET

/records.{format}

Search the aggregated DigitalNZ index with keywords and facets

GET

/records/{record_id}.{format}

Retrieve a single record by ID

GET

/records/{record_id}/more_like_this.{format}

Find records similar to a given record

Why though Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

The DigitalNZ api_key query parameter is stored encrypted in Jentic's MAXsystem vault and injected at execution time. The raw key never appears in agent prompts, logs, or tool arguments.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search by intent (e.g., 'search New Zealand archives' or 'find similar heritage records') and Jentic returns the matching DigitalNZ operation with its query and facet schema, so the agent calls the right endpoint without reading docs.

Time to first call

Direct DigitalNZ integration: half a day for key registration, query construction, and facet handling. Through Jentic: under 15 minutes — search, load schema, execute.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Alternative

data.gov

US government open data catalog with cultural and statistical datasets

Use data.gov for US government open datasets; use DigitalNZ when the source material must be New Zealand cultural and heritage records.

Complementary

Internet Archive Search

Global open archive of texts, images, audio, and video

Pair Internet Archive for global open content with DigitalNZ for curated NZ-specific heritage records.

Complementary

MusicBrainz

Open music metadata database

Use MusicBrainz when DigitalNZ audio recordings need enriched artist/release metadata.

FAQs

Specific to using DigitalNZ API API through Jentic.

What authentication does the DigitalNZ API use?

It uses an API key passed via the api_key query parameter on every request. Keys are issued free from digitalnz.org/developers. Through Jentic, the key is stored encrypted in the MAXsystem vault and injected at execution time, so agents never need to handle the raw key.

Can I find similar records to a given item with the DigitalNZ API?

Yes, call /records/{record_id}/more_like_this.{format} with the record's ID and the desired response format (json, xml, or rss). DigitalNZ returns records that share metadata signals such as primary collection, subject, and content type.

What are the rate limits for the DigitalNZ API?

DigitalNZ does not publish a hard rate limit in the OpenAPI spec. Their developer guidelines ask for considerate usage and contact for high-volume needs. For production traffic, register your application and request a higher tier through the digitalnz.org/developers contact form.

How do I search DigitalNZ records through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'search New Zealand archives', load the schema for the /records.{format} operation, and execute it with your text query and any facet filters such as content_partner or primary_collection. Jentic returns the JSON record list with titles, sources, and rights metadata.

Is the DigitalNZ API free?

Yes, the DigitalNZ Records API is free for non-commercial use with attribution. Commercial use requires contacting the DigitalNZ team through the developer portal to discuss licensing of contributing institutions' content.