Getthedata bng2latlong
Official vendor OpenAPI document · agent-readyMaps GeolocationGeocodingnone1 EndpointsREST
For Agents
Convert British National Grid (OSGB36) easting/northing coordinates to WGS84 latitude and longitude with a single unauthenticated GET request.
Use for: I need to convert a British National Grid coordinate to latitude and longitude, Convert OSGB36 easting 651409 northing 313177 to WGS84, Get the WGS84 coordinates for a UK property reference, Translate Ordnance Survey grid references for a web map
Not supported: Does not handle address geocoding, routing, or reverse WGS84-to-OSGB conversion - use for OSGB36 easting/northing to WGS84 latitude/longitude conversion only.
The bng2latlong API converts an OSGB36 easting and northing coordinate pair from the British National Grid into a WGS84 latitude and longitude. The single GET endpoint accepts the easting and northing as path parameters and returns the converted coordinates plus the original input echoed back. It is unauthenticated and aimed at UK GIS, surveying, and property workflows that need to bridge British National Grid data into modern web map layers.
Install Jentic One Beta
Connect the bng2latlong to your agent
Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the bng2latlong, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.
Two steps, two machines. Install the instance in a safe environment, then register your agent from wherever it runs.
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Step 1: Jentic One Host machine
# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fgetthedata.com%2Fgetthedata" | sh2
Step 2: Agent machine
# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fgetthedata.com%2Fgetthedata" | sh
jentic register # connects your agent to your Jentic One instanceJentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.
Capabilities
What an agent can do with bng2latlong API.
Convert OSGB36 easting and northing values to WGS84 latitude and longitude
Return the converted coordinates with the original easting and northing echoed for traceability
Operate without API keys, OAuth, or any credential setup
Handle UK-specific coordinate transforms used by Ordnance Survey datasets
Provide a stable single-endpoint surface suitable for batch geocoding scripts
Use Cases
Patterns agents use bng2latlong API for, with concrete tasks.
★ Plot UK Ordnance Survey Data on Web Maps
Many UK datasets - land registry, planning, environmental surveys - use British National Grid (OSGB36) easting and northing coordinates that web maps like Google Maps, Mapbox, and Leaflet do not understand. The bng2latlong API converts each grid reference into WGS84 latitude and longitude in a single GET call so points can be plotted on a standard tile layer without bundling a coordinate-transform library.
Call GET /bng2latlong/651409/313177 and return the WGS84 latitude and longitude in the response body.
Property and Surveying Lookups
Surveyors, conveyancers, and PropTech tools regularly receive coordinates in OSGB36 format from Ordnance Survey or Land Registry exports and need to display them on a consumer-facing map. The bng2latlong API removes the need for proj4 or custom transform code - a single GET request returns the converted coordinates with the input echoed for audit purposes.
Convert easting 530000 northing 180000 and verify the result falls within Greater London (latitude ~51.5, longitude ~-0.1).
AI Agent Geographic Reasoning
When an agent receives a UK address dataset that uses British National Grid references, it can call bng2latlong to normalise every record to WGS84 before reasoning over distances or rendering on a map. Through Jentic the operation is discoverable by the natural-language intent 'convert OSGB to lat lon' and returns a typed response, so the agent does not need to read the docs first.
For each row in the dataset, convert its easting/northing to WGS84 and append the latitude and longitude to the row.
Key Endpoints
1 endpoints — the bng2latlong api converts an osgb36 easting and northing coordinate pair from the british national grid into a wgs84 latitude and longitude.
METHOD
PATH
DESCRIPTION
GET
/bng2latlong/{easting}/{northing}
Convert OSGB36 easting/northing to WGS84 latitude/longitude
GET
/bng2latlong/{easting}/{northing}
Convert OSGB36 easting/northing to WGS84 latitude/longitude
Why Jentic?
What agents get from Jentic-routed access to this vendor.
Setup
Wiring bng2latlong by hand means reading the getthedata.com docs, formatting the easting and northing into the URL path, and parsing the conversion response yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import bng2latlong from the API Directory, and your agent calls it, with no credential to store because this API needs none.
Permission scoping
bng2latlong exposes a single read-only conversion operation, GET /bng2latlong/{easting}/{northing}, with the coordinates carried in the URL path, so scope the agent to that one operation. There are no write or destructive actions to expose.
Credential isolation
bng2latlong needs no credential, so there is nothing to store, and Jentic invokes the endpoint directly at execution time. No secret enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context because none exists.
Intent-based discovery
Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'convert an OSGB grid reference to latitude and longitude', and Jentic returns the GET /bng2latlong/{easting}/{northing} operation with its parameter schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.
Related APIs
Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.
Alternative
Positionstack
Positionstack offers global forward and reverse geocoding for postal addresses; bng2latlong is UK-grid specific
Use Positionstack when the input is a postal address worldwide; use bng2latlong only when the input is an OSGB36 grid reference
FAQs
Specific to using bng2latlong API through Jentic.
What authentication does bng2latlong use?
bng2latlong is unauthenticated - no API key, OAuth token, or credential is required. Through Jentic it is callable directly with no vault setup, which is unusual; most APIs in the catalogue require Jentic's encrypted credential handling.
Can I convert a single OSGB36 coordinate with bng2latlong?
Yes. GET /bng2latlong/{easting}/{northing} accepts the easting and northing as path parameters and returns the WGS84 latitude and longitude alongside the original input echoed back. There is no batch endpoint - for a list of points, call the endpoint once per coordinate.
What are the rate limits for bng2latlong?
The spec does not declare explicit rate limits. The service is community-run, so production workloads should throttle requests sensibly and cache results for repeated grid references.
How do I convert a British National Grid coordinate through Jentic?
Search Jentic for 'convert OSGB easting northing to lat long'. Jentic returns the GET /bng2latlong/{easting}/{northing} operation with its schema; load it, pass the easting and northing, and execute to get back WGS84 coordinates.
Does bng2latlong support reverse conversion from WGS84 back to OSGB36?
No. The single available endpoint converts from OSGB36 easting/northing to WGS84 only. For the reverse direction use a complementary tool such as the Ordnance Survey OS Maps API or a local proj4 transform.
Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the bng2latlong API?
Yes. Because you run Jentic One self-hosted, your own rules decide which operations and credentials the agent may use, so you can scope it to only the single read-only conversion operation, GET /bng2latlong/{easting}/{northing}. This API exposes no write or destructive actions and needs no credential, so the agent can convert OSGB36 easting/northing to WGS84 latitude/longitude and do nothing else. If you prefer, you can withhold even that one operation until you explicitly allow it.
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