Movebank API

Name: Movebank API
Brand: Movebank API
Availability: InStock

★ Only Publicly Available OpenAPI DocumentData EnrichmentData Transformationbasic, apiKey3 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Query Movebank's animal-tracking database for studies, individuals, tags, deployments, and event tracks via the /direct-read interface using a basic-auth login or an api-token.

Install Jentic One Beta

Connect the Movebank API to your agent

Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the Movebank API, 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.

Step 1: Jentic One Host machine

# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh

Step 2: Agent machine

# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh
jentic register       # connects your agent to your Jentic One instance

Jentic 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 Movebank API.

Issue a Movebank api-token via GET /request-token for time-bounded read access

Query studies, individuals, tags, deployments, and tracking events through GET /direct-read

List the attributes available on an entity-type via the /direct-read?attributes variant

GET STARTED

Start building with Movebank API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Movebank is an online database of animal tracking data hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior. Researchers worldwide upload GPS, accelerometer, and other telemetry from tags attached to animals, and Movebank exposes it through a REST API used for ecological research, conservation, and education. The API exposes three endpoints: a generic /direct-read entry-point for studies, individuals, tags, deployments, and tracking events, an attribute-listing variant, and /request-token for issuing time-limited API tokens. Authentication uses HTTP basic auth or a query-string api-token issued by Movebank.

Use Cases

Patterns agents use Movebank API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Ecological Research Data Pull

Researchers and analysts pull tracking events from Movebank into their analysis environment. The /direct-read endpoint returns studies, individuals, tags, deployments, or events depending on the entity_type query parameter, with filters for study ID, individual, and time range. Combined with /request-token, this gives a script a clean credential lifecycle for one-off or scheduled data pulls.

Request an api-token from /request-token, then call /direct-read with entity_type=event and a study_id filter to retrieve the GPS fix events for the study.

Conservation Dashboard Backend

Conservation programmes power dashboards that show the latest movements of tagged animals. The dashboard backend pulls from /direct-read on a schedule, transforms events into a time-indexed feed, and renders maps. The api-token flow keeps long-lived credentials out of the dashboard process.

On a schedule, request a fresh api-token, then pull events for a fixed list of study_ids and write them into the dashboard time-series store.

Wildlife Research Agent via Jentic

An AI research agent helping a biologist explore tracking datasets searches Jentic for the Movebank /direct-read operation, loads its schema, and executes queries by entity type. Jentic stores the basic-auth credentials and supplies them at call time, so the agent never holds the researcher's Movebank password.

Search Jentic for 'read Movebank tracking data', load /direct-read, and execute it with entity_type=individual and a study_id filter.

Key Endpoints

3 endpoints — movebank is an online database of animal tracking data hosted by the max planck institute for animal behavior.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/direct-read

Read studies, individuals, tags, deployments, or events

GET

/direct-read?attributes

List attributes available on an entity-type

GET

/request-token

Issue a Movebank api-token

GET

/direct-read

Read studies, individuals, tags, deployments, or events

GET

/direct-read?attributes

List attributes available on an entity-type

GET

/request-token

Issue a Movebank api-token

Why Jentic?

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

Credential isolation

Movebank basic-auth credentials and api-tokens are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault (MAXsystem). Jentic attaches them as basic-auth headers or api-token query parameters at call time, so neither value enters the agent's prompt.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search Jentic with intents like 'read Movebank tracking events' and Jentic returns the /direct-read operation with the right entity_type parameter exposed in the input schema.

Time to first call

Direct Movebank integration: a few hours to wire token issuance, basic-auth fallback, and the /direct-read query model. Through Jentic: minutes — search, load, execute.

FAQs

Specific to using Movebank API through Jentic.

What authentication does the Movebank API use?

Movebank accepts HTTP basic authentication with a Movebank account, or an api-token passed as the api-token query parameter. Tokens are issued by GET /request-token. Through Jentic, the basic-auth credentials sit in the encrypted vault and are attached at call time.

Can I download tracking events for a specific study?

Yes. Call GET /direct-read with entity_type=event and a study_id filter. You can also list /direct-read?attributes for the event entity to see what fields are available before pulling full events.

What are the rate limits for the Movebank API?

Movebank does not publish hard rate limits in the spec. Treat the API as fair-use and request an api-token via /request-token for scripted pulls so the platform can attribute and rate-limit appropriately.

How do I read tracking events through Jentic?

Run pip install jentic, search 'read Movebank tracking data', load /direct-read, and execute it with the entity_type and study_id parameters. Jentic supplies your Movebank credentials from the vault.

Is the Movebank API free?

Yes for research use under Movebank's Terms of Use. Access to specific datasets depends on the study owner's permission settings — some studies are public, others require explicit access from the principal investigator.

Why use api-token instead of basic auth?

The api-token is issued by /request-token and is time-bounded, which is safer for scripts and scheduled jobs than embedding a long-lived password. Basic auth is still supported for interactive testing.