NPR Station Finder Service
Browse all Npr APIsCommunity OpenAPI document · agent-readyMediaAudio Processingoauth22 EndpointsREST
Know of an official OpenAPI document? Contribute it →
For Agents
Look up NPR member station metadata by geography or station ID, including stream URLs and donation pages. Two endpoints under /v3/stations covering search and detail retrieval.
Use for: Find the NPR member station closest to a given ZIP code, Get the live stream URL for WBUR Boston, Search for NPR stations within California, Retrieve station metadata for station ID 305
Not supported: Does not handle audio playback, podcast search, or sponsorship insertion - use for NPR member station metadata lookup only.
The NPR Station Finder Service lets clients look up NPR member station information by location, frequency, or station ID. It returns details about each station's broadcast streams, programming schedules, member affiliations, and donation URLs. Built for NPR One and partner applications, the service exposes two endpoints under /v3/stations and is a thin wrapper around NPR's authoritative member station registry.
Install Jentic One Beta
Connect the NPR Station Finder Service to your agent
Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the NPR Station Finder Service, 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.
1
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%2Fnpr.org%2Fnpr-station-finder-service" | 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%2Fnpr.org%2Fnpr-station-finder-service" | 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 NPR Station Finder Service API.
Search NPR member stations by latitude, longitude, ZIP code, city, or state
Retrieve a specific station's full profile via its unique station ID
Surface live audio stream URLs for each member station's HD and standard broadcasts
Expose station donation and pledge URLs for in-app member support flows
Return programming schedule and call sign data for downstream NPR One clients
Use Cases
Patterns agents use NPR Station Finder Service API for, with concrete tasks.
★ Geo-located Station Lookup for Voice Apps
Voice assistants and smart-speaker skills use the Station Finder to resolve a listener's location into a specific NPR member station, returning its primary live stream URL so the assistant can begin playback. The /v3/stations endpoint accepts latitude and longitude pairs and returns ranked matches with stream metadata, removing the need for clients to maintain their own station database.
Call GET /v3/stations with lat=40.7128&lon=-74.0060 and extract the streamUrl for the top-ranked WNYC result
Member Pledge and Donation Routing
Member-supported audio apps surface donation links scoped to each listener's home station. The Station Finder returns a donationUrl per station, letting product teams route pledge clicks to the correct local affiliate without hardcoded mappings. This is critical during pledge drives when traffic must reach the right station's fundraising portal.
Resolve station ID 305 via GET /v3/stations/{stationId} and return the donationUrl for the in-app pledge button
AI Agent Audio Discovery via Jentic
AI agents that recommend or play public radio content use Jentic to discover the Station Finder, search for stations matching a user's intent, and execute the lookup with isolated credentials. Through Jentic, an agent can resolve a phrase like "play my local NPR station" into a concrete /v3/stations call without browsing NPR developer docs.
Use Jentic to search for 'find local NPR station' and execute the resulting /v3/stations operation with the user's lat/lon
Key Endpoints
2 endpoints — the npr station finder service lets clients look up npr member station information by location, frequency, or station id.
METHOD
PATH
DESCRIPTION
GET
/v3/stations
Search NPR member stations by location or other criteria
GET
/v3/stations/{stationId}
Retrieve a single station's full profile by ID
GET
/v3/stations
Search NPR member stations by location or other criteria
GET
/v3/stations/{stationId}
Retrieve a single station's full profile by ID
Why Jentic?
What agents get from Jentic-routed access to this vendor.
Setup
Wiring the NPR Station Finder Service by hand means carrying an OAuth 2.0 token into calls to station.api.npr.org and mapping the station lookup operations yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import the NPR Station Finder Service from the API Directory, store the credentials once, and your agent calls it.
Permission scoping
This service puts the station id in the URL path (/v3/stations/{stationId}), so a rule can pin your agent to one station and nothing else. Both operations here are read-only lookups, so you choose whether the agent lists stations, reads a single station, or both.
Credential isolation
Your NPR OAuth client credentials are stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time. They never enter the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
Intent-based discovery
Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'find a local NPR station by ZIP', and Jentic returns the matching /v3/stations operation with its query schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.
Related APIs
Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.
FAQs
Specific to using NPR Station Finder Service API through Jentic.
What authentication does the NPR Station Finder Service use?
The NPR Station Finder Service uses OAuth 2.0 authorization code flow against https://authorization.api.npr.org/v2/token. Tokens are scoped to identity.readonly, listening.readonly, and related NPR One scopes. Through Jentic, these client credentials are stored encrypted in the vault and never appear in agent prompt context.
Can I search for NPR stations by latitude and longitude with the NPR Station Finder Service?
Yes. GET /v3/stations accepts geographic query parameters and returns ranked station matches with their stream URLs, call signs, and donation pages.
What are the rate limits for the NPR Station Finder Service?
NPR's developer portal at https://dev.npr.org does not publish a fixed rate limit on this service, but partner applications are expected to cache station results because the underlying data changes infrequently.
How do I look up a single NPR station through Jentic?
Search Jentic for 'NPR station details by ID', load the GET /v3/stations/{stationId} schema, and execute with the numeric station ID. The flow is: pip install jentic, then await client.search, load, and execute.
Is the NPR Station Finder Service free to use?
Access requires registering an OAuth client at https://dev.npr.org. NPR does not charge for the API itself but restricts use to apps that comply with their NPR One Enterprise terms.
Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the NPR Station Finder Service?
Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, your own rules decide which operations and credentials the agent may use, and both operations here are read-only lookups, so you choose whether the agent can list stations with GET /v3/stations, read one station with GET /v3/stations/{stationId}, or both. Since the station ID sits in the URL path, you can pin the agent to a single station and block everything else. Your NPR OAuth client credentials stay with your own instance and are injected only at execution time, never entering the agent's prompt or context.
GET STARTED