Protected Planet API

The official API for accessing global protected area data from the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA).

All protected planet projects in same place: For Vscode users clone ProtectedPlanet repo and use protected-planet-family-apps.code-workspace to open all protected planet apps in the same workspace

🌍 For API Users

If you want to use the API to access protected area data, visit our API Documentation to get started.

🛠️ For Developers

This guide is for developers who want to contribute to the API codebase or run it locally.

Architecture Overview

The Protected Planet API is built as a Ruby Rack application with two main components:

Component	Framework	Purpose
/api/**/*	Grape	RESTful API endpoints
/web/**/*	Sinatra	Documentation website

How it works:

1. Both frameworks are combined using Rack::Cascade in config.ru
2. They share ActiveRecord models that are tailored for API usage:
   • Based on ProtectedPlanet models but optimized for API responses
   • Important: Always cross-reference with ProtectedPlanet when making changes
   • For new models: Copy from ProtectedPlanet first, then adapt for API needs
3. API responses use RABL templates for JSON formatting
4. Documentation is rendered using ERB and Markdown

Database:

The db/ folder is a git submodule linked to protectedplanet-db, which contains all database schemas and migrations.

📋 Available Tasks

The API includes several rake tasks for maintenance and development:

User Management Tasks

Reset API User Permissions

RAILS_ENV=production bundle exec rake api_users:reset_permissions

• Purpose: Reset permissions for all API users - which will give ALL users access to ALL avaliable pre-defined FIELDS
• When to use: After adding new fields to api_attributes arrays
• Required after: Database migrations that add API-exposed columns

Remove API Users

# Remove inactive users only
bundle exec rake api_users:remove[inactive]

# Remove archived users only  
bundle exec rake api_users:remove[archived]

# Remove both inactive and archived users
bundle exec rake api_users:remove[archived_or_inactive]

• Purpose: Clean up inactive or archived API users
• Safety: Includes confirmation prompt before deletion
• Preview: Shows which users will be deleted before asking for confirmation

Other Tasks

# List all available tasks
bundle exec rake -T

# List only api_users tasks
bundle exec rake -T api_users

🚀 Getting Started

Option 1: Docker Setup (Recommended)

The easiest way to run the API locally:

1. Use the docker-compose setup from the main protectedplanet repository
2. Create environment file:

   # Create .env file and copy contents from Keeper (internal password manager)
   touch .env
   

3. Run database migrations in the main protectedplanet Rails app first

   # Note: We can't run migrations directly in this repo (non-Rails)
   # Run this in the main protectedplanet repository:
   bundle exec rails db:migrate
   

4. Start the server:

   docker-compose up
   

5. Access the API: Open your browser to http://localhost:9292

Option 2: Local Ruby Setup

⚠️ Not recommended - use Docker instead for easier setup.

Click to expand local setup instructions

1. Install Ruby version (check .ruby-version file):

   rbenv install $(cat .ruby-version)
   rbenv local $(cat .ruby-version)
   

2. Clone and setup:

   git clone git@github.com:unepwcmc/protectedplanet-api.git
   cd protectedplanet-api
   bundle install
   

3. Configure environment:

   # Create .env file and copy contents from Keeper
   touch .env
   

4. Run migrations (in main protectedplanet Rails app)

5. Start server:

   rackup
   

6. Access: http://localhost:9292

🔄 Updating Database Schema

The database schema is managed as a git submodule. To get the latest database updates:

# Navigate to the database submodule
cd db/

# Fetch and merge latest changes
git fetch
git merge origin/master

# Return to project root
cd ..

🧪 Development Console

Access the Rails console to interact with models and test functionality:

# Start IRB with the application environment loaded
RAILS_ENV=development bundle exec irb

# Load the application
$LOAD_PATH.unshift("#{File.dirname(__FILE__)}")
require 'config/environment.rb'
require 'lib/mailer.rb'

# Now you can interact with models
ApiUser.first
ProtectedArea.count

🔧 API Development

Adding New API Attributes

When you add new fields to the API, you need to update user permissions:

Step 1: Add the attribute to the model

# In models/protected_area.rb (or other model)
def api_attributes
  [
    'name', 'wdpa_id', 'designation',
    'your_new_field'  # Add your new field here
  ]
end

Step 2: Reset user permissions

• Use the Reset API User Permissions task mentioned in the 📋 Available Tasks section

⚠️ Important Notes:

• Always run the rake task after modifying api_attributes
• This ensures existing API users can access new fields
• Required after:
  • Adding new fields to api_attributes arrays
  • Modifying existing field permissions
  • Database migrations that add API-exposed columns

Run Tests

bundle exec rake test

🐛 Troubleshooting

PostgreSQL Installation Issues

Error: An error occurred while installing pg (0.18.4), and Bundler cannot continue.

Solution:

gem install pg -v '0.18.1' -- --with-cflags="-Wno-error=implicit-function-declaration"

Common Issues

• Database connection errors: Ensure the main protectedplanet Rails app database is running
• Missing migrations: Run migrations in the main protectedplanet repository first
• Environment variables: Check that your .env file contains all required variables from Keeper

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📚 Additional Resources

• API Documentation - For API users
• ProtectedPlanet Main Repository - Main Rails application
• ProtectedPlanet Database - Database schemas and migrations