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New API Guides: Passport Data and Trait Data

· 2 min read

If you are building applications that work with plant genetic resources, you will be glad to hear that we have expanded our API documentation with two detailed guides.

Fetching passport data​

The passport data guide covers the two endpoints available for retrieving accession passport data: /acn/query and /acn/filter.

The guide emphasizes that /acn/query is the best choice for bulk exports. It can return up to 1,000,000 records per request as a CSV file, meaning you can download the entire Genesys dataset (over 4.5 million accessions) with just a handful of paginated requests. The /acn/filter endpoint, by contrast, is limited to 1,000 records per request.

Both endpoints accept the same filters, so you can refine your queries by crop, institute, or any of the standard MCPD fields.

When using data retrieved via the API, please remember to cite the data and review the terms and conditions.

Fetching trait data​

The trait data guide walks you through a 4-step workflow for retrieving phenotypic observations:

  1. Find trait datasets associated with accessions matching your filters
  2. List the available trait columns (descriptors) in those datasets
  3. Fetch the actual trait observations for the columns you need
  4. Look up descriptor metadata to understand what each column represents

This workflow reflects how trait data is structured in Genesys: datasets contain multiple trait columns, and each column is referenced by a UUID rather than a human-readable name.

Thanks!​

These guides were authored by Khadija to support their own work with the API and have generously shared them with the community.

You can find both guides in the API documentation section.