generated: '2026-07-26'
method: searched
source: >-
  https://docs.os.uk/os-apis/core-concepts/rate-limiting-policy,
  https://docs.os.uk/os-apis/core-concepts/getting-started-with-an-api-project,
  https://docs.os.uk/os-apis/accessing-os-apis/os-downloads-api, plus live
  anonymous probes of api.os.uk on 2026-07-26.
description: >-
  Ordnance Survey has no separate sandbox host and publishes no test
  credentials, magic identifiers or fixture tooling. What it has instead is
  two real things worth capturing: (1) a development-mode API project that runs
  against production data at a lower rate limit, and (2) a genuinely anonymous
  open-data surface where several endpoints answer with no API key at all -
  which is a better "try before you sign up" path than most providers' sandboxes.
  Nothing in this file is invented; every value below was either published by
  OS or observed live.
sandbox_host: none
test_credentials_published: false
test_data_published: false
modes:
  - name: Development mode
    kind: project mode
    host: https://api.os.uk (same as live)
    data: production data
    rate_limit: 50 transactions per minute per API per project
    how: Create an API project in the OS Data Hub and set it to development mode.
    docs: https://docs.os.uk/os-apis/core-concepts/rate-limiting-policy
  - name: Live mode
    kind: project mode
    host: https://api.os.uk
    data: production data
    rate_limit: 600 transactions per minute per API per project
  - name: OS Places API Partner trial
    kind: time-limited trial
    rate_limit: 50 transactions per minute per API Key across the account
    docs: https://docs.os.uk/os-apis/core-concepts/rate-limiting-policy
no_key_endpoints:
  description: >-
    Verified anonymously on 2026-07-26 - these return real production data with
    no API key, which is the practical way to exercise the OS contract before
    holding credentials.
  endpoints:
    - url: https://api.os.uk/downloads/v1/products
      returns: 26 OS OpenData products
      observed: HTTP 200, JSON array
      example_product_ids: [OpenUPRN, OpenTOID, OpenUSRN, CodePointOpen, OpenNames, BoundaryLine, OpenRoads, OpenRivers, OpenZoomstack, Terrain50, OpenMapLocal, VectorMapDistrict, BuiltUpAreas, OpenGreenspace, LIDS, MiniScale, GBOverviewMaps, 250kScaleColourRaster]
    - url: https://api.os.uk/downloads/v1/products/OpenUPRN
      returns: OS Open UPRN product detail
      observed: HTTP 200
    - url: https://api.os.uk/downloads/v1/products/OpenUPRN/downloads
      returns: direct zip download URLs for OS Open UPRN
      observed: HTTP 200 (307 redirect when ?redirect is requested)
    - url: https://api.os.uk/features/ngd/ofa/v1/collections
      returns: the full OS NGD feature collection list
      observed: HTTP 200
    - url: https://api.os.uk/features/ngd/ofa/v1/conformance
      returns: OGC API - Features conformance classes
      observed: HTTP 200
    - url: https://api.os.uk/features/ngd/ofa/v1/api
      returns: the live OS NGD API - Features OpenAPI 3.0.1 document
      observed: HTTP 200
    - url: https://api.os.uk/maps/vector/ngd/ota/v1/conformance
      returns: OGC API - Tiles conformance classes
      observed: HTTP 200
    - url: https://api.os.uk/downloads/v1/openapi.yaml
      returns: the live OS Downloads API OpenAPI document
      observed: HTTP 200
    - url: https://api.os.uk/positioning/osnet/v1/openapi.yaml
      returns: the live OS Net API OpenAPI document
      observed: HTTP 200
    - url: https://api.os.uk/
      returns: the OS API catalogue link index
      observed: HTTP 200
try_it_in_docs:
  supported: true
  mechanism: >-
    Each technical-specification page on docs.os.uk embeds an "Open API block"
    that will execute the operation from the page once you paste in an API Key
    or OAuth2 token. There is no shared demo key - you supply your own.
  docs: https://docs.os.uk/os-apis/accessing-os-apis/os-places-api/technical-specification/find
tutorials_and_demos:
  - https://labs.os.uk/public/os-data-hub-tutorials/
  - https://github.com/OrdnanceSurvey/os-data-hub-tutorials
  - https://github.com/OrdnanceSurvey/OS-Data-Hub-API-Demos
gaps:
  - No test API key, demo key or shared playground credential is published.
  - No magic test UPRNs, TOIDs or postcodes are published for OS Places.
  - No fixture, mock or replay tooling.
  - >-
    Development mode differs from live mode only in rate limit - it is not an
    isolated environment, and it bills/consumes against the same real data.