---
name: University of Cape Town
description: University of Cape Town public developer/API footprint review for APIs.json cataloging, with
  operator attribution (institution / tenant / vendor).
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/university-of-cape-town/refs/heads/main/review.yml
created: '2026-06-03'
modified: '2026-08-30'
reviews:
- date: '2026-06-03'
  rating: 2
  summary: 'UCT has no single consolidated developer portal, but three real public machine-readable interfaces
    were verified live: the DataFirst NADA microdata catalog REST API returned valid JSON listing 573
    surveys; the OpenUCT DSpace institutional repository served a valid OAI-PMH 2.0 Identify response
    (base URL https://open.uct.ac.za/server/oai/request); and the ZivaHub open data repository is built
    on Figshare for Institutions and is reachable through the public Figshare API. Most operational/SIS/identity
    systems are gated. No endpoints were fabricated; every URL below was probed during the review.'
  endpoints:
  - url: https://www.uct.ac.za/
    status: 200
    note: Official institution website.
  - url: https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/api/catalog
    status: 200
    note: NADA REST API; returned JSON with 573 surveys.
  - url: https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/catalog
    status: 200
    note: DataFirst NADA human-facing data catalog.
  - url: https://open.uct.ac.za/server/oai/request?verb=Identify
    status: 200
    note: OpenUCT DSpace OAI-PMH 2.0 Identify response (repository name OpenUCT).
  - url: https://open.uct.ac.za/
    status: 200
    note: OpenUCT institutional repository home.
  - url: https://zivahub.uct.ac.za/
    status: 202
    note: ZivaHub open data (Figshare for Institutions); 202 from edge/CDN.
  - url: https://api.figshare.com/v2/articles?page_size=1
    status: 200
    note: Public Figshare API backing ZivaHub content.
  - url: https://lib.uct.ac.za/digitalservices/documentation
    status: 200
    note: UCT Libraries digital services documentation (terms/policies, not an API spec).
- date: '2026-08-30'
  rating: 3
  pipeline: pipeline-university
  summary: 'Re-profiled under the university pipeline, which settles WHO OPERATES each surface before
    saving any contract. Four institution-operated surfaces verified live: the DataFirst NADA catalog
    API (582 studies; five operations re-probed, up from the two recorded in June), the OpenUCT OAI-PMH
    2.0 endpoint, the OpenUCT DSpace 7.4 REST API, and — a new find — UCT''s own SAML 2.0 identity provider,
    published by UCT at idp.uct.ac.za as application/samlmetadata+xml and registered in SAFIRE (registry
    id 000002) with REFEDS R&S and SIRTFI, exported to eduGAIN. Four Figshare contracts were REMOVED:
    they declared api.figshare.com and Figshare Support, a host four other institutions in this cohort
    also claimed, while the apis.yml entries welded them onto www.datafirst.uct.ac.za so one vendor contract
    read as three UCT APIs. ZivaHub is retained as a tenant relationship — zivahub.uct.ac.za CNAMEs to
    figshare.com. Domain-standard conformance evidenced for oai-pmh, saml and datacite. No course-catalog,
    open-data-portal or campus-life API exists. Expect the composite score to FALL; the June number was
    partly Figshare''s.'
  endpoints:
  - url: https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/api/catalog?limit=2
    status: 200
    note: NADA REST API; 582 surveys, no credential.
  - url: https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/api/catalog/mwi-alpha-him-karonga-2002-2017-v1
    status: 200
    note: Study detail by IDNO; numeric id returns 400 IDNO-NOT-FOUND.
  - url: https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/api/catalog/data_files/mwi-alpha-him-karonga-2002-2017-v1
    status: 200
    note: Study data files.
  - url: https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/api/catalog/variables/mwi-alpha-him-karonga-2002-2017-v1
    status: 200
    note: Study variables; 25 returned.
  - url: https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/api
    status: 404
    note: API root itself 404s with HTML; only /catalog is routed.
  - url: https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/api/collections
    status: 400
    note: '{"status":"ACCESS-DENIED"} — 400, not 401/403.'
  - url: https://open.uct.ac.za/server/oai/request?verb=Identify
    status: 200
    note: repositoryName OpenUCT; adminEmail lucian.botha@uct.ac.za.
  - url: https://open.uct.ac.za/server/api
    status: 200
    note: application/hal+json; dspaceVersion "DSpace 7.4".
  - url: https://open.uct.ac.za/server/api/discover/search/objects?size=1
    status: 200
    note: Anonymous discovery search.
  - url: https://idp.uct.ac.za/simplesaml/saml2/idp/metadata.php
    status: 200
    note: UCT-published SAML 2.0 IdP metadata, application/samlmetadata+xml. NEW FIND.
  - url: https://metadata.safire.ac.za/safire-prod-idp.xml
    status: 200
    note: Same entity, signed by SAFIRE; publish-to-edugain=true.
  - url: https://api.datacite.org/providers?query=cape+town
    status: 200
    note: UCT is DataCite direct member DAFI, ROR 03p74gp79.
  - url: https://zivahub.uct.ac.za/
    status: 202
    note: Empty 202 bot challenge from the Figshare edge; CNAME figshare.com. TENANT.
  - url: https://ucthpc.uct.ac.za/
    status: 200
    note: UCT HPC service pages.
  - url: https://cilt.uct.ac.za/artificial-intelligence
    status: 200
    note: UCT Framework for AI in Education (June 2025).
  - url: https://data.uct.ac.za/
    status: 0
    note: DNS does not resolve — no open data portal.
  - url: https://api.uct.ac.za/
    status: 0
    note: Connection timed out.
  - url: https://courses.uct.ac.za/
    status: 0
    note: Connection timed out.
  - url: https://www.uct.ac.za/llms.txt
    status: 404
    note: No llms.txt.