Web Feature Service (WFS)

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The Web Feature Service (WFS) interface is a standard protocol published by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) for serving vector geographic data. Unlike WMS, which returns images, WFS returns the actual geographic features (points, lines, polygons) with their attributes, allowing clients to render, analyze, and edit data directly.

Note: GeoServer supports WFS 1.0.0, 1.1.0, and 2.0.0. WFS 2.0.0 is recommended for new integrations as it offers improved coordinate reference system handling and transaction support.

Service Capabilities

WFS provides three primary operations defined by the OGC specification:

Operation	Description	HTTP Method
`GetCapabilities`	Returns an XML document describing the service, supported versions, available feature types, and output formats.	GET
`DescribeFeatureType`	Returns the schema (XSD) for one or more feature types, defining the structure and attribute types.	GET
`GetFeature`	Retrieves the actual feature instances. Supports filtering, sorting, and pagination.	GET / POST

GetCapabilities Example

To query the capabilities of the WFS service, use the following endpoint structure:

GET Request

http://your-server/geoserver/wfs?
  service=WFS
  &version=2.0.0
  &request=GetCapabilities

GetFeature Request

The GetFeature operation is the workhorse of WFS, allowing clients to retrieve subsets of data based on spatial and attribute filters.

Simple Feature Retrieval

The most basic request retrieves all features for a specified layer:

HTTP GET

http://your-server/geoserver/wfs?
  service=WFS
  &version=2.0.0
  &request=GetFeature
  &typeName=topp:states

Filtering Features

You can filter results using CQL (Common Query Language) or full OGC Filter XML. GeoServer supports CQL via the viewparams or direct CQL filter parameter.

CQL Filter Example

http://your-server/geoserver/wfs?
  service=WFS
  &version=2.0.0
  &request=GetFeature
  &typeName=topp:states
  &cql_filter=STATE_ABBR='CA'

Request Parameters

Below is a summary of common parameters used in WFS requests.

Parameter	Description	Example
`service`	Specifies the OGC service name.	`WFS`
`version`	The WFS specification version.	`1.1.0`, `2.0.0`
`request`	The operation to perform.	`GetFeature`
`typeName`	Workspace:Layer name of the features.	`geonode:rivers`
`outputFormat`	Format of the response body.	`application/json`, `application/gml+xml`
`sortBy`	Attribute to sort results by.	`NAME_A:desc`
`maxFeatures`	Maximum number of features to return.	`100`
`bbox`	Spatial bounding box filter (minx,miny,maxx,maxy). WFS 2.0 uses WKT.	`[-130,30,-70,50]`

Transactions (WFS-T)

WFS-T (Web Feature Service - Transactions) extends the standard WFS specification to allow clients to Insert, Update, and Delete features directly on the server. This requires the layer to have write access enabled in GeoServer.

Security Warning: Enable WFS-T carefully. Ensure proper authentication and authorization roles are configured to prevent unauthorized data modification.

Transactions are performed using the POST method with an XML body containing the transaction details.

POST Body (XML)

<wfs:Transaction xmlns:wfs="http://www.opengis.net/wfs"
                 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
                 xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.opengis.net/wfs http://schemas.opengis.net/wfs/2.0/wfs.xsd">
  <wfs:Insert>
    <topp:states xmlns:topp="http://www.openplans.org/topp">
      <topp:STATE_ABBR>NX</topp:STATE_ABBR>
      <topp:NAME>New State</topp:NAME>
      <topp:the_geom xmlns:gml="http://www.opengis.net/gml" srsName="EPSG:4326">
        <gml:Polygon>
          <gml:outerBoundaryIs>
            <gml:LinearRing>
              <gml:coordinates>-120,40 -110,40 -110,50 -120,50 -120,40</gml:coordinates>
            </gml:LinearRing>
          </gml:outerBoundaryIs>
        </gml:Polygon>
      </topp:the_geom>
    </topp:states>
  </wfs:Insert>
</wfs:Transaction>

Output Formats

GeoServer supports various output formats for WFS responses, depending on the plugins installed:

GML 2.1.2 (application/vnd.ogc.gml): Standard OGC format for WFS 1.0.0.
GML 3.1.1 (application/gml+xml): Standard format for WFS 1.1.0 and 2.0.0.
GeoJSON (application/json): Modern, lightweight JSON format. Highly recommended for web mapping clients like Leaflet or OpenLayers.
CSV (text/csv): Simple tabular data export.
Shapefile (application/zip): Legacy format, returns a zipped .shp file.
KML (application/vnd.google-earth.kml): For Google Earth and similar viewers.

Requesting GeoJSON

Header

Accept: application/json

Or via parameter in WFS 2.0.0:

Query Param

&outputFormat=application/json

Security & Authentication

GeoServer integrates with WFS to enforce security constraints. By default, public layers may be readable, but write operations require authentication.

Basic Auth: Standard HTTP Basic authentication can be used for simple setups.
OAuth2 / OpenID Connect: Recommended for production deployments with GeoServer Security Extensions.
Role-Based Access Control: Layers can be restricted by role. For example, only users in the Editor role can perform WFS-T transactions.

When accessing secured layers, include credentials in the request headers:

cURL Example

curl -X GET \
  'http://your-server/geoserver/wfs?service=WFS&request=GetFeature&typeName=topp:states' \
  -H 'Accept: application/json' \
  -u admin:geoserver