OGC Compliant

Web Feature Service (WFS) Endpoints

Programmatic access to vector feature data using OGC WFS 2.0.0 standard. Retrieve, query, and update geospatial features via HTTP.

💡 Note

This documentation covers WFS 2.0.0 (XML & JSON profiles). WFS-T (Transactions) requires elevated privileges. Ensure your API key has `wfs:read` or `wfs:write` scopes.

Base URL & Versioning

All WFS requests must be made to the following base endpoint:

https://api.geoserver.io/wfs

Specify the service version using the VERSION parameter. We strongly recommend 2.0.0 for improved JSON support, filtering, and performance.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`SERVICE`	string	Yes	Must be `WFS`
`VERSION`	string	Yes	`2.0.0` (recommended) or `1.1.0`
`REQUEST`	string	Yes	Operation name (e.g., `GetFeature`)

Authentication

All endpoints require authentication. Pass your API key via HTTP headers or query parameters:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
// OR via query string (less secure)
https://api.geoserver.io/wfs?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&...

For WFS-T (POST requests), authentication must be passed via the Authorization header or session cookie. Basic Auth is deprecated as of v2.4.

Core Operations

Operation	Method	Description
`GetCapabilities`	GET	Returns service metadata, available workspaces, layers, and limits.
`DescribeFeatureType`	GET	Returns XSD schema for specified feature types.
`GetFeature`	GET/POST	Retrieves feature geometries and attributes.
`Transaction`	POST	Insert, update, or delete features (WFS-T). Requires write scope.

Request Examples

1. Retrieve Features (JSON)

Fetch the first 50 features from the hydro:lakes layer as GeoJSON:

GET https://api.geoserver.io/wfs?
  SERVICE=WFS&
  VERSION=2.0.0&
  REQUEST=GetFeature&
  TYPE=hydro:lakes&
  OUTPUTFORMAT=application/json&
  COUNT=50&
  SRSNAME=EPSG:4326
# Headers: Authorization: Bearer <key>

2. Spatial Filter (BBOX)

Query features within a bounding box:

GET https://api.geoserver.io/wfs?
  SERVICE=WFS&
  VERSION=2.0.0&
  REQUEST=GetFeature&
  TYPE=boundaries:us_states&
  BBOX=-124.85,24.46,-66.95,49.38,EPSG:4326&
  OUTPUTFORMAT=application/json

3. Advanced Filter (CQL)

Use Common Query Language to filter by attributes:

GET https://api.geoserver.io/wfs?
  SERVICE=WFS&
  VERSION=2.0.0&
  REQUEST=GetFeature&
  TYPE=transport:roads&
  CQL_FILTER=CLASS='highway' AND LENGTH > 100&
  OUTPUTFORMAT=application/json

4. Transaction (Insert)

POST XML payload to insert a new feature:

<wfs:Transaction service="WFS" version="2.0.0">
  <wfs:Insert>
    <feature:parcel xmlns:feature="http://geo.geoserver.io/parcel">
      <feature:id>PAR-8842</feature:id>
      <feature:geom><gml:Polygon srsName="EPSG:4326">
        <gml:outer><gml:LinearRing>
          <gml:coordinates>-73.9,40.7;-73.8,40.7;-73.8,40.8;-73.9,40.7</gml:coordinates>
        </gml:LinearRing></gml:outer>
      </gml:Polygon></feature:geom>
    </feature:parcel>
  </wfs:Insert>
</wfs:Transaction>

Supported Output Formats

Specify via the OUTPUTFORMAT parameter:

MIME Type	Format	Notes
`application/json`	GeoJSON	Recommended for web clients & APIs
`application/vnd.ogc.gml+xml`	GML 3.2	OGC standard, full type fidelity
`text/xml`	GML 2.1	Legacy support (WFS 1.1.0)
`application/vnd.google-earth.kml+xml`	KML	Google Earth / Earth Pro compatible
`text/csv`	CSV	Attribute-only export (no geometry)

Rate Limits & Best Practices

Read Requests: 100 req/min per API key (Starter), 1,000 req/min (Professional), Unlimited (Enterprise)
Transaction Requests: 10 req/min (Professional), 100 req/min (Enterprise)
Pagination: Use STARTINDEX and COUNT instead of fetching entire datasets
Caching: Responses are cacheable by default. Override with Cache-Control: no-cache if data changes frequently
Geometry Simplification: Add SIMPLIFY=true & TOLERANCE=0.0001 to reduce payload size for large datasets

⚠️ Performance Tip

Always request only the attributes you need using the PROPERTYNAME parameter. Fetching geometry alone reduces response size by up to 70% for attribute-heavy layers.