---
title: "Animal Checklist for agents"
description: "Public, keyless read API for animal species. Search in eight languages, read one species with names, habitats, countries, a Wikipedia summary and a freely licensed photo."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/for-agents
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Animal Checklist for agents

> Public, keyless read API for animal species. Search in eight languages, read one species with names, habitats, countries, a Wikipedia summary and a freely licensed photo.

Base URL `https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1`. No account, no key, no OAuth. CORS is open for GET.

## Endpoints

- `GET /api/v1/animals?q=&category=&habitat=&country=&page=&per=&lang=`
- `GET /api/v1/animals?ids=a,b,c&lang=` (batch, at most 500)
- `GET /api/v1/animals/{id}?lang=`
- `GET /api/v1/categories?lang=`
- `GET /api/v1/countries`

Private, one person's checklist, Bearer sync code: `POST /api/v1/accounts`, `GET /api/v1/sightings`, `PUT /api/v1/sightings`.

## MCP server

`https://animalchecklist.com/mcp`, Streamable HTTP, keyless. Tools: `list_categories`, `search_animals`, `get_animal`, `list_countries`. Card: https://animalchecklist.com/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json

## Questions

### What does the Animal Checklist API do?

It answers read requests about wild and domestic animal species: full-text search in eight languages, one species record with names, habitats, countries and a Wikipedia summary, the category list and the country list.

### Do I need an account or a key?

No. Every read endpoint under /api/v1 is public, keyless and CORS-open. Only the private sightings of one person need the anonymous sync code.

### How do I search for a species?

Call GET /api/v1/animals?q=red%20fox&lang=en. The query matches names in all eight languages, scientific names and category words. Results rank by iNaturalist observation count.

### What are the licences?

Photos are CC0 or public domain. Summary texts are Wikipedia extracts under CC BY-SA 4.0 and must keep their credit and source link. Species names, ranks and observation counts come from iNaturalist and Wikidata.

### What are the rate limits?

Read endpoints are not metered per key; they are cached at the edge for 5 minutes to 1 hour. POST /api/v1/accounts allows 20 requests per IP per hour, POST /api/v1/client-error 30. Excess returns HTTP 429 with the JSON code RATE_LIMITED.

### Is there an MCP server?

Yes. https://animalchecklist.com/mcp speaks Streamable HTTP with the tools list_categories, search_animals, get_animal and list_countries. No key. The server card is at /.well-known/mcp/server-card.json.

### Can an agent write data?

Only to the private sighting list of one person, and only with that person's sync code. There is no public write endpoint and no payment surface.

## Files

- [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json)
- [agents.md](https://animalchecklist.com/agents.md)
- [llms.txt](https://animalchecklist.com/llms.txt) and [llms-full.txt](https://animalchecklist.com/llms-full.txt)
- [sitemap.xml](https://animalchecklist.com/sitemap.xml)