Agent skill

Gbif API

by wentorai in wentorai/research-plugins

Global biodiversity data API for species occurrences and datasets

Install Gbif API

skills CLI

$ npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill gbif-api -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install wentorai/research-plugins gbif-api --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api .claude/skills/gbif-api && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "gbif-api" agent skill from https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins/tree/main/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api into .claude/skills/gbif-api/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "gbif-api", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins/tree/main/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill gbif-api -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install wentorai/research-plugins gbif-api --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api .agents/skills/gbif-api && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "gbif-api" agent skill from https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins/tree/main/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api into .agents/skills/gbif-api/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "gbif-api", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill gbif-api -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install wentorai/research-plugins gbif-api --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api .cursor/skills/gbif-api && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "gbif-api" agent skill from https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins/tree/main/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api into .cursor/skills/gbif-api/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "gbif-api", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins.git --path skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill gbif-api -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install wentorai/research-plugins gbif-api --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api .gemini/skills/gbif-api && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "gbif-api" agent skill from https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins/tree/main/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api into .gemini/skills/gbif-api/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "gbif-api", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install wentorai/research-plugins gbif-api

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill gbif-api -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api .github/skills/gbif-api && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "gbif-api" agent skill from https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins/tree/main/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api into .github/skills/gbif-api/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "gbif-api", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill gbif-api -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install wentorai/research-plugins gbif-api --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api .opencode/skills/gbif-api && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "gbif-api" agent skill from https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins/tree/main/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api into .opencode/skills/gbif-api/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "gbif-api", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: gbif-api
GitHub stars: 298
Used in: 1 other repo
Token cost: ~1.9k tokens
SKILL.md length: 559 words
Files: 1
Skills in repo: 405
Repo updated: Jun 19, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: MIT

At a glance

Global biodiversity data API for species occurrences and datasets

Backend & APIs work in your project
SKILL.md covers Overview, Authentication, Core Endpoints and Rate Limits, plus 2 more sections
Calls curl; reaches api.gbif.org; needs TAXON_KEY

What it does

Gbif API is an agent skill from wentorai/research-plugins. Global biodiversity data API for species occurrences and datasets

Its SKILL.md is about 1.9k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Backend & APIs. The repository describes itself as: 350+ academic research skills, MCP configs, and plugins for Research-Claw and AI agents. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

Backend & APIs work in your project

Example prompts

“/gbif-api”

Requirements

Python 3
A credential in TAXON_KEY

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit bf44b3c. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
- curl
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:
- api.gbif.org
Also links to:
- gbif.org
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:
- TAXON_KEY
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Gbif API loads about 1.9k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 19 tokens; SKILL.md has 559 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~19
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~1.9k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from wentorai/research-plugins at commit bf44b3c, republished under its MIT licence (© wentorai). 559 words, ~1,880 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/gbif-api/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).

name: gbif-api
description: Global biodiversity data API for species occurrences and datasets

GBIF API Guide

Overview

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international network and data infrastructure funded by governments worldwide, aimed at providing open access to biodiversity data. GBIF aggregates hundreds of millions of species occurrence records from natural history collections, citizen science platforms, monitoring networks, and published literature across the globe.

The GBIF API provides programmatic access to this vast repository of biodiversity data. Researchers can search for species occurrences by taxonomy, geography, time period, and dataset. The API also supports taxonomic name matching, dataset discovery, and species profile lookups. It serves as a foundational resource for ecological research, conservation planning, biogeography, and environmental impact assessments.

Ecologists, conservation biologists, biogeographers, and environmental scientists rely on the GBIF API to retrieve georeferenced occurrence data for species distribution modeling, climate change impact analysis, invasive species tracking, and biodiversity hotspot identification. The data is freely available under open data licenses.

Authentication

No authentication required for read access. The GBIF API is publicly accessible without any API key or token. All search and retrieval endpoints are open. User authentication is only required for data publishing operations (creating datasets and uploading occurrences), which requires a GBIF account.

Core Endpoints

occurrence/search: Search Species Occurrences

Search for georeferenced biodiversity observation and specimen records across all GBIF-indexed datasets.

URL: GET https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search
Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
q	string	No	Full-text search query
taxonKey	int	No	GBIF backbone taxonomy key
scientificName	string	No	Scientific name to filter by
country	string	No	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code
hasCoordinate	bool	No	Filter for georeferenced records only
year	string	No	Year or range (e.g., `2020,2024`)
limit	int	No	Number of results (default 20, max 300)
offset	int	No	Pagination offset

Example:

bash

curl "https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search?scientificName=Panthera+tigris&hasCoordinate=true&limit=10"

Response: Returns count (total matches), results array with key, scientificName, decimalLatitude, decimalLongitude, country, basisOfRecord, eventDate, datasetKey, publishingOrgKey, and media links.

Show full SKILL.md (258 more words)Show less

species/match: Taxonomic Name Matching

Match a species name against the GBIF backbone taxonomy to resolve canonical names and get taxonomy keys.

URL: GET https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/match
Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
name	string	Yes	Scientific name to match
kingdom	string	No	Kingdom filter for disambiguation
strict	bool	No	If true, only return exact matches

Example:

bash

curl "https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/match?name=Homo+sapiens"

Response: Returns usageKey, scientificName, canonicalName, rank, status, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species, confidence score, and matchType.

dataset: Discover Datasets

Search for and retrieve metadata about GBIF-indexed datasets from publishers worldwide.

URL: GET https://api.gbif.org/v1/dataset
Parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
q	string	No	Full-text search query
type	string	No	Dataset type: `OCCURRENCE`, `CHECKLIST`, etc.
publishingOrg	string	No	Publishing organization UUID
limit	int	No	Number of results (default 20, max 1000)
offset	int	No	Pagination offset

Example:

bash

curl "https://api.gbif.org/v1/dataset?q=bird+monitoring&type=OCCURRENCE&limit=5"

Response: Returns count, results array with key, title, description, type, publishingOrganizationKey, license, recordCount, and endpoints.

Rate Limits

No formal rate limits are enforced on the GBIF API. However, GBIF recommends responsible use patterns. Large data downloads (millions of records) should use the asynchronous download API at https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/download/request rather than paginating through the search endpoint. The search endpoint is limited to 100,000 records maximum per query via pagination.

Common Patterns

Species Distribution Mapping

Retrieve georeferenced occurrence data for species distribution modeling:

python

import requests

params = {
    "taxonKey": 2480498,  # Panthera tigris
    "hasCoordinate": True,
    "limit": 300
}
resp = requests.get("https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/search", params=params)
data = resp.json()

coordinates = [(r["decimalLongitude"], r["decimalLatitude"])
               for r in data["results"]
               if "decimalLongitude" in r and "decimalLatitude" in r]

print(f"Retrieved {len(coordinates)} georeferenced occurrences of {data['results'][0]['scientificName']}")

Taxonomic Name Resolution Pipeline

Resolve a list of species names against the GBIF backbone taxonomy:

python

import requests

names = ["Homo sapiens", "Canis lupus", "Quercus robur", "Drosophila melanogaster"]

for name in names:
    resp = requests.get("https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/match", params={"name": name})
    match = resp.json()
    print(f"{name} -> {match['canonicalName']} (key: {match['usageKey']}, confidence: {match['confidence']})")

Bulk Occurrence Download

For large-scale analyses requiring millions of records, use the asynchronous download API:

bash

curl -X POST "https://api.gbif.org/v1/occurrence/download/request" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -u username:password \
  -d '{"creator":"username","predicate":{"type":"equals","key":"TAXON_KEY","value":"2480498"}}'

References

Official API documentation: https://www.gbif.org/developer/summary
GBIF occurrence search API: https://www.gbif.org/developer/occurrence
GBIF species API: https://www.gbif.org/developer/species
GBIF data use guide: https://www.gbif.org/data-use

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api of wentorai/research-plugins.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit bf44b3c

Used in 1 other repository

We found 1 copy of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in wentorai/research-plugins, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skillsskills/43-wentorai-research-plugins/skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api

Compare with similar skills

Gbif API next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

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Sub2API AdminWei-Shaw/sub2api	44k	1 repos	~717	Automated safety check: Pass	LGPL-3.0	today
Firecrawl Build Onboardingfirecrawl/firecrawl	190k	1 repos	~1.4k	Automated safety check: Notes	ISC	today
Obsidian BasesAtmosphere/atmosphere	3.8k	22 repos	~3.2k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	today

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Questions about Gbif API

What does Gbif API do?

Global biodiversity data API for species occurrences and datasets. Gbif API is an agent skill from wentorai/research-plugins.

When should I use Gbif API?

Gbif API fits situations like: backend & APIs work in your project.

How do I install Gbif API in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill gbif-api -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api in wentorai/research-plugins) into .claude/skills/gbif-api in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Gbif API in Codex?

Run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill gbif-api -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/domains/ecology/gbif-api in wentorai/research-plugins) into .agents/skills/gbif-api in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Gbif API in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill gbif-api -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/gbif-api, .gemini/skills/gbif-api, .github/skills/gbif-api and .opencode/skills/gbif-api in your project.

What does Gbif API need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Gbif API needs the command-line tools its instructions call (curl) and credentials named TAXON_KEY. Our summary lists: Python 3; A credential in TAXON_KEY.

Does Gbif API access the network?

SKILL.md names 2 domains. In commands or code: api.gbif.org; the agent is likely to contact it when it follows the instructions. As links in the text: gbif.org. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Gbif API safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Gbif API use?

Gbif API is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Gbif API use?

About 1.9k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 7.5k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Gbif API?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Gbif API: Configuring Horizon (coollabsio/coolify, 63k stars), Nestjs Best Practices (rolling-scopes/rsschool-app, 10k stars), Sub2API Admin (Wei-Shaw/sub2api, 44k stars) and Firecrawl Build Onboarding (firecrawl/firecrawl, 190k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Gbif API?

wentorai (a GitHub user) maintains it in wentorai/research-plugins, which has 298 GitHub stars. The repository holds 405 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on June 19, 2026.

Source: wentorai/research-plugins on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Gbif API

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Requirements

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

GBIF API Guide

Overview

Authentication

Core Endpoints

occurrence/search: Search Species Occurrences

species/match: Taxonomic Name Matching

dataset: Discover Datasets

Rate Limits

Common Patterns

Species Distribution Mapping

Taxonomic Name Resolution Pipeline

Bulk Occurrence Download

References

Files

Used in 1 other repository

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from wentorai/research-plugins

Related

Questions about Gbif API