data-govt-nz

Retrieve New Zealand open-data catalogue metadata via the CKAN API.

24|6|Updated Apr 10, 2026

Search Tags:#data discovery #open data #ckan #nz datasets #dataset metadata #datastore preview

Ready to run

npx skills add https://github.com/thecolab-ai/.skills --skill data-govt-nz

💬 Prompt for ChatGPT / Claude Chat▼

Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: data-govt-nz
Source: https://github.com/thecolab-ai/.skills/tree/main/skills/data-govt-nz
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/thecolab-ai/.skills --skill data-govt-nz

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill includes scripts (resource) and references (resource) components.

What problem does it solve?

It removes the friction of finding and validating New Zealand public open-data by letting you search and inspect data.govt.nz (CKAN) metadata and datastore previews quickly from a simple, read-only CLI.

Core Features & Use Cases

Dataset discovery and inspection: Search for datasets by topic and fetch package details (title, description, org, and resources).
Organisation lookup: List data.govt.nz organisations/agencies related to open-data.
Resource and datastore preview: Retrieve datastore-backed resource records (when available) for a quick preview of tabular data.
Use case example: When a user asks for datasets related to “water quality”, the workflow can search for relevant datasets, show matching resources, and pull a small preview from datastore resources to confirm the data’s shape and usefulness.

Quick Start

Ask your agent to search the data.govt.nz catalogue for water quality datasets and return the top matches as JSON.

Frequently Asked Questions about data-govt-nz

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema

How do I search for New Zealand open datasets on the data.govt.nz CKAN catalogue?▼

To search New Zealand open datasets, query the data.govt.nz CKAN API using package_search by topic, retrieve package_show details, and return JSON metadata including titles, descriptions, organisations, and resource links.

Can I preview tabular records from a CKAN datastore resource without downloading the full dataset?▼

You can preview tabular CKAN datastore records by querying the datastore_search endpoint, which returns a small JSON sample of rows from supported resources on data.govt.nz for quick structural validation.

What is the best way to list organisations and agencies providing open data on data.govt.nz?▼

The best way to list open-data organisations is to call the read-only organization_list CKAN endpoint, which returns a JSON array of all New Zealand agencies and groups publishing datasets on the catalogue.

Does the data.govt.nz CKAN API require authentication for dataset metadata lookup?▼

No authentication is required for dataset metadata lookup on the data.govt.nz CKAN API; it uses read-only, no-auth endpoints like package_show and package_search to safely retrieve public JSON metadata.

What limitations exist when retrieving NZ open-data through CKAN package_search?▼

Limitations of CKAN package_search include handling linked resource URLs that may not be datastore-backed, requiring safe parsing of licensing metadata, and being restricted to read-only JSON outputs without write access.

How do I get specific dataset metadata when I already know the dataset name or ID?▼

To get specific dataset metadata by name or ID, call the package_show CKAN endpoint with the dataset identifier to retrieve full JSON details including resources, organisation, and licensing information.