API

No API key or authentication is required.

`GET /flights`

Returns one page of flights, newest first. Up to limit flights per response (default and max 1000); pass offset to skip ahead. Follow the next URL in the response, requesting it as-is, until it's null, to iterate the whole dataset.

By default each flight contains only url, a direct link to the .igc file. Use fields to ask for more.

Query parameters

Param	Default	Description
`limit`	`1000`	Flights to return, `1`–`1000`
`offset`	`0`	Number of flights to skip
`fields`	`url`	Which flight fields to return (see below)

Choosing fields

fields takes a comma-separated list of the field names in the table below — for example fields=id,flight_date,url. Pass fields=all for every field. Only what you ask for is read from the database and sent back, so requesting less is faster and cheaper for both of us. An unrecognised field name is an error (400) rather than being ignored, so typos don't silently return the wrong shape.

Fields come back in the order listed in the table, whatever order you ask for them in, and fields is carried over into the next URL — so paging keeps your selection without you re-adding it.

Changed: this endpoint used to return every field by default. If you have an existing integration that reads anything other than url, add ?fields=all to restore the old response, or better, list just the fields you use.

Examples

curl https://open-igc-database.pages.dev/flights
curl "https://open-igc-database.pages.dev/flights?fields=id,flight_date,duration_s,url"
curl "https://open-igc-database.pages.dev/flights?fields=all&limit=10"

Response fields

Field	Type	Description
`flights`	array	Flight objects for this page (fields below)
`total`	number	Total number of flights in the database
`limit`	number	Effective limit used for this page
`offset`	number	Effective offset used for this page
`next`	string \| null	URL for the next page, or `null` if this was the last one

Every name below is a valid fields value. Each object in flights contains exactly the ones you selected:

Field	Type	Description
`id`	string	SHA-256 of the IGC file (also the file key)
`flight_date`	string	Flight date, `YYYY-MM-DD`
`pilot_name`	string \| null	Pilot name from the IGC header
`takeoff_lat`	number	Takeoff latitude
`takeoff_lon`	number	Takeoff longitude
`landing_lat`	number	Landing latitude
`landing_lon`	number	Landing longitude
`duration_s`	number	Flight duration in seconds
`max_altitude`	number \| null	Max altitude in metres
`point_count`	number	Number of GPS fixes
`glider_type`	string \| null	Glider model from the IGC header
`size_bytes`	number	Size of the IGC file in bytes
`takeoff_hour`	number \| null	Local hour of day at takeoff, 0–23 (null for flights stored before this field existed)
`takeoff_tz`	string \| null	IANA time zone at takeoff, e.g. `Europe/Paris`
`url`	string	Direct link to the `.igc` file (the default; see note below)

The file behind url is stored and served gzip-compressed (Content-Encoding: gzip). Browsers and fetch decode this automatically; with curl or wget add --compressed or you'll get the raw gzip bytes:

curl --compressed -o flight.igc "https://…/a1b2c3….igc"

Sample response

Default (GET /flights):

{
  "flights": [
    { "url": "https://…/a1b2c3….igc" },
    { "url": "https://…/d4e5f6….igc" }
  ],
  "total": 4213,
  "limit": 1000,
  "offset": 0,
  "next": "https://…/flights?limit=1000&offset=1000"
}

With ?fields=all (the flights array only, other fields unchanged):

  "flights": [
    {
      "id": "a1b2c3…",
      "flight_date": "2024-06-15",
      "pilot_name": "Jane Doe",
      "takeoff_lat": 45.9237,
      "takeoff_lon": 6.8694,
      "landing_lat": 45.8992,
      "landing_lon": 6.1294,
      "duration_s": 5432,
      "max_altitude": 2850,
      "point_count": 5431,
      "glider_type": "Ozone Zeno 2",
      "size_bytes": 184320,
      "uploaded_at": 1718460000,
      "takeoff_hour": 14,
      "takeoff_tz": "Europe/Paris",
      "url": "https://…/a1b2c3….igc"
    }
  ],

`POST /flights`

Upload a single .igc file, sent as the raw request body. The file is parsed, validated and stored. Flights are deduplicated by content, so re-uploading the same track is safe.

Add ?anonymous=1 to strip identifying headers (pilot, crew, glider registration, competition id) before storing and list the pilot as Anonymous.

Example

curl --data-binary @flight.igc -H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" https://open-igc-database.pages.dev/flights

Responses

Status	Meaning
`201`	Flight added
`200`	Duplicate — this track was already stored
`400`	Empty body or not a valid IGC track (see `error`)

On success the response is the full flight object — every field listed above, as with ?fields=all — plus a status field of "added" or "duplicate". There is no fields param here; it's a single row, so it's always sent in full.

Sample response

{
  "status": "added",
  "id": "a1b2c3…",
  "flight_date": "2024-06-15",
  "pilot_name": "Jane Doe",
  "takeoff_lat": 45.9237,
  "takeoff_lon": 6.8694,
  "landing_lat": 45.8992,
  "landing_lon": 6.1294,
  "duration_s": 5432,
  "max_altitude": 2850,
  "point_count": 5431,
  "glider_type": "Ozone Zeno 2",
  "size_bytes": 184320,
  "uploaded_at": 1718460000,
  "takeoff_hour": 14,
  "takeoff_tz": "Europe/Paris",
  "url": "https://…/a1b2c3….igc"
}