Concepts
Current Atlas release
Everything behind the API, from datasets and boundaries to crosswalks and validation, is built into a single current release with its own fingerprint. It tells you exactly which artifacts produced an answer.
What a release is
A release is identified by a hash, like sha256:a1d2505a…. It's calculated from the fingerprints of every file the Atlas publishes, so building from the same inputs always gives the same id, and any change gives a new one.
Every response includes the release that produced it, as atlasRelease.
Why it matters
- Consistency. If two responses share an
atlasRelease, they came from exactly the same data. - Provenance. Record the release alongside a chart or report, and anyone can see precisely which compiled artifacts it used.
- Integrity. The manifest records a hash for every published artifact.
Availability
URLs serve the current release. A correction or preprocessing change replaces it with a newly compiled release; the API retains no earlier release data or runtime compatibility layer.
Useful endpoints
get/atlas-releaseGet the current release