The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is seeking public comment on the proposed OGC API – Common – Part 4: Discovery within Many Collections Standard.

The OGC API–Common Standard is a multi-part standard that defines a set of documents whose requirements classes can be used to build resource- and purpose-specific Web API specifications. This candidate Standard, OGC API–Common–Part 4: Discovery within Many Collections, is one of those parts. Without this part, an API offers a flat list of geospatial data collections identifiable by name. Such a list is enough for Web APIs offering a few collections, but it does not scale to hundreds or thousands of collections.

This part specifies query parameters that facilitate the discovery of relevant data collections in API deployments offering a large number of collections. In addition to basic search capabilities (including text search, paging, and filtering by Area/Time/Resolution of Interest), it provides advanced filtering using the OGC Common Query Language (CQL2), sorting, and the ability to list only collections within a hierarchical parent collection. These new capabilities, which were not present in the legacy OGC Web Services, are now being standardized for OGC Web APIs.

Standards developers can use these requirements classes to construct OGC Web API standards, resulting in a modular suite of coherent API standards that can be adapted by a system designer to meet the unique requirements of their system.

To Comment

The proposed OGC API–Common–Part 4: Discovery within Many Collections is available for review and comment for a period of 30 days. Comments are due by 18 November, 2026.

Comments can be submitted in the OGC GitHub repository for a period ending on the “Close request date” listed above. Comments received will be consolidated and reviewed by OGC members for potential incorporation into the document.

About OGC

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is a membership organization dedicated to using the power of geography and technology to solve problems faced by people and the planet. OGC unlocks value and opportunity for its members through Standards, Innovation, and Collaboration. Our membership represents a diverse and active global community drawn from government, industry, academia, international development agencies, research & scientific organizations, civil society, and advocates.