For Developers

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The GDC Application Programming Interface (API) is the external facing Representational State Transfer (REST) interface that drives the GDC Data Portal and is made accessible to external users for programmatic access to the same functionality found through the GDC Data Portal. This includes searching for and downloading subsets of data files, metadata, and annotations based on specific parameters, BAM Slicing endpoints as well as submission of new projects and associated data to the GDC.

Please visit the GDC API to access the REST interface and the GDC API Usage Guide for instructions and code examples for using the GDC API.

More about the API

Source code

Illustration: For Developers GitHub Source Code Extensive Support API

From the GDC FAQ

How do I obtain an account to log in to the GDC?

Generally, browsing indexed GDC metadata (such as information about the cases and files contained in the GDC Data Portal) does not require a login.

eRA Commons authentication and dbGaP authorization are required before accessing controlled data, which generally includes individually identifiable information such as low level genomic sequencing data and germline variants.

Controlled-access data users log in to the GDC using their eRA Commons accounts. The GDC then verifies that the user has authorization in dbGaP to access specific controlled datasets.

See Obtaining Access to GDC Data and Resources for more information on data download, and Obtaining Access to Submit Data for information on data submission.

Need Assistance?

Need help with data retrieval, download, or submission?