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nominatimlite

INFRA · APIS
Velocity0.0

Interface to the 'Nominatim' API

github.com/dieghernan/nominatimlite ↗

nominatimlite's real work was self-hosting and caching; 0.6.0 is an internal refactor with no API change

rgeocodingopenstreetmapnominatimapi clientcaching
◆Current state
nominatimlite is a dependency-light R client for the Nominatim geocoding API, returning results as plain data frames or sf objects. The features that define it landed in 0.4.0 — structured queries, local Nominatim server support, and JSONV2 output — and 0.5.0 added session-scoped caching plus a 1.2-second inter-request delay to stay within the public API's usage policy. 0.6.0 in June 2026 changed no public behaviour.
◆Where it's heading
The package has settled. Recent effort goes to being a well-behaved API citizen and to internal consistency: 0.6.0 raised the minimum R to 4.1.0 and refactored URL construction, progress handling, coordinate validation and output preparation with AI assistance, explicitly leaving the public API untouched. That refactor is part of a sweep across the same maintainer's packages in the same weeks.
◆Prediction
With the API surface stable and rate-limiting handled, future releases most likely track upstream Nominatim endpoint changes, as 0.4.0 did for v4.4.0. Nothing in the entries points to new query capabilities.

◆Recent moves

  1. 2mo ago

    Internal refactor with no public API change; minimum R now 4.1.0

    An AI-assisted deep refactor of URL construction, progress handling, coordinate validation and output preparation, explicitly leaving the public API unchanged, plus documentation proofreading and clearer messages. The minimum R version rises to 4.1.0. Internal consistency work, not capability.

    View source ↗
  2. 5mo ago

    Session caching and 1.2s throttling for API calls

    Caches API calls in tempdir() for the session and enforces a 1.2-second gap between requests to avoid overloading the public Nominatim instance. Being a good API citizen is a real constraint for a package whose backend is a volunteer-run service.

    View source ↗
  3. 7mo ago

    Minor fixes to reverse geocoding functions

    Small fixes in the reverse functions alongside four dependabot bumps.

    View source ↗
  4. 1y ago

    Documentation update

    Documentation-only release.

    View source ↗
  5. 2y ago

    Fix crash on long OSM IDs in address lookup

    Fixes a crash in geo_address_lookup() when an OSM ID was too long to hold as an integer, by no longer coercing IDs to integer. A narrow correctness fix.

    View source ↗
  6. 2y ago

    Structured queries, local server support and JSONV2 output

    The release that gave the package its current shape: structured query functions, geo_amenity() reinstated as a wrapper over them, a nominatim_server argument allowing use against a self-hosted instance, and JSONV2 output with class renamed to category and a new place_rank field. Local server support is what lifts the package out of public-API rate limits entirely.

    View source ↗