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CatalogueOfLife

The most complete authoritative list of the world's species, maintained by hundreds of global taxonomists
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Actions12

  • Decision Actions
  • Estimate Actions
  • Name Actions
  • Name Usage Actions
  • Name Usage Search Actions
  • Name Usage Suggest Actions
  • Reference Actions
  • Source Metadata Actions
  • Synonym Actions
  • Taxon Actions
  • Tree Actions
  • Vernacular Actions

Overview

The node interacts with the Catalogue of Life API, which is a comprehensive and authoritative global species database maintained by taxonomists. Specifically, for the Decision - Get operation, it retrieves decision records related to taxonomic classifications or statuses. This can be useful in workflows where you need to fetch detailed taxonomic decisions such as blocking, ignoring, reviewing, or updating species data.

Practical examples include:

  • Fetching decisions that block certain taxa from being accepted.
  • Retrieving reviewed or updated taxonomic decisions for quality control.
  • Filtering decisions by scientific name, rank, or user who modified them.

Properties

Name Meaning
Broken Whether or not the decision is broken (boolean).
ID The unique identifier of the decision (string).
Mode The type of decision. Options: Block, Ignore, Reviewed, Update, Update Recursive.
Modified By Filters decisions by the user ID who last modified them (number).
Name Filters decisions by scientific name (string).
Rank Filters decisions to a specific taxonomic rank. Extensive list including Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, Subspecies, Variety, Form, etc.
Subject Boolean flag indicating if the decision is about the subject taxon.
Subject Dataset Key The ID for the subject dataset assembled into a project (number).
Offset The paging offset for results (number, default 0).
Limit Maximum number of results to return (number, minimum 1, default 50).

Output

The output is a JSON array containing decision objects retrieved from the Catalogue of Life API. Each object represents a taxonomic decision with fields corresponding to the filters applied (e.g., id, mode, broken status, name, rank, modifiedBy, etc.).

The node does not output binary data; all data is returned as structured JSON.

Dependencies

  • Requires internet access to call the Catalogue of Life public API at https://api.checklistbank.org/dataset/3LR.
  • No internal credentials or API keys are required for this operation.
  • Uses standard HTTP GET requests with JSON responses.

Troubleshooting

  • Empty results: If no decisions are returned, verify that the filter parameters (ID, name, rank, etc.) are correct and exist in the dataset.
  • Invalid parameter values: Using unsupported ranks or modes may result in errors or empty responses. Ensure values conform to the documented options.
  • API connectivity issues: Network problems or API downtime will cause request failures. Check network connection and API status.
  • Rate limiting: Although not explicitly handled, excessive requests might be throttled by the API.

Links and References

Discussion