gwtm_api

A Python wrapper for the Gravitational Wave Treasure Map.

To interact with the API, register an account. Once verified you will receive an API_TOKEN shown on your profile page.

Using pip:

python -m venv gwtm_env
source gwtm_env/bin/activate   # Windows: gwtm_env\Scripts\activate
pip install gwtm_api

Using conda:

conda create -n gwtm_api python=3.11
conda activate gwtm_api
pip install gwtm_api

Note: This package requires Python < 3.12 due to upstream dependencies (ligo.skymap, healpy). Use Python 3.10 or 3.11.

Full API documentation and parameter reference is available at https://treasuremap.space/docs.

---

Configuration

Call configure() once at the start of your script. All subsequent API calls use the client created here — no need to pass credentials to every method.

import gwtm_api

gwtm_api.configure(api_token='YOUR_API_TOKEN')

To point at a different server (e.g. a development instance), pass base_url:

gwtm_api.configure(api_token='YOUR_API_TOKEN', base_url='https://dev.treasuremap.space')

Passing api_token directly to any method also works and is provided for backwards compatibility with older code. Note that doing so permanently updates the configured token — subsequent calls without an explicit api_token will reuse it:

# Legacy style — still works
pointings = gwtm_api.Pointing.get(api_token='YOUR_API_TOKEN', graceid='GW190814')

You can also set credentials via environment variables and call configure() with no arguments:

export GWTM_API_TOKEN=YOUR_API_TOKEN
export GWTM_BASE_URL=https://treasuremap.space/api/v1  # optional, this is the default

gwtm_api.configure()

---

Pointings

GET

import gwtm_api

gwtm_api.configure(api_token='YOUR_API_TOKEN')

pointings = gwtm_api.Pointing.get(
    graceid='GW190814',
    instruments=['ZTF'],
)

Filters can be combined freely — by instrument, status, time range, band, depth, and spectral regime. All list parameters accept Python lists directly.

POST

Submit a single pointing or a batch:

import datetime
import gwtm_api

gwtm_api.configure(api_token='YOUR_API_TOKEN')

# Single pointing
p = gwtm_api.Pointing(
    ra=15.0,
    dec=-24.0,
    instrumentid=10,
    time=datetime.datetime.now(),
    status='completed',
    depth=18.5,
    depth_unit='ab_mag',
    pos_angle=50,
    band='r'
)
p.post(graceid='GRACEID')

# Batch
batch = [
    gwtm_api.Pointing(...),
    gwtm_api.Pointing(...)
]
gwtm_api.Pointing.batch_post(pointings=batch, graceid='GRACEID')

Request DOI

Request a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for one or more pointings:

import gwtm_api

gwtm_api.configure(api_token='YOUR_API_TOKEN')

# By graceid — mints a DOI for all your pointings on the event
doi_url = gwtm_api.Pointing.request_doi(graceid='GW190814')

# Or for specific pointing IDs
doi_url = gwtm_api.Pointing.request_doi(
    ids=[123, 456],
    creators=[{'name': 'Jane Smith', 'affiliation': 'MIT'}],
)
print(doi_url)

---

Alerts

Retrieve alert metadata for a GW event:

import gwtm_api

gwtm_api.configure(api_token='YOUR_API_TOKEN')

# Most recent alert for an event
alert = gwtm_api.Alert.get(graceid='GW190814')
print(alert.distance, alert.prob_bns, alert.area_90)

# All alerts for an event (there may be multiple updates)
alerts = gwtm_api.Alert.get_all(graceid='GW190814')

Skymap contours

Fetch the 50%/90% credible region contours as GeoJSON polygon coordinates:

contours = gwtm_api.Alert.fetch_contours(graceid='GW190814', cache=True)

Skymap FITS

Download the HEALPix probability map as a numpy array (via healpy):

skymap = gwtm_api.Alert.fetch_skymap(graceid='GW190814', cache=True)

Pass cache=True to any of the above to avoid re-downloading on repeated calls.

---

Candidates

GET

import gwtm_api

gwtm_api.configure(api_token='YOUR_API_TOKEN')

candidates = gwtm_api.Candidate.get(graceid='GW190814')

POST

import datetime
import gwtm_api

gwtm_api.configure(api_token='YOUR_API_TOKEN')

# Single candidate
candidate = gwtm_api.Candidate(
    ra=15.0,
    dec=-24.0,
    discovery_date=datetime.datetime.now(),
    discovery_magnitude=18,
    magnitude_bandpass='r',
    magnitude_unit='ab_mag',
    associated_galaxy='some galaxy name',
    associated_galaxy_redshift=0.3
)
candidate.post(graceid='GRACEID')

# Batch
batch = [
    gwtm_api.Candidate(...),
    gwtm_api.Candidate(...)
]
gwtm_api.Candidate.batch_post(candidates=batch, graceid='GRACEID')

PUT

import gwtm_api

gwtm_api.configure(api_token='YOUR_API_TOKEN')

candidate = gwtm_api.Candidate.get(id=CANDIDATE_ID)[0]
candidate.put(payload={
    'tns_name': 'AT2017gfo',
    'tns_url': 'https://www.wis-tns.org/object/2017gfo',
    'associated_galaxy': 'NGC 4993',
    'associated_galaxy_redshift': 0.009727
})

DELETE

import gwtm_api

gwtm_api.configure(api_token='YOUR_API_TOKEN')

candidate = gwtm_api.Candidate.get(id=CANDIDATE_ID)[0]
candidate.delete()

# Batch delete
gwtm_api.Candidate.batch_delete(ids=[id1, id2, ...])

---

Instruments

import gwtm_api

gwtm_api.configure(api_token='YOUR_API_TOKEN')

instruments = gwtm_api.Instrument.get(names=['ZTF'])

Pass include_footprint=True to receive polygon data for the instrument footprint, and project it onto the sky at any pointing:

ztf = gwtm_api.Instrument.get(names=['ZTF'], include_footprint=True)[0]
projected = ztf.project(ra, dec, pos_angle)

---

Event Tools

For a given GW event, you can use the event_tools library to perform analytics with the data on the Treasure Map.

Visualizing coverage

import gwtm_api

gwtm_api.configure(api_token='YOUR_API_TOKEN')

gwtm_api.event_tools.plot_coverage(graceid='GW190814')

Pass in your own pointings and enable caching to avoid repeated API calls:

pointings = gwtm_api.Pointing.get(
    graceid='GW190814',
    instruments=['ZTF'],
    status='completed',
)
gwtm_api.event_tools.plot_coverage(
    graceid='GW190814',
    pointings=pointings,
    cache=True
)

Coverage calculation

Returns total probability and total area (deg²) covered by the pointings:

total_prob, total_area = gwtm_api.event_tools.calculate_coverage(
    graceid='GW190814',
    pointings=pointings,
    cache=True
)

Renormalize skymap

Sets overlapping skymap pixel probability to zero for observed regions and renormalises. Returns an NDArray compatible with healpy:

renormalized_skymap = gwtm_api.event_tools.renormalize_skymap(
    graceid='GW190814',
    pointings=pointings,
    cache=True
)

Renormalized skymap contours

Compute 50%/90% credible region contours on the renormalized skymap (i.e. with observed regions zeroed out). Returns a GeoJSON string:

contours_json = gwtm_api.event_tools.renormed_skymap_contours(
    graceid='GW190814',
    pointings=pointings,
    cache=True
)

Candidate coverage

Find which instrument pointings overlap with a candidate's position:

my_candidate = gwtm_api.Candidate.get(graceid='GW190814')[0]
covering_pointings = gwtm_api.event_tools.candidate_coverage(candidate=my_candidate)

---

For contributors

The package has a simple two-layer architecture:

• src/gwtm_api/{pointing,alert,instrument,candidate}.py — hand-written, user-facing classes with a stable, friendly interface
• src/gwtm_api/event_tools.py — analytics functions (coverage, skymap renormalization, contours)
• src/gwtm_api/core/_client_factory.py — thin httpx transport layer; configured once via gwtm_api.configure()

Setup after cloning

pip install -e '.[dev]'

When the server API changes

Update the relevant wrapper methods in src/gwtm_api/, bump the version in pyproject.toml, and create a GitHub Release — publishing to PyPI happens automatically.