Can an agent combine both NASA APIs in one workflow?

Yes. An agent can pair APOD's daily image and explanation with TechPort's project records to build a research dashboard or a daily education feed, calling each API independently within the same task.

How current is the data from these NASA APIs?

APOD publishes a new entry each day and past entries are addressable by date, so responses are stable once published. TechPort project records update on NASA's agency cycles rather than in real time, so agents can cache them for hours.

NASA APIs for AI Agents

Developer ToolsProject ManagementImage ProcessingJentic-Generated SpecsNo authAPI keyAgent Ready

www.nasa.gov·Developer portal → api.nasa.gov

NASA API Catalog

2 APIs across 2 product groups.

Developer Tools1

NASA TechPortSearch NASA's repository of funded technology projects and retrieve detailed project metadata via three read-only endpoints.~3 endpoints

Media1

NASA APODFetch NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day with title, explanation, image or video URL, and concept tags via a single GET endpoint.~1 endpoint

Which NASA API should I use?

I want to...	Use	Why
Display a daily astronomy image or video with an explanation	NASA APOD	APOD returns the Astronomy Picture of the Day with title, explanation, and image or video URL from a single GET endpoint.
Search or retrieve NASA-funded technology project records	NASA TechPort	TechPort lists NASA technology development projects and returns full metadata such as technology areas, lead centre, and partners per project.

Install Jentic One Beta

Connect the NASA APIs to your agent

Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the NASA APIs, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.

Two steps, two machines. Install the instance in a safe environment, then register your agent from wherever it runs.

Step 1: Jentic One Host machine

# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fnasa.gov" | sh

Step 2: Agent machine

# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fnasa.gov" | sh
jentic register       # connects your agent to your Jentic One instance

Jentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.

Once connected, ask your agent something like: “nasa astronomy image and technology project data”.

Why Jentic?

What agents get from Jentic-routed access to this vendor.

Setup

Instead of registering a NASA api_key for APOD and separately handling TechPort's format-path convention by hand, you install Jentic One once and add each NASA API from the Jentic directory to your workspace, after which your agent can call either one.

Permission scoping

Both NASA APIs are read-only, so your own rules can pin the agent to just the operations it needs, such as the daily APOD fetch or the TechPort project listing, and nothing that changes state.

Credential isolation

APOD's NASA api_key is stored encrypted by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time, never entering the agent's prompt or logs, while TechPort needs no credential and is still mediated per call.

FAQs

Specific to using NASA APIs through Jentic.

Which NASA APIs are available through Jentic?

Two NASA APIs are available: APOD, the Astronomy Picture of the Day feed, and TechPort, NASA's repository of funded technology development projects. Jentic maintains and validates the OpenAPI specification for each.

Do the NASA APIs need different credentials?

Yes. TechPort is open and needs no authentication, while APOD requires a NASA api_key passed as a query parameter. NASA also accepts the value DEMO_KEY on APOD for low-volume testing before you register a personal key.

Why does Jentic maintain the specs instead of NASA?

NASA does not publish OpenAPI specifications for APOD or TechPort. Jentic generates and keeps these specs validated against the live APIs so agents and developers can call them through structured tooling rather than scraping the NASA websites.

Are these NASA APIs read-only?

Yes. Both APIs expose only GET endpoints. Agents can retrieve astronomy media and technology project metadata, but no operation writes or changes data on NASA's systems.

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For Agents

APIs2 in catalogue

Endpoints4 indexed

AuthNo auth / API key

ProvenanceJentic-generated specs

An agent can fetch NASA's daily astronomy image or video with its title, explanation, and HD media URL, and can browse NASA-funded technology development projects and pull detailed metadata for any project by ID, all through read-only requests.

NASA exposes open, read-only feeds of astronomy media and funded technology research that require little or no authentication, making them well suited to public-facing education tools, research dashboards, and daily-content widgets. Jentic supplies the OpenAPI specs NASA itself does not publish for these endpoints.

Use for: Reading NASA's daily astronomy image feed and browsing NASA-funded technology development project records via open, read-only endpoints.

Not supported: writing data, asteroid tracking, satellite imagery, Earth observation, real-time streaming, budget analytics

Credentials: No single credential covers both APIs: TechPort accepts anonymous requests with no authentication, while APOD requires a NASA api_key passed as a query parameter.

What AI Agents Can Do with NASA

Each workflow spans multiple NASA APIs. Jentic routes each operation to the right API automatically.

NASA research and astronomy dashboard

A single dashboard pairs NASA's daily astronomy image with a searchable view of NASA-funded technology projects. TechPort supplies the project list and per-project detail, while APOD supplies a fresh daily hero image and explanation, giving researchers and educators both curated visuals and structured research data in one place.

Example prompt:

Fetch today's APOD for the dashboard header, then call the TechPort project list and pull detail for projects whose technology area matches the user's topic.

APIs used

NASA TechPort + NASA APOD

Daily NASA education feed

An education site or newsletter publishes a daily post combining NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day with a spotlight on a NASA-funded technology project. APOD provides the image and astronomer-written explanation, and TechPort provides a rotating project description to teach students what NASA is actively researching.