AirNow API

Name: AirNow API
Brand: AirNow API
Availability: InStock

★ Only Publicly Available OpenAPI DocumentData EnrichmentAddress ValidationapiKey6 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Look up real-time U.S. air quality readings, AQI forecasts, and historical observations by zip code or geographic coordinates from the EPA's AirNow network.

Install Jentic One Beta

Connect the AirNow API to your agent

Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the AirNow API, 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://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh

Step 2: Agent machine

# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | 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.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with AirNow API.

Fetch current AQI observations for a zip code via /aq/observation/zipCode/current

Retrieve current readings for any latitude/longitude pair within the AirNow coverage area

Pull next-day AQI forecasts for ozone and PM2.5 by location

GET STARTED

Start building with AirNow API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Use Cases

Patterns agents use AirNow API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Real-Time Air Quality Lookup

Surface live Air Quality Index readings for any U.S. zip code or coordinate so apps can warn users about unhealthy conditions before outdoor activity. AirNow aggregates observations from EPA, NOAA, NPS, and tribal sensors into a single AQI scale covering ozone, PM2.5, PM10, CO, NO2, and SO2. A single GET to /aq/observation/zipCode/current returns the dominant pollutant, AQI value, and category label in under a second.

Get the current AQI observation for zip code 94103 and return the dominant pollutant and AQI category

Air Quality Forecast Notifications

Alert users a day in advance when forecast AQI is expected to exceed a threshold. The /aq/forecast/zipCode and /aq/forecast/latLong endpoints return next-day predicted AQI for ozone and PM2.5 with category bands such as Moderate, Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, and Unhealthy. Useful for asthma management apps, school activity planning, and wildfire smoke advisories.

Fetch the next-day AQI forecast for latitude 37.78, longitude -122.42 and trigger an alert if any pollutant exceeds AQI 100

Historical Air Quality Analysis

Pull historical AQI observations over a date range to back-test exposure models, build air quality dashboards, or correlate pollution with health outcomes. The /aq/data endpoint supports time-bounded queries by zip code or bounding box and returns hourly or daily aggregated readings. Coverage extends across all U.S. states and territories with monitoring stations.

Retrieve daily PM2.5 observations for zip code 90001 from 2026-01-01 to 2026-03-31 and compute the monthly average

Agent Air Quality Lookup via Jentic

Agents discover AirNow operations through a natural-language Jentic search and execute structured GET calls without managing the API_KEY query parameter directly. Jentic stores the AirNow API key in its credential vault so agents receive scoped tokens at runtime. Typical end-to-end search-load-execute time for a current observation lookup is under 200 ms.

Search Jentic for 'check current air quality by zip code', load the AirNow operation schema, and execute it for zip code 10001

Key Endpoints

6 endpoints — jentic publishes the only available openapi specification for airnow api, keeping it validated and agent-ready.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/aq/observation/zipCode/current

Current AQI observations by zip code

GET

/aq/observation/latLong/current

Current observations by latitude/longitude

GET

/aq/observation/monitoringSite/current

Current observations from a specific monitoring site

GET

/aq/forecast/zipCode

Next-day AQI forecast by zip code

GET

/aq/forecast/latLong

Next-day AQI forecast by coordinate

GET

/aq/data

Historical AQI observations by zip code

GET

/aq/observation/zipCode/current

Current AQI observations by zip code

GET

/aq/observation/latLong/current

Current observations by latitude/longitude

GET

/aq/observation/monitoringSite/current

Current observations from a specific monitoring site

GET

/aq/forecast/zipCode

Next-day AQI forecast by zip code

GET

/aq/forecast/latLong

Next-day AQI forecast by coordinate

Why Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

Your AirNow API key is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time. It never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'get current air quality by zip code', and Jentic returns the matching AirNow operation with its zipCode, distance, and date schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.

Time to first call

FAQs

Specific to using AirNow API through Jentic.

Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for AirNow API?

AirNow does not publish an OpenAPI specification. Jentic generates and maintains this spec so that AI agents and developers can call AirNow API via structured tooling. It is validated against the live API and kept up to date. Get started with Jentic One, the self-hosted execution layer.

What authentication does the AirNow API use?

AirNow uses an API key passed as the API_KEY query parameter on every request. Through Jentic, the key is stored encrypted in the credential vault and injected at execution time so agents never see the raw value. Request a free key at https://docs.airnowapi.org/.

Can I get air quality forecasts with the AirNow API?

Yes. The /aq/forecast/zipCode and /aq/forecast/latLong endpoints return next-day AQI forecasts for ozone and PM2.5 with category labels such as Moderate or Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups. Pass a date parameter to target a specific forecast day.

What are the rate limits for the AirNow API?

AirNow imposes a default limit of 500 requests per hour per API key. The limit is documented at docs.airnowapi.org and is enforced server-side; clients receive HTTP 429 when exceeded. For higher volume, contact AirNow support via the docs site.

How do I look up current air quality by zip code through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'check current air quality by zip code', load the AirNow /aq/observation/zipCode/current operation, and execute with the zipCode parameter. Install with pip install jentic and use the async client pattern: search, load, execute.

Does the AirNow API cover countries outside the United States?

No. AirNow data is limited to U.S. states, territories, and selected partner sites in Canada and Mexico that report into the network. For global coverage, pair with an alternative such as OpenWeatherMap or AQICN.

Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the AirNow API?

Yes. Because Jentic One is self-hosted, you set the rules for which AirNow operations and credentials your agent may use. You can scope the agent to only the operations it needs, such as current AQI observations by zip code, latitude/longitude, or monitoring site, while withholding the forecast and historical data endpoints it does not require. AirNow only reads U.S. air-quality data and takes its location and date filters as query parameters, so the operations you grant define exactly what the agent can call.