gov-content

name	gov-content
description	Query the gov.uk Content API and Search API — every page on www.gov.uk as structured JSON, plus full-text + facet search across them. Use when you want the structured form of a gov.uk page (e.g. /rubbish-collection-day, /check-uk-vat-number, /foreign-travel-advice/france), when you want to enumerate every lookup-shaped page of a given document_type (local_transaction, smart_answer, place, transaction, licence_transaction, finder, hmrc_contact, …), or when you need bank-holiday dates as JSON. Sister to gov-data which wraps the CKAN dataset catalogue at data.gov.uk; this wraps the *content* store. Free, no auth, OGL v3.0.
license	Open Government Licence v3.0 (Crown copyright)
metadata	{"facility":"gov-content","cli-alias":"gov-content","base-url":"https://www.gov.uk","provenance":{"tier":3,"operator":"Government Digital Service (Cabinet Office)","service":"www.gov.uk Content API + Search API","upstream-data":"Every published gov.uk page, structured per its content schema (~138 document_types). Plus /bank-holidays.json — the canonical first-party hidden JSON API.","citation-short":"via gov.uk Content API","citation-formal":"Government Digital Service, gov.uk Content API, retrieved {date}, OGL v3.0","confidence":"authoritative","confidence-notes":"Content API mirrors the published page; what gov.uk says is what GDS / the publishing department wrote. For statements about *the state of the world* (e.g. flood warnings, vehicle MOT history) gov.uk is a frontend — the actual data comes from the relevant agency's backend, sometimes wrapped here as a separate facility (`flood`, `dvla`, etc.)."}}

gov.uk Content API + Search API

Base URL: https://www.gov.uk. Two endpoints:

Endpoint	What
/api/content/<path>	Full structured record for any gov.uk page
/api/search.json?…	Faceted search across all gov.uk pages
/bank-holidays.json	Canonical first-party hidden JSON API (3 divisions × ~30 dates × per-year)

Lookup-shaped document types (the "feels like an API" set)

parl gov-content lookup-types returns the live counts. As of May 2026:

document_type	Count	Pattern
answer	762	helpers, sign-ins, calculators
licence_transaction	453	postcode → council-issued licence
transaction	241	national lookups (vehicle reg, NI number, share code, …)
hmrc_contact	127	HMRC enquiry-route lookup
local_transaction	118	postcode → council service
finder	57	faceted search frontends
step_by_step_nav	42	multi-step process guides
simple_smart_answer	38	simpler Q&A trees
smart_answer	29	full Q&A trees with structured output
place	23	postcode → nearest provider
help_page	11	minor helpers

Total: ~1,900 lookup-shaped pages. Each is fetchable via the Content API for its structured representation.

CLI

parl gov-content content rubbish-collection-day
parl gov-content content government/foreign-travel-advice/france
parl gov-content search --query "council tax" --filter-document-type local_transaction --count 10
parl gov-content list-type smart_answer --take 50
parl gov-content lookup-types
parl gov-content bank-holidays

Joins to Parliament

• Every gov.uk page has links.organisations pointing at the publishing department; cross-reference to members for "who's the Secretary of State" and to govuk-orgchart for the wider hierarchy.
• gov.uk consultations and policy papers (other document types) often feed parliamentary debate — pair with hansard for what was said when, and bills for any resulting legislation.

Sister facility

• gov-data wraps the CKAN catalogue at data.gov.uk (datasets); this skill wraps the gov.uk Content + Search API (web pages). Use both depending on whether you want "what data exists" or "what does gov.uk say".

Provenance to cite

Tier 3 — third-party (GDS / Cabinet Office), authoritative for what gov.uk has published.

• Inline cite: "(via gov.uk Content API)" — once per paragraph.
• For statements about facts of the world served via a gov.uk page (e.g. an MOT history, a vehicle's tax status), cite the underlying agency too: gov.uk is the frontend; DVSA / DVLA / HMRC is the source of record.
• See ../../docs/provenance.md.