Public metrics - Check That Field

GET https://api.checkthatfield.com/public/metrics gives the platform’s headline numbers: councils read, planning applications held, open fields, fields scored and reports produced. Use it for a “powered by” panel or a partner page.

This endpoint is not part of /v1. It needs no key, isn’t counted against any quota, and isn’t in the Endpoints reference.

Request

curl "https://api.checkthatfield.com/public/metrics"

import requests

m = requests.get("https://api.checkthatfield.com/public/metrics", timeout=30).json()
print(f"{m['fields_scored']:,} fields scored")

const m = await fetch("https://api.checkthatfield.com/public/metrics").then((r) => r.json());
console.log(`${m.fields_scored.toLocaleString("en-GB")} fields scored`);

Response

{
  "at": "2026-11-14T22:43:55.680021+00:00",
  "councils_read": 131,
  "applications": 1719689,
  "open_fields": 1292964,
  "fields_scored": 519,
  "reports": 490
}

string | null

When the numbers were counted, in UTC (ISO 8601).

integer | null

Councils whose planning registers we read.

integer | null

Planning applications we hold, of every kind.

integer | null

Open fields we hold, which can be scored. Counted afresh once a day, so it can lag the other numbers.

integer | null

Fields scored under the current scoring model.

integer | null

Reports made on the site.

How fresh the numbers are

We count once an hour, in the background. The endpoint returns the latest count; at says when it was taken. Answers are sent with Cache-Control: public, max-age=3600, so browsers and caches may keep them for up to an hour. Together, a number can be up to about two hours old.

Cache the answer on your side too. There is no need to ask more than once an hour.

Before the first count

Counting takes a while, so a request never starts it. Until the first hourly count exists, every field, at included, is null:

{
  "at": null,
  "councils_read": null,
  "applications": null,
  "open_fields": null,
  "fields_scored": null,
  "reports": null
}

Handle null by hiding the number, not by showing zero.