Developer API

Coastline Identification API

Integrate Tesseract AR's coastline identification technology into your app. Get the name, distance, and bearing of coastal features from any location and heading.

Get Started View Pricing

Quick Start

Get your API key

Make your first request

Use the endpoint below to identify coastline features based on location and heading.

Integrate into your app

Parse the JSON response and display coastline information to your users.

API Endpoint

GEThttps://api.tesseract.ar/seeshore/at_heading

Returns the nearest coastline feature visible from the specified location and heading.

Authentication

Include your API key in the request header:

X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY

Query Parameters

latnumberrequired

Latitude of the observer's location (-90 to 90)

Example: 42.3601

lonnumberrequired

Longitude of the observer's location (-180 to 180)

Example: -71.0589

headingnumberrequired

Compass heading in degrees (0-360, where 0/360 is North)

Example: 64

Example Request

curl -X GET 'https://api.tesseract.ar/seeshore/at_heading?lat=42.3601&lon=-71.0589&heading=64' \
  -H 'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY'

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "name": "Cape Ann",
    "location": {
      "lat": 42.6598,
      "lon": -70.5661
    },
    "distance": {
      "miles": 10.6,
      "kilometers": 17.1
    },
    "bearing": 64,
    "type": "cape",
    "region": "Massachusetts",
    "country": "United States",
    "wikipedia_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Ann"
  }
}

Response Fields

success(boolean)Indicates if the request was successful

data.name(string)Name of the identified coastal feature

data.location(object)Latitude and longitude of the feature

data.distance(object)Distance to the feature in miles and kilometers

data.bearing(number)Compass bearing to the feature

data.type(string)Type of feature (cape, town, island, etc.)

data.region(string)State/province of the feature

data.country(string)Country of the feature

data.wikipedia_url(string)Link to Wikipedia article (if available)

Error Codes

Code	Description
400	Bad Request - Invalid parameters (lat/lon/heading out of range)
401	Unauthorized - Missing or invalid API key
403	Forbidden - API key lacks required permissions
404	Not Found - No coastline visible from specified location/heading
429	Too Many Requests - Rate limit exceeded
500	Internal Server Error - Server error, contact support

Rate Limits & Best Practices

Rate Limits

Free tier: 10 requests/minute
Developer: 60 requests/minute
Business: 300 requests/minute
Enterprise: Custom limits

Security

Never expose API keys in client-side code
Use server-side requests only
Rotate keys regularly
Set up CORS restrictions in dashboard

Important: Cache responses when possible to reduce API calls. Coastline data is static and doesn't change frequently.

SDKs & Libraries

We provide official SDKs to make integration easier. More languages coming soon.

JavaScript

Available

npm install @tesseract/api

Python

Available

pip install tesseract-ar

Swift

Coming Soon

Need Help?

Check out our documentation, join the developer community, or contact support.

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