RIPE Atlas

Run active measurements from globally distributed RIPE Atlas probes Treat the local machine as only the API client, never as a probe vantage point

Prerequisites

Read the API key from RIPE_ATLAS_API_KEY Use base URL https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/ Send the key on authenticated requests as Authorization: Key $RIPE_ATLAS_API_KEY Never print, log, commit, or persist the key Confirm the exact bill_to email before charging another account Consult the official reference at https://atlas.ripe.net/docs/apis/rest-api-reference Consult the OpenAPI schema at https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/openapi-v3/

Safety rules

Confirm type, target, address family, one-off or recurring schedule, probe count and selection, visibility, and billing account before creating any measurement Confirm the measurement ID before stopping it, stopping uses DELETE and halts execution Start with a small one-off measurement before launching a recurring one Check credits with an authenticated request before any large or long-running campaign

Responses and pagination

Read list responses through count, next, previous, and results Follow next whenever the full result set is needed Prefer page_size with narrow filters over unbounded downloads Request only needed fields with fields on lists and optional_fields on measurement detail

Find existing measurements

curl -sS -G 'https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/measurements/' \
  --data-urlencode 'type=ping' \
  --data-urlencode 'status=Ongoing' \
  --data-urlencode 'description__contains=example' \
  --data-urlencode 'page_size=20'

Retrieve one measurement with scheduling and probe state:

curl -sS \
  -H "Authorization: Key $RIPE_ATLAS_API_KEY" \
  'https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/measurements/12345678/?optional_fields=status,probes,probe_sources,current_probes'

Find probes

Treat 1 as connected and 2 as disconnected in the status filter Filter by country, ASN, public visibility, and tags to scope candidate probes

curl -sS -G 'https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/probes/' \
  --data-urlencode 'status=1' \
  --data-urlencode 'country_code=JP' \
  --data-urlencode 'asn_v4=2914' \
  --data-urlencode 'is_public=true' \
  --data-urlencode 'page_size=20'

Search probes by description, ID, or ASN:

curl -sS -G 'https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/probes/' \
  --data-urlencode 'search=example' \
  --data-urlencode 'page_size=20'

Create a measurement

POST JSON with required definitions and probes arrays to https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/measurements/ Use one of ping, traceroute, dns, sslcert, http, ntp as the definition type Select probes with area, country, countries, probes, asn, prefix, msm, or region Set is_oneoff both on the definition and the top-level request for single-shot runs Send the payload from a temporary file and keep the key out of the file

{
  "definitions": [
    {
      "description": "JP probe connectivity check",
      "type": "ping",
      "af": 4,
      "target": "203.0.113.1",
      "packets": 3,
      "size": 48,
      "is_oneoff": true
    }
  ],
  "probes": [
    {
      "requested": 5,
      "type": "country",
      "value": "JP"
    }
  ],
  "is_oneoff": true
}

curl -sS -X POST 'https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/measurements/' \
  -H "Authorization: Key $RIPE_ATLAS_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data @/tmp/opencode/ripe-atlas-measurement.json

Read created IDs from the measurements array in the 201 response:

{
  "measurements": [12345678]
}

Monitor and fetch results

Poll status and scheduling state before assuming results exist:

curl -sS \
  -H "Authorization: Key $RIPE_ATLAS_API_KEY" \
  'https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/measurements/12345678/?optional_fields=status,current_probes,probes'

Fetch the latest results:

curl -sS \
  -H "Authorization: Key $RIPE_ATLAS_API_KEY" \
  'https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/measurements/12345678/latest/'

Fetch filtered results by probe and time window:

curl -sS -G \
  -H "Authorization: Key $RIPE_ATLAS_API_KEY" \
  'https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/measurements/12345678/results/' \
  --data-urlencode 'format=json' \
  --data-urlencode 'probe_ids=1,2,3' \
  --data-urlencode 'start=2026-09-24T00:00:00' \
  --data-urlencode 'stop=2026-09-24T01:00:00'

Stop a measurement

curl -sS -X DELETE \
  -H "Authorization: Key $RIPE_ATLAS_API_KEY" \
  'https://atlas.ripe.net/api/v2/measurements/12345678/'