Quickstart

Vertex API serves the weather models, observations and outdoor layers behind Vertex Maps for the continental United States. Point forecasts use the Open-Meteo wire format, so existing code and SDKs work with a base-URL change.

1. Get a key. Sign in at the console with your email. The free plan needs no card and includes 15,000 credits a month.

2. Make a request. Keys go in an Authorization: Bearer header, or in ?apikey= for URLs a map SDK builds itself.

   curl

   curl "https://api.vertexmaps.com/v1/forecast?latitude=46.87&longitude=-113.99&hourly=temperature_2m,wind_speed_10m,wstar,top_of_lift&timezone=auto&forecast_days=1" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $VERTEX_API_KEY"

   Python

   import requests
   
   r = requests.get(
       "https://api.vertexmaps.com/v1/forecast",
       params={
           "latitude": 46.87, "longitude": -113.99,
           "hourly": "temperature_2m,wind_speed_10m,wstar,top_of_lift",
           "timezone": "auto", "forecast_days": 1,
       },
       headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {VERTEX_API_KEY}"},
   )
   data = r.json()
   print(r.headers["x-credits-cost"], data["hourly"]["top_of_lift"][:6])

   JavaScript

   const url = new URL("https://api.vertexmaps.com/v1/forecast");
   url.search = new URLSearchParams({
     latitude: "46.87", longitude: "-113.99",
     hourly: "temperature_2m,wind_speed_10m,wstar,top_of_lift",
     timezone: "auto", forecast_days: "1",
   });
   const res = await fetch(url, { headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.VERTEX_API_KEY}` } });
   const data = await res.json();
   console.log(res.headers.get("x-credits-cost"), data.hourly.wstar);

   openmeteo-requests

   # The official Open-Meteo Python client works unchanged
   import openmeteo_requests
   
   om = openmeteo_requests.Client()
   responses = om.weather_api(
       "https://api.vertexmaps.com/v1/forecast",
       params={"latitude": 46.87, "longitude": -113.99,
               "hourly": ["temperature_2m", "wstar", "top_of_lift"],
               "apikey": VERTEX_API_KEY},
   )

3. Read the response. It is shaped like Open-Meteo’s, with Vertex fields alongside the standard ones:

   {
     "latitude": 46.87, "longitude": -113.99, "elevation": 976,
     "model": "hrrr", "model_run": "2026-09-19T12:00Z", "model_elevation": 1026,
     "timezone": "America/Denver", "timezone_abbreviation": "MDT", "utc_offset_seconds": -21600,
     "hourly_units": { "time": "iso8601", "temperature_2m": "°C", "wind_speed_10m": "km/h", "wstar": "m/s", "top_of_lift": "m" },
     "hourly": {
       "time": ["2026-09-19T00:00", "2026-09-19T01:00", "…"],
       "temperature_2m": [14.2, 13.1, "…"],
       "wind_speed_10m": [6.5, 5.9, "…"],
       "wstar": [0, 0, "…", 2.3, 2.9],
       "top_of_lift": [null, null, "…", 3350, 3820]
     },
     "generationtime_ms": 41
   }

   elevation is the 90 m DEM height at your point and temperature_2m is lapse-corrected from the model’s terrain height to it. top_of_lift is null where there is no usable lift.

4. Check the cost. Every response carries x-credits-cost. Add dry_run=1 to any request to see its price without running it:

   curl "https://api.vertexmaps.com/v1/forecast?latitude=46.87&longitude=-113.99&hourly=temperature_2m&models=hrrr,gfs&dry_run=1" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $VERTEX_API_KEY"
   # {"dry_run":true,"product":"forecast","credits":2,"plan":"free","metered":true}

Where next

• Point forecasts: every parameter, every field, daily and current blocks, multi-model.
• Map layers and tiles: TileJSON for MapLibre, Mapbox, Leaflet, deck.gl and QGIS.
• Observations: radar and nowcast, lightning, stations, soundings, gauges, fire, TFRs.
• Pricing and credits: what each request costs and how caps work.
• API reference: generated from the same OpenAPI document the API serves at /v1/openapi.json.