v.in.wfs - GRASS manual
Author: GRASS Development Team
Description: v.in.wfs: Imports GetFeature from a WFS server.
Keywords: vector, import, OGC web services, OGC WFS

## NAME

v.in.wfs - Imports GetFeature from a WFS server.

## KEYWORDS

vector, import, OGC web services, OGC WFS

## SYNOPSIS

v.in.wfs
v.in.wfs --help
v.in.wfs [-lr] url=string output=name [name=string[,string,...]] [layer=string[,string,...]] [srs=string] [maximum_features=integer] [start_index=integer] [version=string] [username=string] [password=string] [--overwrite] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

### Flags:

-l
  Download server capabilities to 'wms_capabilities.xml' in the current directory and exit
-r
  Restrict fetch to features which touch the current region
--overwrite
  Allow output files to overwrite existing files
--help
  Print usage summary
--verbose
  Verbose module output
--quiet
  Quiet module output
--ui
  Force launching GUI dialog

### Parameters:

url=string [required]
  Base URL starting with 'http' and ending in '?'
output=name [required]
  Name for output vector map
name=string[,string,...]
  Comma separated names of data layers to download
layer=string[,string,...]
  Name of data layers to import
srs=string
  Specify alternate spatial reference system (example: EPSG:4326)
  The given code must be supported by the server, consult the capabilities file
maximum_features=integer
  Maximum number of features to download
  (default: unlimited)
start_index=integer
  Skip earlier feature IDs and start downloading at this one
  (default: start with the first feature)
version=string
  version of WFS, e.g.:1.0.0 or 2.0.0
  Default: 1.0.0
username=string
  Username or file with username or environment variable name with username
password=string
  Password or file with password or environment variable name with password

## DESCRIPTION

v.in.wfs imports OGC WFS maps (Web Feature Service) from external servers.

## EXAMPLES

### WFS import without credentials

Import of Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite scene footprints:

    # run in Latitude-Longitude project (EPGS code 4326):
    # download "sentinel:mgrs" layer:
    v.in.wfs url="https://geoserver.mundialis.de/geoserver/sentinel/wfs?" name="sentinel:mgrs" output=sentinel2_mgrs
    # download NRW ALKIS "ave:Flurstueck" attribute:
    # set the AOI beforehand with g.region and limit import to current region with -r flag
    v.in.wfs url="https://www.wfs.nrw.de/geobasis/wfs_nw_alkis_vereinfacht?" -r output=wfs_alkis_vereinfacht srs=25832
    name="ave:Flurstueck" version="2.0.0" layer="Flurstueck"

### WFS import with API key

Download 25 ship wrecks from LINZ data service:
(first create yourself a free API key at http://data.linz.govt.nz/p/web-services/)

    # run in LatLong project:
    URL='http://wfs.data.linz.govt.nz/<PUT YOUR API KEY HERE>/wfs?'

    # download list of available layers to wms_capabilities.xml
    v.in.wfs -l url="$URL"

From that file we learn that the shipwreck layer is called "`v:x633`" and that EPSG code 4326 (LatLong WGS84) is a supported SRS for this data layer.

    v.in.wfs url="$URL" output=linz_hydro_25_wrecks name="v:x633" srs="EPSG:4326" max=25

## REQUIREMENTS

The OGR library on the system needs to be compiled with Xerces C++ XML Parser support (for GML).

## SEE ALSO

g.region, r.in.wms, v.import, v.in.ogr

## AUTHORS

Markus Neteler, Hamish Bowman

## SOURCE CODE

Available at: v.in.wfs source code (history)

Latest change: Thursday Nov 06 22:27:54 2025 in commit: 298b38614712934179355ea767403d6bfea8f5f9

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© 2003-2026 GRASS Development Team, GRASS 8.5.1dev Reference Manual