---
title: "Introduction"
description: "What the Deathspot UG API is, who it's for, and the principles behind it."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.deathspot.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

Deathspot UG is a community-led danger map of Uganda. It's a *Waze for danger*: people pin
places where others have been attacked or killed, the community confirms whether each spot
is still dangerous, and volunteer moderators keep the map honest.

The same HTTP API that powers the public map is open to developers. You can use it to:

- **Read the map**: every approved spot, with severity, category, time of day and sources.
- **Report spots** from your own app, bot or form.
- **Confirm or deny** spots so warnings stay current.
- **Flag problems** for moderators.
- **Search** spots and places in real time, with the danger spots near any place.
- **Check a route** before a trip and list the danger spots along it.

- **Quickstart** — Make your first calls with `curl` in five minutes. [Start →](/quickstart)
- **API reference** — Every endpoint, parameter and response, with code samples. [Browse →](/api)
- **Core concepts** — Moderation, community status, flags and verification. [Learn →](/concepts)
- **Recipes** — Route checks, nearby alerts and live maps in your own app. [Build →](/recipes)

## At a glance

| | |
| --- | --- |
| **Base URL** | `https://deathspot.org`. Locally: `http://localhost:3000`. Self-hosted: your own domain. |
| **Format** | JSON requests and responses. Send `Content-Type: application/json` on `POST`. |
| **Authentication** | None. The public API is anonymous. |
| **Coverage** | Uganda only: latitude −1.6 to 4.3, longitude 29.5 to 35.1 |
| **Rate limits** | Per visitor, e.g. 5 reports/hour, with `RateLimit-*` headers. See [Rate limits](/rate-limits). |
| **Spec** | OpenAPI 3.1 in [`developer-docs/src/api/openapi.yaml`](https://github.com/mwanjajoel/deathspot/blob/main/developer-docs/src/api/openapi.yaml) |

## Principles

**Anonymous by design.** There are no public accounts. Visitors are told apart by a salted,
non-reversible hash of their IP address and user agent. It's used only to allow one vote per
spot and to enforce rate limits, and it's never exposed through the API.

**Warnings, not evidence.** Reports are community submitted and can be wrong. Show the
spot's `status` and `moderator_verified` flag, and link to its `source_url`, so people can
judge for themselves.

> **Places, not people**
>
> Reports describe **locations**. Never send names, descriptions or photos of individuals, or
> accusations against anyone. Phone numbers in free text are replaced with `[removed]`, and
> moderators delete reports that target a person.

**Not a replacement for the police.** If your app lets people report spots, also point them
to the emergency lines: **999** or **112**, and the National Emergency Call Centre on
**0800 199 399**.

Source: https://docs.deathspot.org/introduction/index.mdx