Overview
About the Service
The SDMX URN Resolver allows you to resolve any official SDMX URN directly to its corresponding structure, retrieved from the authoritative source.
Locating a Structure
How the URN Resolver Service locates Structures
Examples
Play with example URN resolution requests
Quick start
Enter an official SDMX URN into the input box above and click Resolve.
Alternatively, call the resolver's API directly, passing in an official SDMX URN.
If the URN refers to a published structure, the service will retrieve and display the corresponding definition.
Example URNS
- urn:sdmx:org.sdmx.infomodel.datastructure.Dataflow=IMF:BOP_BPM6(1.0)
- urn:sdmx:org.sdmx.infomodel.datastructure.DataStructure=OECD:FDI(1.12+.0)
- urn:sdmx:org.sdmx.infomodel.codelist.Codelist=SDMX:CL_AREA(2.0+.0)
- urn:sdmx:org.sdmx.infomodel.codelist.Code=SDMX:CL_AREA(2.0+.0).001
What is a URN?
A Uniform Resource Name (URN) is a globally unique and persistent identifier for a resource. In the case of an SDMX URN, the resource is structural metadata — and every SDMX structure is assigned one.
Unlike a URL, which points to the location of a resource, a URN provides only the identity of the resource. A URL can change if the resource is moved, but a URN is permanent and will never change.
This permanence is the key advantage of URNs: they ensure stable, long-term references without the risk of “broken links.” Users and applications can safely link to a URN, knowing it will always refer to the same resource.
Because a URN does not include location information, a resolver service is needed to map the URN to the resource it identifies.
Official URN
An official URN is a URN that identifies an SDMX Structure published by an authorized SDMX Agency through one of its officially registered services in the SDMX Global Discovery Service.
Some agencies may publish valid SDMX-compliant web services and provide authoritative metadata for their domain. However, unless those services are registered in the SDMX Global Discovery Service , the URNs they expose are not recognized as official SDMX URNs under the IANA-registered SDMX namespace.
Registration ensures that URNs are globally discoverable, guaranteed to resolve to the original authoritative source, and protected from duplication or modification by third parties.
You should know!
To make your SDMX content discoverable by the URN resolver, first register your Agency ID in the SDMX Global Registry . Next, register your SDMX web service location with the SDMX Global Discovery Service.
To request registration of your Agency and/or Service, please contact the SDMX Secretariat at contact@sdmx.org
Report Issue
To report an issue with this service, please create a New Issue in the URN Resolver Service GitHub repository.
This repository is monitored by the SDMX Technical Working Group.