---
id: overpy
version: "0.7"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# overpy — Python Wrapper to access the OpenStreepMap Overpass API

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 103.4K/mo

## What it is and what it does

Overpy is a Python client for the Overpass API, a read-only interface to OpenStreetMap data. It handles the HTTP communication with Overpass servers and parses responses into Python objects representing ways, nodes, and relations from the map. The package abstracts away the details of Overpass query syntax and response parsing, letting you focus on extracting geographic features by their tags and coordinates.

Typical workflows involve constructing an Overpass query (a specialized language for filtering OSM data), submitting it through the api.query() method, and then iterating over the returned ways, nodes, and relations to extract tags and geometry. The package also provides helper functions for common tasks like finding streets or intersections by name within a geographic boundary.

Use it for:

- Extract road networks, buildings, or amenities from OpenStreetMap for a specific region
- Build location-based applications that need current OSM data without maintaining a local database
- Analyze geographic features (e.g., all restaurants or parks) within a bounding box
- Geocode addresses or find intersections by querying OSM directly
- Research or validate OpenStreetMap data coverage in a given area

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

A Python wrapper for querying the Overpass API to retrieve and parse OpenStreetMap data in JSON and XML formats.

Yes. Overpy is actively maintained, has no external dependencies, supports current Python versions, carries a permissive MIT license, and fills a clear niche for developers who need to query OpenStreetMap data programmatically. Install it if you're building location-aware applications or need to extract geographic features from OSM.

## Install

pip install overpy
uv add overpy
poetry add overpy

## Installing overpy

Before you install: Low install friction with no runtime dependencies. Actively maintained as of July 2026 with consistent release history since 2014. Supports modern Python versions (3.6+) and PyPy.

License in practice: MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; you must include the license notice in distributions.

Quickstart:

pip install overpy

import overpy

api = overpy.Overpass()
result = api.query('way(50.746,7.154,50.748,7.157) ["highway"]; (._;>;); out body;')
for way in result.ways:
    print(way.tags.get('name', 'n/a'))

Verify before relying:

- Whether Overpass API rate limits or authentication requirements affect typical usage patterns
- Performance characteristics when querying large geographic areas or complex filters

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 103.4K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

openstreetmap api wrapper, overpass api python, osm data query, geographic data extraction, map data parsing, openstreetmap python client, openstreetmap, geospatial, api-client

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