CORS Proxy

A simple CORS proxy for the Economics Observatory, built with Netlify Functions.

Usage

Send GET requests to:

https://eco-cors-proxy.netlify.app/proxy?url=YOUR_ENCODED_URL

Examples

Direct Legacy ONS API Calls (should return decommissioned message)

1. CPI Annual Rate (d7g7):

https://eco-cors-proxy.netlify.app/proxy?url=https://api.ons.gov.uk/timeseries/d7g7/dataset/mm23/data

Direct New ONS API Calls

1. CPI Annual Rate (d7g7):

https://eco-cors-proxy.netlify.app/proxy?url=https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/data?uri=/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/d7g7/mm23

2. GDP Quarter on Quarter Growth (l55o):

https://eco-cors-proxy.netlify.app/proxy?url=https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/data?uri=/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/l55o/mm23

3. Unemployment Rate (mgsx):

https://eco-cors-proxy.netlify.app/proxy?url=https://api.beta.ons.gov.uk/v1/data?uri=/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/timeseries/mgsx/lms

Economics Observatory ONS API Converter Calls

1. CPI Annual Rate via ECO ONS API Converter:

https://eco-cors-proxy.netlify.app/proxy?url=https://economicsobservatory.github.io/api/ons.html?url=https://api.ons.gov.uk/timeseries/d7g7/dataset/mm23/data&format=json&data_only=true

2. GDP Growth via ECO ONS API Converter:

https://eco-cors-proxy.netlify.app/proxy?url=https://economicsobservatory.github.io/api/ons.html?code=l55o&format=json&data_only=true

3. Unemployment Rate via ECO ONS API Converter:

https://eco-cors-proxy.netlify.app/proxy?url=https://economicsobservatory.github.io/api/ons.html?code=mgsx&format=json&data_only=true

Using with Vega-Lite

Here's an example of how to use the proxy with Vega-Lite:

{
  "$schema": "https://vega.github.io/schema/vega-lite/v5.json",
  "title": "CPI Annual Rate",
  "data": {
    "url": "https://eco-cors-proxy.netlify.app/proxy?url=https://economicsobservatory.github.io/api/ons.html?code=d7g7&format=json&data_only=true",
    "format": {
      "type": "json",
      "property": "months"
    }
  },
  "mark": {"type": "line"},
  "encoding": {
    "x": {"field": "date", "type": "temporal"},
    "y": {"field": "value", "type": "quantitative"}
  }
}

Development

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/EconomicsObservatory/cors-proxy.git
cd cors-proxy

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Install Netlify CLI:

npm install -g netlify-cli

4. Test locally:

netlify dev

Deployment

The proxy is automatically deployed to Netlify when changes are pushed to the main branch.

Current deployment: https://eco-cors-proxy.netlify.app

Limitations

• Rate limited to prevent abuse
• Only GET requests are supported
• URL must be properly encoded
• Response must be valid JSON

Contributing

Feel free to open issues or submit pull requests if you find any problems or have suggestions for improvements.

License

MIT

Next steps:
1. Create the repository on GitHub
2. Push all files
3. Connect to Netlify
4. Deploy

Would you like help with any of these steps?