Browse public rasters from QGIS with STAC

Point QGIS 3.42+ Data Source Manager at the portal's public STAC API to discover and open published rasters without a plugin.

basic

GratisGIS exposes a public STAC API at /api/public/stac. Stock QGIS 3.42 and later can open that URL in Data Source Manager and browse collections and items the same way it would any other STAC catalog. You do not need the GratisGIS QGIS plugin for this path.

Prerequisites

  • QGIS 3.42 or newer with the built-in STAC browser.
  • At least one public raster / tile-layer item on the portal (private items are invisible on the public STAC root).
  • The portal's public base URL (for example https://your-portal.example).

Connect from QGIS

  1. Open Layer → Data Source Manager.

  2. Choose the STAC tab (labeling may vary slightly by QGIS build).

  3. Add a connection whose URL is:

    https://your-portal.example/api/public/stac
  1. Connect, then expand collections and items. Open an item whose assets point at a COG or other format QGIS already understands.

Authenticated STAC (items your signed-in user can see, including private ones) lives at /api/stac and needs a bearer token. Stock QGIS STAC cannot send portal API keys today, so keep private rasters off this public browse path or use another client that can authenticate.

What this is not

  • Not a CITE-certified STAC profile claim. The portal serves a working STAC API root with collections and item search; treat conformance links on the landing document as the source of truth.
  • Not a replacement for the GratisGIS QGIS plugin's item browser, which talks OAuth to the full portal (maps, vector layers, forms).
  • Not MetaSearch. Catalogue discovery for vector / records is OGC API Records (/api/public/ogc/collections/catalog); see The HTTP API.

See also

  • The HTTP API. STAC, Features, Records, and citation routes.
  • Tile layer. How rasters land in the portal as items.