AirNow API changes

Custom Apps and Drivers
1

I may be a rare user but I post this here in case others may not be aware.

First, I am NOT broken! I use the AirNow api to snip data about Air Quality Index. I used that as an Apartment Manager as a way to notify residents about AQI dangers which are required by Oregon state law. Recently I got an email saying api was changing and would be discontinued. The email isn’t 100% clear but that was my interpretation. I expected I’d need to adjust @csteeles tool but the date of 6/17 came and went and I’m still operational. But the next date, 9/30 seems a bit more questionable about it. - so please be aware!

The email read:

Dear AirNowAPI users,

On June 17, 2026, six new web services were released on the AirNowAPI. These web services are designed to improve data access, offer improved performance, and match behavior seen on AirNow.gov. Additionally, six existing services will be retired on September 30th, 2026.

For a full list of changes, links to web services, and suggested actions, please see the announcement here.

New AirNow API Web Services

  • Current Forecasts by Reporting Area

  • Current Observations by Reporting Area

  • Current Observations by Latitude/Longitude or Zip Code

  • Historical Daily Observations by Reporting Area - By State

  • Daily Observations by Monitoring Site - Bounding Box

  • Historical Daily Forecasts by Reporting Area

API Web Services/Endpoints Retiring September 30th, 2026

  • Forecast by Zip Code: /aq/forecast/zipCode/

  • Forecast by Latitude/Longitude: /aq/forecast/latLong/

  • Current Observations by Reporting Area (Zip Code): /aq/observation/zipCode/current/

  • Current Observations by Reporting Area (Lat/Long): /aq/observation/latLong/current/

  • Historical Observations by Reporting Area (Zip Code): /aq/observation/zipCode/historical/

  • Historical Observations by Reporting Area (Lat/Long): /aq/observation/latLong/historical/

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the AirNow Data Management Center at dmc@airnowtech.org.

Thank you,

EPA and AirNow Data Management Center

2

I had used AirNow successfully, but I find it’s no longer working. I get this in the log:

Could not retrieve AirNow data: groovy.json.JsonException: Lexing failed on line: 1, column: 5

It doesn’t seem to be an API issue, as when I go to the AirNow website, it generates a url (which includes my API), which works to retrieve the air quality data.

3

Just now, I had Claude write a driver for me.
Here's what to do: Log in to https://docs.airnowapi.org/
After you're logged in, go to: AirNow API Documentation (click that)
Choose your state, then the nearest city
Click on "Current Conditions RSS"
When the RSS page shows up, copy the URL, something like: https://feeds.airnowapi.org/rss/realtime/XXX.xml
go into Claude.ai and start a new chat.
"I would like you to create a Hubitat driver to apply to a virtual device that will pull as much information as is available from an RSS feed result from: https://feeds.airnowapi.org/rss/realtime/XXX.xml" (this URL must be the one you copied from the previous step-- the XXX should be a number)
Within seconds, you should get your driver code. Claude told me what to do from there.
It is working fine for me.

NOTE: Claude told me that the available info for each location might be different, so this code is built around my specific city

4

Great suggestion, thanks. It worked great!