Unofficial ACLED API Wrapper

A Python library that unofficially wraps the ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data) API. This library provides a convenient interface for accessing and analyzing conflict and protest data from around the world.

ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project) is a disaggregated data collection, analysis, and crisis mapping project that tracks political violence and protest events across the world.

Installation

Install via pip:

pip install acled

Authentication

ACLED requires authentication for all API requests. Register on the ACLED website to get credentials.

The library supports multiple authentication methods:

Modern Authentication (Recommended)

Use your ACLED username/email and password:

from acled import AcledClient

# Auto-detect best method (OAuth or Cookie)
client = AcledClient(username="your_email", password="your_password")

# Or use environment variables
# export ACLED_USERNAME="your_email"  (or ACLED_EMAIL)
# export ACLED_PASSWORD="your_password"
client = AcledClient()  # Auto-detects from environment

Legacy Authentication (API Key)

Still supported in the code, but seems broken in the API. Will be removed soon once confirmed:

client = AcledClient(api_key="your_api_key", email="your_email")

# Or use environment variables
# export ACLED_API_KEY="your_api_key"
# export ACLED_EMAIL="your_email"

Basic Usage

from acled import AcledClient
from acled.models import AcledEvent
from typing import List

client = AcledClient()

# Fetch event data with filters
events: List[AcledEvent] = client.get_data(
    country='Yemen',
    year=2024,
    limit=10
)

for event in events:
    print(f"{event['event_date']}: {event['event_type']} - {event['country']}")

Advanced Usage

Filtering Data

from acled import AcledClient

client = AcledClient()

# Fetch data with multiple filters
events = client.get_data(
    country='Yemen',
    year=2023,
    event_type='Battles',
    fatalities=5,
    limit=5,
)

for event in events:
    print(f"{event['country']} - {event['event_date']} - {event['fatalities']} fatalities")

Using Filter Operators

Use _where suffixes via the query_params dictionary to change the default filter operator:

client = AcledClient()

# Filter events with more than 5 fatalities
events = client.get_data(
    country='Yemen',
    fatalities=5,
    limit=10,
    query_params={'fatalities_where': '>'},
)

# Filter events with event_type containing "Violence"
events = client.get_data(
    limit=10,
    query_params={
        'event_type': 'Violence',
        'event_type_where': 'LIKE',
    }
)

Available operators:

• = (default): Exact match
• >, <, >=, <=: Comparison operators
• LIKE: Partial match (case-insensitive)
• BETWEEN: Range filter (use pipe | to separate values)

Date Range Filtering

Use BETWEEN with pipe-separated dates:

events = client.get_data(
    event_date='2023-01-01|2023-12-31',
    query_params={'event_date_where': 'BETWEEN'},
    limit=50,
)

Dyadic vs Monadic Export

The ACLED endpoint supports two data structure formats via export_type:

# Dyadic (default): one row per event, with actor1/actor2 columns
events = client.get_data(country='Yemen', limit=10)

# Monadic: one row per actor-event, same event may appear twice
events = client.get_data(country='Yemen', limit=10, export_type='monadic')

Field Selection

Limit which fields are returned using pipe-separated field names:

events = client.get_data(
    country='Yemen',
    fields='country|event_date|event_type|fatalities',
    limit=10,
)

Available Endpoints

The library provides access to all ACLED API endpoints:

1. Event Data

The main endpoint for conflict and protest events.

events = client.get_data(
    country='Yemen',
    year=2024,
    event_type='Battles',
    limit=10,
)

for event in events:
    print(f"{event['event_date']} | {event['event_type']} | fatalities: {event['fatalities']}")

2. CAST Forecast Data

Conflict Alert System forecasts — predicted and observed event counts by region and month.

forecasts = client.get_cast_data(
    country='Somalia',
    year=2025,
    limit=5,
)

for f in forecasts:
    print(f"{f['country']} | {f['admin1']} | {f['month']}/{f['year']}"
          f" | forecast: {f['total_forecast']} | observed: {f['total_observed']}")

3. Deleted Events

Event IDs removed from the dataset (duplicates or out-of-scope).

deleted = client.get_deleted_data(limit=5)

for d in deleted:
    print(f"{d['event_id_cnty']} | deleted_timestamp: {d['deleted_timestamp']}")

4. Actor Data

actors = client.get_actor_data(limit=5)

for actor in actors:
    print(f"[{actor.get('mal_actor_id')}] {actor.get('label')}")

5. Actor Type Data

actor_types = client.get_actor_type_data(limit=5)

for at in actor_types:
    print(at['actor_type_name'])

6. Country Data

countries = client.get_country_data(limit=5)

for c in countries:
    print(f"{c.get('nicename')} | iso: {c.get('iso')} | iso3: {c.get('iso3')}")

7. Region Data

regions = client.get_region_data(limit=5)

for r in regions:
    print(r['region_name'])

Data Models

The library provides TypedDict models for type-checked API responses. All fields use total=False so missing fields don't raise errors (useful with the fields parameter).

AcledEvent

Core event record with fields including:

• event_id_cnty: Unique event identifier
• event_date: Date of the event (datetime.date)
• year, time_precision: Temporal metadata
• disorder_type, event_type, sub_event_type: Event classification
• actor1, actor2, assoc_actor_1, assoc_actor_2: Actors involved
• inter1, inter2, interaction: Actor type codes
• country, admin1, admin2, admin3, location: Location hierarchy
• latitude, longitude, geo_precision: Coordinates
• fatalities: Reported death count
• notes, tags, source, source_scale: Descriptive metadata
• timestamp: Upload timestamp (datetime.datetime, UTC)

CastForecast

CAST conflict forecast with fields including:

• country, admin1: Location
• month, year: Time period
• total_forecast, battles_forecast, erv_forecast, vac_forecast: Predicted event counts
• total_observed, battles_observed, erv_observed, vac_observed: Actual event counts (populated after month ends)

DeletedEvent

Removed event record:

• event_id_cnty: Event identifier
• deleted_timestamp: Unix timestamp of deletion

Actor, Country, Region, ActorType

Metadata models for actors, countries, regions, and actor type categories. Field availability varies by endpoint — use .get() for safe access.

Enums and Constants

TimePrecision

from acled.models.enums import TimePrecision

TimePrecision.EXACT_DATE       # 1
TimePrecision.APPROXIMATE_DATE # 2
TimePrecision.ESTIMATED_DATE   # 3

DisorderType

from acled.models.enums import DisorderType

DisorderType.POLITICAL_VIOLENCE     # "Political violence"
DisorderType.DEMONSTRATIONS         # "Demonstrations"
DisorderType.STRATEGIC_DEVELOPMENTS # "Strategic developments"

Actor

Actor type codes for inter1/inter2 filters:

from acled.models.enums import Actor

Actor.STATE_FORCES            # 1
Actor.REBEL_FORCES            # 2
Actor.MILITIA_GROUPS          # 3
Actor.COMMUNAL_IDENTITY_GROUPS # 4
Actor.RIOTERS                 # 5
Actor.PROTESTERS              # 6
Actor.CIVILIANS               # 7
Actor.FOREIGN_OTHERS          # 8

Region

from acled.models.enums import Region

Region.WESTERN_AFRICA           # 1
Region.MIDDLE_AFRICA            # 2
Region.EASTERN_AFRICA           # 3
Region.SOUTHERN_AFRICA          # 4
Region.NOTHERN_AFRICA           # 5
Region.SOUTH_ASIA               # 7
Region.SOUTHEAST_ASIA           # 9
Region.MIDDLE_EAST              # 11
Region.EUROPE                   # 12
Region.CAUCASUS_AND_CENTRAL_ASIA # 13
Region.CENTRAL_AMERICA          # 14
Region.SOUTH_AMERICA            # 15
Region.CARIBBEAN                # 16
Region.EAST_ASIA                # 17
Region.NORTH_AMERICA            # 18
Region.OCEANIA                  # 19
Region.ANTARCTICA               # 20

Configuration

Environment variables for customizing library behavior:

Authentication:

• ACLED_USERNAME or ACLED_EMAIL: Username/email for modern auth
• ACLED_PASSWORD: Password for modern auth
• ACLED_API_KEY: API key for legacy auth
• ACLED_EMAIL: Email for legacy auth

Connection:

• ACLED_MAX_RETRIES: Maximum retry attempts (default: 3)
• ACLED_RETRY_BACKOFF_FACTOR: Backoff multiplier between retries (default: 0.5)
• ACLED_REQUEST_TIMEOUT: Request timeout in seconds (default: 30)

CLI Usage

The library includes a command-line interface:

Authentication

# Auto-detect best method (recommended)
acled auth login

# Specify a method
acled auth login --method oauth
acled auth login --method cookie
acled auth login --method legacy

Querying Data

# Get recent events from Syria
acled data --country Syria --year 2024 --limit 10

# Filter by event type and fatalities
acled data --country Yemen --event-type Battles --fatalities 5

# Date range query
acled data --start-date 2024-01-01 --end-date 2024-06-30

# Control output display format (global flag)
acled --format table data --country Nigeria --limit 10
acled --format csv data --country Syria --year 2024

# Save to file
acled data --country Afghanistan --year 2024 --output events.json

CLI Authentication Options

1. Secure login (recommended):

   acled auth login  # Prompts for credentials
   

2. Environment variables:

   export ACLED_USERNAME="your_email"
   export ACLED_PASSWORD="your_password"
   acled data --country Syria
   

3. Command-line options (legacy only):

   acled data --api-key YOUR_API_KEY --email YOUR_EMAIL --country Syria
   

Important Notes

• The library defaults limit to 50 for safety. The API default is 5000. Increase the limit and use page for bulk data retrieval.
• All API responses are parsed as JSON. The library does not support CSV/XML response formats directly.
• ACLED is an amazing service provided at no cost. Please be respectful and measured in your usage. Consider caching results to reduce API calls.

References

• ACLED Website
• ACLED API Documentation
• Getting Started
• ACLED Endpoint
• CAST Endpoint
• Deleted Endpoint
• Elements of API Calls

Development

Setup

git clone https://github.com/blazeiburgess/acled.git
cd acled
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Tests

pytest
pytest --cov=acled --cov-report=term-missing