ABS Data (observed)

A table's dimensions in key order, its coverage dates, and its observed options. Dimensions with up to 64 options list them inline with labels; larger ones (geography, occupations) say how many and are searchable with search_options.

Run JavaScript in an isolated sandbox whose only capability is abs, a client with the same four verbs as this server (searchTables, describeTable, searchOptions, getData) and the same guarantees: every selection is verified against ABS before fetching. Use it for multi-series or multi-table analysis — fetch several series, compute growth rates, rank capitals, join tables — and return only the computed result, so large payloads never reach the conversation. No network beyond abs. Budgets: 10s CPU, 50 calls, 25s wall clock, 200KB result. Your code runs inside an async function; use await; console.log is captured.

// The abs object available in execute(): interface Abs { searchTables(input: { query?: string; geography?: string; frequency?: "A"|"S"|"Q"|"M"|"W"|"D"; limit?: number }): Promise<{ results: TableSummary[]; total: number }>; describeTable(table: string): Promise<{ table: TableSummary; dimensions: { id: string; position: number; optionCount: number; options?: { code: string; label: string|null }[] }[]; keyFormat: string }>; searchOptions(input: { table: string; dimension: string; query: string; limit?: number }): Promise<{ options: { code: string; label: string|null; parent?: string|null }[]; total: number }>; getData(input: { table: string; select?: Record<string, string|string[]>; startPeriod?: string; endPeriod?: string; lastN?: number; firstN?: number; maxRows?: number }): Promise<{ key: string; rows: { series: string; period: string; value: number|null; unit?: string|null }[]; rowsReturned: number; truncated: boolean; seriesMatched: number; fullDataUrl: string }>; } interface TableSummary { id: string; name: string|null; seriesCount: number; frequencies: string[]; coverage: { from: string|null; to: string|null }; dimensions: string[]; family: string|null; geography: string|null; matchedOptions?: { dimension: string; code: string; label: string|null }[] } // getData throws an Error whose message is JSON: { reason, dimension, message, validOptions?, alternatives? } — catch it, read validOptions, correct and retry.

Fetch observations. select maps dimension ids to option codes or labels (several allowed); omitted dimensions match everything. The selection is verified live against ABS before fetching, so a call that succeeds always returns real data. Returns up to maxRows observations (default 500, most recent 12 periods per series unless a period range is given), a summary, and the URL for the complete pull. If an option or combination does not exist you are asked to choose from the valid ones.

Run JavaScript against the whole catalogue document — every table, its dimensions, coverage and small-dimension options — in an isolated sandbox with no network. Use it to answer questions the fixed verbs make awkward: 'which tables have both an SA2 geography and a quarterly frequency?', 'list every dimension name and how often it appears', 'find codelists whose labels mention rent'. Your code runs inside an async function with catalogue in scope; return a JSON-serialisable value; console.log output is captured.

// The catalogue object available in search(): interface Catalogue { provenance: { runId: string; observedAt: string }; corpus: { tables: number; seriesConfirmed: number; seriesImpliedByMetadata: number; density: number }; tables: Record<string, { // keyed by table id, e.g. catalogue.tables.CPI id: string; name: string|null; description: string|null; seriesCount: number; frequencies: string[]; coverage: { from: string|null; to: string|null }; density: number|null; family: string|null; geography: string|null; topics: string[]; dimensions: { id: string; position: number; codelist: string|null; optionCount: number; literal: boolean }[]; }>; options: { literal: Record<string, Record<string, string|null>>; // codelist id -> { code: label } for small codelists (<=64 options) branded: Record<string, number>; // large codelists -> option count (use abs.searchOptions in execute) }; }

Find option codes by label text within one dimension of one table — e.g. a suburb name in a geography dimension. Returns codes to use in get_data's select.

Find ABS statistical tables (dataflows) by topic words, geography level or frequency. Matches table names, topics and dimension names, and also option labels inside dimensions — a search for 'rent' finds CPI through its INDEX option 'Rents' and reports the match in matchedOptions. Census tables published at several geography levels are collapsed to one result with familyGeographies listing the others (use the geography filter to pick one). Every result is confirmed to serve data — nothing here comes from documentation alone. Start here, then describe_table.