Accounts

This page lists all accounts (i.e. username/password combinations) that you may need to participate in different areas of OSM.

You do not need to enter the passwords often: Most websites offer (on login) to remember your session via a permanent cookie across browser restarts. Most "offline" OSM editors save the editing authorisation (not necessarily the password for security reasons) on your computer.

Quickstart

• If you want to edit maps, create an OSM account.
• If you want to edit the wiki, create a wiki account

OpenStreetMap account

Main article: OpenStreetMap account

This is the main account used by the project, create an OSM account.

It can be used for:

OpenStreetMap working data (nodes, ways, relations)

• no account required for downloading the whole data from the planet file.
• no account required for read access to data through the API (used by most editors e.g. JOSM).
• OSM account required for write access to data through the API (used by most editors e.g. JOSM).

GPS tracks

• no account required for looking at tracks via www.openstreetmap.org/traces and downloading individual tracks in GPX format, or for downloading GPS points through the API.
• OSM account required for uploading tracks, and for accessing the "my tracks" list.

Forum

• OSM account required for posting replies or start a new discussion
• no account required to view the archives on the web

Help question and answer site

help.openstreetmap.org was shut down in March 2024.

To see an archive of this section, visit Accounts/help.openstreetmap.org section archive.

Many other apps...

OpenStreetMap provides an OAuth access and authentication mechanism which can be used by other applications on the web and elsewhere. When using one of these apps you'll be prompted to authorize with OpenStreetMap, and you'll be shown which permissions the app is requesting.

Mailing lists

• registration required for receiving emails, and sending (posting) to the lists. Registration here.
• no account required to view the archives on the web
• Password given out by mailman but not really needed for anything.
• For sending to the list, you will need to be registered with your 'from' email address.
• If you send, your email addresses gets displayed publicly in the archives, but with some anti-scraping obfuscation.

Wiki (what you're currently reading)

• no account required for read access.
• wiki account required for creating or changing pages. Can be created here.
• Your wiki account information will usually be saved in your browser so that you don't have to type it in every time (tick 'remember me for 1 year')
• Email address is never displayed publicly in the wiki
• Confirm your email address in order to receive user talk page notifications

SVN access (OSM software)

• SVN moved to https://github.com/openstreetmap/svn-archive and is now in archive mode.

JOSM-SVN access

The JOSM editor resides in an SVN repository of its own.

• no account required if you just want to submit an one-shot patch, simply put that in a ticket
• OSM account required to change plugins
• JOSM core account required to edit JOSM core code, handed out by the current maintainer upon their discretion.

Why not just one account? - Single sign on

People have suggested and discussed the possibility of unifying all of these accounts and logins. This involves some development effort which hasn't happened yet. See Develop/Single sign on

See also

• OpenID