Build on the same feed that powers Bluewatch.

Base URL

https://bluewatch.app/api/v1

Versioned. v1 is stable. Breaking changes ship under v2; v1 stays online.

Endpoints

Query parameters

/api/v1/opportunities

/api/v1/services

Response shape

All endpoints return JSON. Lists are wrapped in { data, meta, links }; details in { data }.

Opportunity

{
  "service_type": "fire",
  "service_slug": "london-fire-brigade",
  "service_name": "London Fire Brigade",
  "service_short_name": "LFB",
  "service_region": "London",
  "service_category": "local_authority_frs",
  "station_slug": null,
  "station_name": null,
  "slug": "lfb-2026-wholetime-intake",
  "title": "Wholetime firefighter — 2026 intake",
  "summary": "Applications open for the LFB 2026 wholetime intake.",
  "role_type": "wholetime",
  "specialism": null,
  "is_cadet": false,
  "status": "live",
  "posted_at": null,
  "closes_at": "2026-06-30T23:59:59.000Z",
  "first_seen_at": "2026-04-21T09:30:00.000Z",
  "last_seen_at": "2026-05-07T08:00:00.000Z",
  "apply_url": "https://...",
  "source_url": "https://...",
  "url": "https://bluewatch.app/jobs/fire/london-fire-brigade/lfb-2026-wholetime-intake"
}

Service

{
  "service_type": "fire",
  "service_category": "local_authority_frs",
  "slug": "london-fire-brigade",
  "name": "London Fire Brigade",
  "short_name": "LFB",
  "country": "UK",
  "region": "London",
  "website_url": "https://www.london-fire.gov.uk",
  "recruitment_url": "https://www.london-fire.gov.uk/jobs/",
  "description": null,
  "url": "https://bluewatch.app/jobs/fire/london-fire-brigade"
}

Examples

curl 'https://bluewatch.app/api/v1/opportunities?role=on_call&limit=5'

const res = await fetch(
  'https://bluewatch.app/api/v1/opportunities?service_type=fire&region=south-west',
);
const { data, meta, links } = await res.json();

import requests

r = requests.get(
    "https://bluewatch.app/api/v1/opportunities",
    params={"role": "wholetime", "limit": 25},
)
r.raise_for_status()
for opp in r.json()["data"]:
    print(opp["service_name"], "-", opp["title"])

Caching, polling, errors

• Cached at the edge.Lists for 5 minutes, details for 10. Set your polling cadence accordingly — hitting more often gets you cached responses, not fresher ones.
• Change detection. Hit /api/v1/meta first and compare latest_opportunity_at before re-fetching big lists.
• CORS allowed for any origin. Browser apps can fetch directly — no proxy needed.
• Errors are JSON with { error: { code, message } } and a 4xx status.
• Fair use.No formal limits, but if you’re hammering it harder than the cache TTL, that’s wasted effort — you’re hitting the same cached payload.

MCP server

The same data is exposed as a Model Context Protocol server. Point any MCP-aware LLM client (Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, Cursor) at the endpoint below and it can search opportunities, look up services, and read the guides directly — no copy-paste, no scraping, always current.

https://bluewatch.app/mcp

Stateless JSON-RPC 2.0 over HTTP. Protocol version 2025-06-18. No auth, no rate limits.

Tools

• search_opportunities — filter live opportunities by role, category, region, service, or first-seen date
• list_services / get_service — service registry, plus per-service detail with current openings
• list_guides / get_guide — editorial guides on applying, fitness, on-call vs wholetime, etc.

Claude Desktop setup

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bluewatch": {
      "url": "https://bluewatch.app/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Drop into claude_desktop_config.json, restart Claude, then ask “what wholetime firefighter jobs are open in the south-west right now?”

Attribution

The data is free to use. We’d love a link back to bluewatch.app in your UI — it helps applicants discover the source and keeps the project sustainable. The data is sourced live from each fire and rescue service’s own recruitment pages; treat each opportunity’s apply_url as the authoritative submission destination.