Migrating from imf.data 0.1.x • imf.data

Version 0.2.0 is a breaking release. The IMF retired the JSON service used by imf.data 0.1.x and replaced it with SDMX APIs whose identifiers, structures, and response model differ from the old service.

Function mapping

Version 0.1.x	Version 0.2.0
`list_datasets()`	`list_datasets()` with a new tidy schema
`load_datasets(id)`	`list_dimensions(id)`
`dataset$dimensions`	`list_dimension_values(id, dimension)`
`dataset$get_series(...)`	`get_data(id, filters = list(...))`
`mt_dataflow()`	`sdmx_structure("dataflow")`
`mt_data_structure()`	`sdmx_structure("datastructure")`
`mt_compact_data()`	`sdmx_data()`

There are no compatibility wrappers because old dataset IDs and dimension names do not consistently map to the new IMF Data Portal.

Rewrite a query

An old query created a dataset object and then called its generated get_series() method:

CPI <- load_datasets("CPI")
CPI$get_series(
  freq = "M",
  ref_area = "US",
  indicator = "PCPI_IX"
)

The new workflow first inspects the current dimensions, then uses their SDMX names directly:

list_dimensions("CPI")

get_data(
  "CPI",
  filters = list(
    COUNTRY = "USA",
    INDEX_TYPE = "CPI",
    COICOP_1999 = "_T",
    TYPE_OF_TRANSFORMATION = "IX",
    FREQUENCY = "M"
  )
)

Important identifier changes include three-letter country codes such as USA instead of the previous US, and dataset-specific dimension layouts.

Migrate safely

Find the current dataflow with list_datasets().
Inspect its dimensions with list_dimensions().
Validate codes with list_dimension_values().
Replace positional or generated arguments with a named filters list.
Check the returned columns and units before replacing production results.

The IMF Data Portal is the source of truth for current dataflow definitions and vintages.