Step 4: Subscribe

Subscribing to a dataset tells Geo Data Connector to retrieve it for you. You choose a schedule, optionally limit it to a smaller area or coarser resolution, and Geo Data Connector creates the subscription and starts the first retrieval run.

How to subscribe

On the Dataset Details page, look at the subscription status line in the top-right area of the page header — it reads No subscriptions or N subscriptions for a normal dataset; Too large for full ingestion (clickable — opens the create page in scoped mode) if the dataset's full size exceeds the ingestion limit but a smaller area/resolution would fit; or Not subscriptable (with a reason, not clickable) for datasets that can't be retrieved at all — see Checking ingestibility.

1. Click the status line (or open the Subscriptions tab in the lower half of the page, next to the data columns) to see the subscriptions already on this dataset and an Add subscription button.

2. Click Add subscription. This opens a dedicated subscription page for the dataset.

3. Choose a schedule:

   Schedule	Behaviour
   On-demand (default)	Retrieves the dataset once now. You can re-run it at any time from the Subscriptions screen.
   Daily	Retrieves the dataset once every day. (paid tier only.)
   Weekly	Retrieves the dataset once every week. (paid tier only.)
   Monthly	Retrieves the dataset once every month. (paid tier only.)

   On the free tier, only On-demand is available. Selecting a recurring schedule requires upgrading. See Tiers and Limits.

4. Optionally, limit the subscription to part of the dataset — see Subscribing to just part of a dataset below.

5. Click Create subscription. Geo Data Connector creates the subscription and immediately starts the first retrieval run — you do not need to take any further action.

What happens after you subscribe

A loading overlay appears while the subscription is created — if you selected an area or resolution, this step also verifies and locks in ("freezes") the request against the dataset's live size, which takes a few seconds longer and shows a "Verifying dataset size…" message. You're then returned to the Dataset Details page, on the Subscriptions tab, with a confirmation.

You can navigate to the Subscriptions screen at any time to check the status of the run.

Changing the schedule later

You can change the schedule of an active subscription from the Subscriptions screen.

Suspending or removing a subscription

Use the Enabled toggle on the Subscriptions screen to suspend a subscription — it remains saved and can be re-enabled at any time. To delete it permanently, use the delete action on the Subscriptions screen.

Subscribing to just part of a dataset

For a dataset that's larger than you need — either because you only care about one region, or because its full size exceeds your tier's row limit — the subscription page offers an optional Limit area or resolution panel:

• On most datasets, this panel is collapsed by default; open it to draw a smaller geographic area on the map and, depending on the data source type, choose a coarser resolution (a target pixel size, output image size, or zoom level — vector datasets can only be limited by area, since they always keep their full precision).
• For a dataset too large to ingest in full, the panel is open automatically and a subset is required — the Create subscription button stays disabled until you draw an area (or choose a resolution) that brings the dataset within your tier's limit. Guidance text on the page explains how large the full dataset is and what limit applies.
• Leaving the panel closed (or the area at the dataset's full extent) creates a normal, full-extent subscription — unchanged from before.

Pixel size guidance (coverage/WCS datasets). As you draw an area, a live estimated-size line updates below the map. If the current selection is over your tier's limit at native resolution, a Recommended for this area hint appears next to the pixel size field, suggesting a coarser value that brings the estimate back under the limit — a starting point, not a guarantee (the live estimate line is still the signal to watch as you adjust).

The exact size is checked when you subscribe, not while you draw. The picker doesn't predict whether a given area/resolution will fit your tier's limit in advance — Geo Data Connector verifies the real size of your selection at the moment you click Create subscription (the same step that freezes the area and resolution for the subscription's lifetime, described above). If your selection doesn't fit, you'll see an explanation on the page — adjust the area or resolution and try again.

The live and frozen size estimates for coverage (WCS) and image (WMS) datasets are labeled "up to ~N", not an exact count. For raster and image datasets the estimate is an upper bound — the delivered size can be the same or smaller than the estimate, never larger. Vector datasets (WFS) show an exact "≈N" estimate.

A scope can't be edited once set. If you need a different area or resolution later, create a new subscription with the new scope — the original subscription and any data you've already downloaded from it are unaffected. See Scoped subscriptions for the full detail, including what happens if your account or the source dataset later outgrows a scope that already fit ("Needs re-scope").

You can also create subscriptions — including scoped ones — programmatically using the API.

free tier limits

On the free tier:

• You can have up to 10 active subscriptions at a time. Suspending a subscription frees a slot.
• You can run up to 10 retrievals per day (resets at midnight UTC). If the daily limit is reached, new runs are deferred to the next day.
• Datasets with more than 10,000 rows cannot be subscribed in full. A scoped subscription (see above) is checked against the same 10,000-row limit using the size of the selected area/resolution instead — so a small enough scope can still succeed on a dataset that's much larger overall. You can have up to 3 scoped subscriptions per dataset on the free tier.

The Create subscription button (and its help text) explains which limit applies if you cannot create a new subscription.

Next step

Step 5: Monitor Progress