# Pokémon TCG Data: a card dataset with a shutdown date on it > The pokemon-tcg-data repository holds the JSON card data that once powered the Pokémon TCG API, and the project has been marked as legacy with the API scheduled to go offline on March 1, 2027. That date turns the repository from a data source into a migration problem, and the README is explicit about where the maintained replacement lives. **PokemonTCG/pokemon-tcg-data** — The data found within the Pokémon TCG API - Repository: https://github.com/PokemonTCG/pokemon-tcg-data - Stars: 878 · Forks: 336 - Language: Ruby - License: not declared - Published: 2026-10-20 · Updated: 2026-10-20 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/pokemontcg-pokemon-tcg-data ## A deprecation notice with a date on it The top of the README is a callout that says the project is being deprecated. It states that Pokémon TCG Data and the Pokémon TCG API are legacy projects and are no longer recommended for new integrations, and that the API is scheduled to be taken offline on March 1, 2027. The rest of the notice points to Scrydex as the actively maintained platform, and says existing data in the repository will remain available for historical and compatibility purposes while developers currently using the API should migrate before that date. A scheduled shutdown is a different kind of deprecation from an abandoned repository, because the end date is known and the data does not disappear on it, but the API contract does. The deprecation section repeats the point in a second place: existing integrations may continue to function until the shutdown date, but developers should avoid starting new integrations against the Pokémon TCG API, and new applications should use the successor from the start. ## The replacement covers what the old API did not The successor is described as an actively maintained platform for developers building applications around trading card game data, and the README is specific about the scope. In addition to Pokémon, it supports multiple trading card games, and the feature list runs from card and expansion metadata through raw card pricing, graded card pricing, historical price data, graded sold listings, population reports, market trends and card image recognition. That list is worth comparing against the old API's surface, because it shows where the boundary of the migration lies. Pricing and market history are the two areas that grow rather than persist, since a card's price changes daily and a static JSON file cannot follow that. The grading and population data is the other expansion: graded card prices and how many copies exist at a given grade are a different data domain from the raw card list, and the README treats them as first-class features rather than extras. ## What the repository actually contains The top-level listing is short and describes the shape of the dataset. There are three data directories, cards, decks and sets, which correspond to the three kinds of object in the trading card game domain: individual cards, the preconstructed deck lists that reference them, and the sets or expansions those cards belong to. Alongside them is v2_to_v1.rb, the conversion script discussed below, plus the README, a .editorconfig, a .gitignore and a couple of stray submodule swap files. The whole dataset is JSON files in a directory tree rather than a database or a service, which is the practical advantage of the repository over the API for anyone who wants to work offline or build a local index. The trade-off is that the data is a snapshot, and the snapshot ages exactly as fast as the game does. ## Getting the data without the API The README still documents how to obtain the historical JSON data, and the instruction is a clone. ```bash git clone https://github.com/PokemonTCG/pokemon-tcg-data.git ``` You can also download data from the repository's releases, and the release tags are named after the sets they cover, which is a useful way to find a specific point in time. The most recent is v2.15, published on 2025-07-25 and titled Black Bolt plus White Flare, which are the two expansions it adds. Before that came v2.14 for Paldean Fates with the tag sv4pt5 in January 2024, and v2.13 for Obsidian Flames with the tag sv3 in August 2023. The tag naming is inconsistent, which is normal for a project whose releases are named after whatever set the maintainers were adding, and it means picking a release by date is easier than picking one by name. The README is clear that this repository should be considered a historical or compatibility data source and that applications needing continuously maintained card data should use the successor API. ## The V1 conversion path and why it still exists Version 1 data is no longer maintained, and the README says so directly. What is retained is the v2_to_v1.rb Ruby script, kept for developers who still need to generate the legacy V1 JSON format from V2 data. To run it you need Ruby, with the installation link given, and the json gem, which the README asks you to install with a single command. ```bash gem install json ``` Then the conversion itself is one command. ```bash ruby v2_to_v1.rb ``` The generated card data is written to the path /cards/en/v1. So the script is not a tool that was kept because someone enjoys maintaining it; it is kept because somebody downstream still has a consumer that reads the V1 shape, and the alternative to keeping the script would be for those consumers to freeze on an even older snapshot. The language being Ruby and the data being JSON also means the script is a plain file you can read before running, which is the right posture for a script that rewrites a dataset. ## The release cadence shows when the data stopped moving The gap between the release tags is the story of the dataset's currency. v2.15 covering Black Bolt and White Flare was published on 2025-07-25. The previous release, v2.14 for Paldean Fates, dates from 2024-01-28, which is eighteen months earlier. Before that, v2.13 for Obsidian Flames came on 2023-08-11. So the project was adding data roughly yearly for most of its life and then took a long gap before its final tagged update, and the last push to the repository was on 2026-09-17, which is after the last release and consistent with a repository that still receives occasional commits but no longer has a release rhythm. The contributing section confirms the direction, stating that the repository is maintained primarily for historical and compatibility purposes and that routine card-data updates and new feature development are no longer the focus. ## Where this dataset is the wrong choice Four limits apply. The data is a snapshot, so any application that needs to know what a card is worth today, or how many copies exist, is reading stale numbers the moment it ships, and no amount of local caching fixes that. The API it was built to feed has a shutdown date, so anything that depends on live endpoints has a hard deadline in March 2027 whether or not the code is ready. The README does not state a licence, so the terms on which you may redistribute derived card data are not settled by anything in the repository, which is a real question if you plan to publish a database built on it. And the scope is narrow in the other direction too: the dataset covers cards, decks and sets for Pokémon and nothing else, so a project that also handles other trading card games has to source those elsewhere or move to the successor, which is the recommendation the project itself makes. ## Conclusion Use this repository as a frozen reference or to satisfy an existing dependency, since the JSON files remain available for historical and compatibility purposes and the release archives still hold past snapshots. Do not start anything new on it, because the README says it should not be used as the primary data source for new applications and the API behind it goes offline on March 1, 2027. Verify first which expansions your integration actually needs against the last release, v2.15, since that is the newest snapshot and everything after it will only exist on the successor service, and whether you need the V1 format at all, because the conversion script is retained but the V1 data is no longer maintained. ## FAQ ### Is the Pokémon TCG Data repository still maintained? It is marked as deprecated. The README says routine card-data updates and new feature development are no longer the focus, and that the repository is maintained primarily for historical and compatibility purposes, with the last push on 2026-09-17 and the most recent release v2.15 from 2025-07-25. ### When is the Pokémon TCG API going offline? March 1, 2027. The README states the API is scheduled to be taken offline on that date and asks developers currently using it to migrate to Scrydex before then, while noting existing integrations may continue to function until the shutdown. ### How do I download the card data? Clone the repository with git clone https://github.com/PokemonTCG/pokemon-tcg-data.git, or download data from the repository's releases, whose tags are named after the expansions they add. ### What is the v2_to_v1.rb script for? Version 1 data is no longer maintained, but the Ruby script is retained for developers who still need to generate the legacy V1 JSON format from V2 data. It needs the json gem and writes the generated card data to the path /cards/en/v1. ### What should I use instead of this repository? The README names Scrydex as the actively maintained platform, with card and expansion metadata, raw and graded card pricing, historical price data, graded sold listings, population reports, market trends, card image recognition and support for trading card games beyond Pokémon. Its API documentation is at scrydex.com/docs. ## Sources - [Issues](https://github.com/PokemonTCG/pokemon-tcg-data/issues) - [PokemonTCG/pokemon-tcg-data on GitHub](https://github.com/PokemonTCG/pokemon-tcg-data) - [README](https://github.com/PokemonTCG/pokemon-tcg-data/blob/master/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/PokemonTCG/pokemon-tcg-data/releases) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/pokemontcg-pokemon-tcg-data