Primary-source verification API

Verify the license before the hire.

One API call checks a license at the issuing board, an NPI at NPPES and a name against every exclusion list. Each claim comes back verified, discrepancy, not found or unable to verify, with the source that answered and a proof file.

Get an API key Read the docs

Sandbox keys are immediate. Live keys follow FCRA customer vetting, usually one business day.

POST /v1/verifications

curl https://api.primarycheck.com/v1/verifications?wait=25 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer pc_live_…" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: 6f1c0b5e-…" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "person": {
      "firstName": "Amy", "lastName": "Kowalski", "dob": "1976-02-14"
    },
    "claims": [
      {
        "type": "healthcare_screen",
        "state": "PA", "profession": "rn",
        "licenseNumber": "RN353077L", "npi": "1003000126",
        "claimId": "hs"
      }
    ],
    "purpose": "employment",
    "consent": { "consentId": "cons_8f1…" },
    "reference": "ATS-48213"
  }'

Live boards in 50 of 51 jurisdictions 419 nightly canaries FCRA controls on every order SOC 2 Type II in progress

How it works

Three steps from candidate to proof file

1
Collect consent
Send the candidate a hosted disclosure and authorization page, or attach your own signed one. No consent, no check.
2
Submit the claims
A license, NPI, exclusion screen, certification, degree or job, in one request. Pass ?wait=25 to long-poll or take a signed webhook.
3
Read the verdict, file the proof
Every claim carries field-by-field checks, the source record as published, hashes and a rendered PDF for the audit binder.

The response

A verdict you can act on, never a score

Four outcomes. verified, discrepancy, not_found, unable_to_verify, each with a machine-readable reason. Pending claims say so.
Field checks. Number, name, type, status, expiration and actions compared one by one. One mismatch is a discrepancy, with both values shown.
Evidence first. The raw source payload, a page capture and a rendered record PDF, hashed and timestamped, behind signed links.
Stale is not clear. Every dataset carries a data-as-of date. A list past its maximum age returns source_stale, never a pass.

How verdicts are decided

healthcare_screen · PA RN

{
  "id": "ver_7c1e0b1f2a9d4e8f0b3c",
  "status": "complete",
  "claims": [
    {
      "claimId": "hs",
      "type": "healthcare_screen",
      "verdict": "verified",
      "parts": [
        {
          "type": "license", "verdict": "verified",
          "summary": {
            "status": "Active - Multistate",
            "expires": "2028-04-30", "flags": []
          },
          "results": [
            { "source": "PA-PALS", "verdict": "verified",
              "evidence": ["evd_a1…", "evd_b2…"] }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "npi", "verdict": "verified",
          "results": [ { "source": "US-NPPES", "verdict": "verified" } ]
        },
        {
          "type": "exclusion_screen", "verdict": "verified",
          "results": [
            { "source": "US-OIG-LEIE", "verdict": "verified",
              "dataAsOf": "2026-10-30" },
            { "source": "US-SAM-EXCL", "verdict": "verified",
              "dataAsOf": "2026-11-03" },
            { "source": "US-OFAC-SDN", "verdict": "verified",
              "dataAsOf": "2026-11-03" },
            { "source": "PA-MEDICAID-EXCL", "verdict": "verified",
              "dataAsOf": "2026-11-01" }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "completedAt": "2026-11-03T14:05:11Z",
  "fcra": { "controlsVersion": "fcra-controls-2026-11-03.0" }
}

Coverage, counted

Numbers from the catalog, not the brochure

Every figure below is computed from the source catalog at build time. Only a board we query live, with a nightly canary passing, counts as live.

538

licensing boards queried live

1,402

state and profession pairs live

50 / 51

jurisdictions with live boards

419

known-good records checked nightly

professions with national keys

exclusion lists loaded: 5 federal, 7 state Medicaid

certification issuers verified by credential ID

interstate compacts with privilege lookups

Coverage

Live license lookups by state

Counts are live (state, profession) pairs. Blocked boards are named as blocked and building boards as building; the API answers unable_to_verify with the reason rather than guessing.

All states and professions

Products

One verification object, six kinds of claim

Claims share one request shape, one verdict vocabulary and one evidence model. New states and claim types add data, never endpoints.

Built for

One audience per page, one integration for all of them

For developers

Built the way you would build it

SDKs. pip install primarycheck and npm install primarycheck, generated from the OpenAPI spec, with helpers for waiting and signature checks.
Webhooks. HMAC-signed with a timestamp, retried with backoff, replayable from the dashboard.
Sandbox. A separate host with deterministic outcomes by last name and every live source code present.
Idempotency and versioning. Idempotency-Key on every POST; date-pinned behaviour changes; one error shape.
Coverage endpoint. GET /v1/coverage says what we can verify for a state and profession before you ask.

Quickstart API design

verify a webhook

from primarycheck import webhooks, SignatureVerificationError

@app.post("/primarycheck")                                  # FastAPI; Flask/Django are the same idea
async def hook(request: Request):
    try:
        event = webhooks.verify_signature(
            await request.body(),                           # the RAW bytes, before JSON parsing
            request.headers["PrimaryCheck-Signature"],
            WEBHOOK_SECRET,                                 # whsec_… from POST /v1/webhook_endpoints
        )
    except SignatureVerificationError:
        return Response(status_code=400)
    if event["type"] == "verification.completed":
        verification = event["data"]["object"]
    return Response(status_code=200)

Compliance

Run as a consumer reporting agency on every order

Verification for hiring, retention or credentialing is a consumer report under the FCRA. PrimaryCheck applies the full set of CRA controls to every order, whatever the stated purpose.

Start in the sandbox today

Same source codes as production. Go live after vetting, with no minimums and no platform fee.

Get an API key See pricing

Verify the license before the hire.

Three steps from candidate to proof file

Collect consent

Submit the claims

Read the verdict, file the proof

A verdict you can act on, never a score

Numbers from the catalog, not the brochure

Live license lookups by state

One verification object, six kinds of claim

Licenses

Exclusions and sanctions

Certifications

Education

Employment

Monitoring

One audience per page, one integration for all of them

Healthcare employers

Staffing agencies

Property and trades

Developers and platforms

Built the way you would build it

Run as a consumer reporting agency on every order

Start in the sandbox today