When should you use this API?
Use cases and limitations are published with the API so humans and agents can integrate it correctly.
Use when
- You need to find a French company or establishment from a name, legal name, SIREN or SIRET.
- You need candidate company identifiers before calling a more specialized Company endpoint.
Avoid when
- You already have an exact SIREN or SIRET and only need to verify existence or administrative status; use company/fr/verify.
- You need detailed profile, financial, legal-risk or compliance data; use the specialized endpoint or company/fr/intelligence.
Limitations
- Matching quality and result ordering depend on the public company-search source and the ambiguity of the query.
- The response is a search result set, not a complete company dossier.
Sources and provenance
Sources published for this endpoint are shown directly with their original link.
API Recherche d'entreprises
recherche-entreprises.api.gouv.fr
Stored real response
This snapshot is served from published database data without executing the paid API.
Request
{
"query": "La Poste",
"limit": 5
}Stored response
{
"results": [
{
"siren": "356000000",
"siret": "35600000000048",
"name": "LA POSTE",
"status": "active",
"activity_code": "53.10Z",
"address": "DIRECTION GENERALE DE LA POSTE 9 RUE DU COLONEL PIERRE AVIA 75015 PARIS",
"postal_code": "75015",
"city": "PARIS"
},
{
"siren": "532484755",
"siret": "53248475500014",
"name": "LA POSTE",
"status": "active",
"activity_code": "68.20B",
"address": "4 RUE DUBOURDIEU 33370 TRESSES",
"postal_code": "33370",
"city": "TRESSES"
},
{
"siren": "505017012",
"siret": "50501701200020",
"name": "LA POSTE",
"status": "active",
"activity_code": "68.20B",
"address": "81 RUE JOUFFROY D'ABBANS 75017 PARIS",
"postal_code": "75017",
"city": "PARIS"
},
{
"siren": "903908796",
"siret": "90390879600019",
"name": "LA POSTE",
"status": "active",
"activity_code": "68.20B",
"address": "FRM DE VALSERY 02600 COEUVRES-ET-VALSERY",
"postal_code": "02600",
"city": "COEUVRES-ET-VALSERY"
},
{
"siren": "987940533",
"siret": "98794053300019",
"name": "LA POSTE",
"status": "active",
"activity_code": "68.20B",
"address": "431 CHEMIN DE MARBAN 36130 DEOLS",
"postal_code": "36130",
"city": "DEOLS"
}
]
}Billing policy
0.002 $ / call · charged on valid result · empty result not charged · errors not charged.
Input / Output schemas
Simplified endpoint contracts. The complete schema remains available in OpenAPI 3.1.
Input schema
querystringRequired · Company name, legal name, SIREN or SIRET to search forpostal_codestringOptional · Optional French postal code used to narrow the searchlimitintegerOptional · Maximum number of matching companies to returnView full JSON Schema
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"query": {
"type": "string",
"description": "Company name, legal name, SIREN or SIRET to search for"
},
"postal_code": {
"type": "string",
"description": "Optional French postal code used to narrow the search"
},
"limit": {
"type": "integer",
"minimum": 1,
"maximum": 25,
"default": 10,
"description": "Maximum number of matching companies to return"
}
},
"required": [
"query"
],
"additionalProperties": false
}Output schema
resultsarrayRequiredView full JSON Schema
{
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"results": {
"type": "array",
"items": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"siren": {
"type": [
"string",
"null"
]
},
"siret": {
"type": [
"string",
"null"
]
},
"name": {
"type": [
"string",
"null"
]
},
"status": {
"type": [
"string",
"null"
]
},
"activity_code": {
"type": [
"string",
"null"
]
},
"address": {
"type": [
"string",
"null"
]
},
"postal_code": {
"type": [
"string",
"null"
]
},
"city": {
"type": [
"string",
"null"
]
}
}
}
}
},
"required": [
"results"
],
"additionalProperties": false
}Example queries
Queries published with the API to help select the right endpoint.
What is the SIREN of La Poste?
Find the French company named Acme Industrie.
Which company matches this SIRET?