Quickstart

Get access, authenticate, and make your first request to the Specter API.

Get your API key and make your first request to the Specter API.

1. Get your API key

   Your API key lives in the API Console. Open it and copy your key. No key yet? Click Request API Access there — requests are reviewed and approved within one business day. Send the key in the X-API-Key header on every request.

2. Make your first request

   Search for a company by name:

   curl --request GET \
     --url 'https://app.tryspecter.com/api/v1/companies/search?query=hedgehog' \
     --header 'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY'
   

   Response:

   [
     {
       "id": "1a2b3c4d5e6g1a2b3c4d5e6g",
       "name": "Hedgehog Analytics",
       "domain": "hedgehog_analytics.com",
       "founded_year": 2019
     }
   ]
   

   If you receive a response, your API key is working.

3. Fetch the full profile

   Use the returned id to retrieve the full company record:

   curl --request GET \
     --url https://app.tryspecter.com/api/v1/companies/1a2b3c4d5e6g1a2b3c4d5e6g \
     --header 'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY'
   

   Response:

   {
     "id": "1a2b3c4d5e6g1a2b3c4d5e6g",
     "organization_name": "Hedgehog Analytics",
     "website": {
       "domain": "hedgehog_analytics.com",
       "url": "https://www.hedgehog_analytics.com"
     },
     "hq": { "city": "London", "country": "United Kingdom" },
     "employee_count": 39,
     "funding": {
       "total_funding_usd": 16600000,
       "last_funding_type": "series_a"
     },
     "last_updated": "2026-01-01"
   }
   

   See Rate Limits & Credit Limits for your allowances and Errors for what happens when you run out.

From here, you can expand into related data — team, investors, transactions — using the returned company id.