Open Source Licenses API

Overview

To use Open Source Licenses, you need an API key. You can get one by creating a free account and visiting your dashboard.

GET Endpoint

https://api.apiverve.com/v1/openlicenses

Example

How to call the Open Source Licenses API in different programming languages.

curl -X GET \
  "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/openlicenses?name=MIT" \
  -H "X-API-Key: your_api_key_here"

const response = await fetch('https://api.apiverve.com/v1/openlicenses?name=MIT', {
  method: 'GET',
  headers: {
    'X-API-Key': 'your_api_key_here',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  }
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

import requests

headers = {
    'X-API-Key': 'your_api_key_here',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}

response = requests.get('https://api.apiverve.com/v1/openlicenses?name=MIT', headers=headers)

data = response.json()
print(data)

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "io"
    "net/http"

)

func main() {
    req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/openlicenses?name=MIT", nil)

    req.Header.Set("X-API-Key", "your_api_key_here")
    req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")

    client := &http.Client{}
    resp, err := client.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "domain_content": false,
    "domain_data": false,
    "domain_software": true,
    "legacy_ids": [
      "mit-license"
    ],
    "license": "MIT",
    "name": "MIT License",
    "license_url": "https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT",
    "license_status": "active",
    "isOsiApproved": true,
    "compatibleDomains": [
      "software"
    ]
  }
}

Authentication

The Open Source Licenses API requires authentication via API key. Include your API key in the request header:

X-API-Key: your_api_key_here

Learn more about authentication →

Interactive API Playground

Test the Open Source Licenses API directly in your browser with live requests and responses.

Parameters

The following parameters are available for the Open Source Licenses API:

Response

The Open Source Licenses API returns responses in JSON, XML, YAML, and CSV formats. The JSON response is shown in the Example section above; alternative formats below.

Other Response Formats

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
  <status>ok</status>
  <error xsi:nil="true" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"/>
  <data>
    <domain_content>false</domain_content>
    <domain_data>false</domain_data>
    <domain_software>true</domain_software>
    <legacy_ids>
      <legacy_id>mit-license</legacy_id>
    </legacy_ids>
    <license>MIT</license>
    <name>MIT License</name>
    <license_url>https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT</license_url>
    <license_status>active</license_status>
    <isOsiApproved>true</isOsiApproved>
    <compatibleDomains>
      <compatibleDomain>software</compatibleDomain>
    </compatibleDomains>
  </data>
</response>

status: ok
error: null
data:
  domain_content: false
  domain_data: false
  domain_software: true
  legacy_ids:
    - mit-license
  license: MIT
  name: MIT License
  license_url: https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
  license_status: active
  isOsiApproved: true
  compatibleDomains:
    - software

Response Structure

All API responses follow a consistent structure with the following fields:

Learn more about response formats →

Response Data Fields

When the request is successful, the data object contains the following fields:

Headers

Only X-API-Key is required. Optional headers include Accept for response format negotiation (JSON, XML, or YAML), User-Agent, and X-Request-ID for request tracing. See all request headers →

GraphQL AccessALPHA

Access Open Source Licenses through GraphQL to combine it with other API calls in a single request. Query only the open source licenses data you need with precise field selection, and orchestrate complex data fetching workflows.

Credit Cost: Each API called in your GraphQL query consumes its standard credit cost.

POST https://api.apiverve.com/v1/graphql

query {
  openlicenses(
    input: {
      name: "MIT"
    }
  ) {
    domain_content
    domain_data
    domain_software
    legacy_ids
    license
    name
    license_url
    license_status
    isOsiApproved
    compatibleDomains
  }
}

Note: Authentication is handled via the x-api-key header in your GraphQL request, not as a query parameter.

CORS Support

The Open Source Licenses API accepts cross-origin requests from any origin, so it can be called directly from browser-based applications without a proxy. See CORS support →

Rate Limiting

Open Source Licenses requests are throttled per minute on the Free plan and unthrottled on paid plans. Exceeding the limit returns 429 Too Many Requests; rate-limit usage is reported in the X-RateLimit-Limit, X-RateLimit-Remaining, and X-RateLimit-Reset response headers. See per-plan limits and best practices →

Error Codes

The Open Source Licenses API uses standard HTTP status codes — 200 on success, 400 for invalid parameters, 401 for missing or invalid keys, 403 for insufficient credits, 429 for rate-limit exhaustion, and 500/503 for server-side issues. Each error response includes an X-Request-ID header you can quote when contacting support. See full error handling guide →

SDKs for Open Source Licenses

Official Open Source Licenses packages on npm, PyPI, NuGet, and JitPack — plus a Postman collection and an OpenAPI spec. See the SDK guide →

JitPack

No-Code Integrations

Open Source Licenses works with Zapier, Make, Pipedream, n8n, and Power Automate using the same API key. See setup guides →

Zapier

Make

Pipedream

n8n

Power Automate

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