Developer Resources
The Ficoso API is a complete JSON RESTful application programming interface (API) for public records transactions that provides the same functions on both the sandbox and production API, and our web interface. This includes UCC Search, Business Search, UCC Filing, and Monitoring of Debtors.
Test and work Easily in our Sandbox
In the sandbox test environment, data is provided for demonstration and testing purposes only. It does not represent production data. It is not expected to be timely, complete, or accurate and may include fictitious results or information uploaded during earlier tests. Results may be limited to certain states by volume, sections of the alphabet, or by other criteria, as specified in the documentation.
By providing fixed test data for searching, developers can obtain search results that vary realistically yet remain static for a given input so that automated testing and validation can be done.
Submitting filings will create new records in our test environment and potentially alter the results of certain function calls.
The sole purpose of the API is to provide a means to search or publish public records. This means all data provided through the API is, by design, expected to be accessible to the general public. Ficoso provides no filtering, redaction, or review of the data you submit either as textual or image data and you are solely responsible for limiting and controlling the data sent to Ficoso with regard to PII and other privacy laws. Treat the API as if you are releasing the data submitted to it to the public.
FAQs
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Our firm is a commercial software developer, not an end-user. Can we integrate FCS’ API to give our end-users access to public records from within our application? How does licensing work?
Absolutely! Our API can support a variety of strategies for offering public records access through commercially licensed software. Typically, we establish a direct relationship with the end-user and direct bill them, so you don’t have to front the charges for the transactions.
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Why are there two sets of credentials for authentication?
The API may be integrated with commercial software licensed for others to use or integrated directly into proprietary software developed by the end-user. The first credential identifies the integrator and system from which the API requests are made, and the second is the billable entity.
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Does the test environment use real data?
No. For searches, the API uses a subset of unchanging real-world data limited to California. It’s the largest data set, and by keeping this data static, development teams can establish automated test procedures and receive consistent results over time.
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Can offshore developers develop against your API?
Ficoso automatically blocks IP addresses from foreign countries that frequently pose security threats. If your developers are outside the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, we can create IP-specific exceptions so they can access the test and production servers.
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Is there a web UI that shows test data we submit for filings?
Yes, you can verify the data entered is appearing in the right places on the UCC filing documents by visiting the companion website tied to the sandbox data.
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Is there a test environment?
Yes. Ficoso provides a free test API “sandbox” where developers can experiment and test their software without incurring charges. Access to the sandbox continues from the start of development and for as long as you use our API service in production, so that you can make future enhancements to your software and test before deployment.