ProcureBase API

A unified, entity-resolved REST API over UK public procurement. One request, one clean answer — JSON over HTTPS.

Introduction

The ProcureBase API exposes suppliers and contracting authorities resolved to stable IDs across Find a Tender, Contracts Finder, Public Contracts Scotland and Sell2Wales, linked to Companies House where possible. All responses are JSON.

BASE URL https://api.procurebase.io

Data is published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Every response includes an attribution field and an X-Attribution header — see /attribution.

Authentication

All requests require an API key, sent as a bearer token. Create a key on signup (free tier available).

# pass your key on every request
curl https://api.procurebase.io/v1/stats \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer pk_live_your_key_here"

Keep keys server-side. Requests without a valid key return 401 Unauthorized.

Rate limits

Limits depend on your plan. When you exceed them the API returns 429 Too Many Requests with a Retry-After header (seconds). Back off and retry.

Plan	Requests / minute	Bulk export
Free	60	—
Starter	300	—
Pro	1,200	CSV / JSONL
Scale	custom	CSV / JSONL

Response format

List endpoints return a paged envelope; single-object endpoints return the object directly. Control paging with limit (max 200) and offset.

{
  "total": 44,
  "limit": 25,
  "offset": 0,
  "results": [ /* objects */ ],
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the OGL v3.0."
}

Errors

Standard HTTP status codes. Error bodies are JSON with an error message.

Code	Meaning
200	OK
401	Missing or invalid API key
404	Entity or endpoint not found
429	Rate limit exceeded (see `Retry-After`)
500	Internal error

Stats

GET/v1/stats

Dataset-level counts: distinct entities, how many are resolved to Companies House, and a per-portal breakdown.

# response
{
  "suppliers": {
    "distinct_entities": 32277,
    "resolved_to_companies_house": 24907,
    "by_portal": { "fts": 31760, "scotland": 1778, "wales": 415 }
  },
  "buyers": { "distinct_authorities": 4806 }
}

List / search suppliers

GET/v1/suppliers

Search and filter resolved supplier entities.

Parameter	Type	Description
q	string	Case-insensitive name search (matches canonical name).
ch	string	Filter by exact Companies House number.
portal	string	Only entities present in this portal: `fts`, `scotland`, `wales`.
limit	int	Page size, max 200 (default 25).
offset	int	Rows to skip (default 0).

# request
curl "https://api.procurebase.io/v1/suppliers?q=capita&limit=1" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer pk_live_..."

# response
{
  "total": 44, "limit": 1, "offset": 0,
  "results": [{
    "entity_id": "COH:02299747",
    "canonical_name": "Capita Business Services Ltd",
    "ch_number": "02299747",
    "resolution_method": "native_id",
    "portals": { "fts": 22 },
    "name_variants": ["Capita Business Services Ltd", "CAPITA BUSINESS SERVICES LIMITED"]
  }]
}

Get a supplier

GET/v1/suppliers/{entity_id}

Fetch a single supplier entity by its stable ID, e.g. COH:02299747 or PB:0e82dd0d457d.

curl https://api.procurebase.io/v1/suppliers/COH:02299747 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer pk_live_..."

List / search buyers

GET/v1/buyers

Search and filter contracting authorities. Same paging as suppliers.

Parameter	Type	Description
q	string	Case-insensitive name search.
portal	string	`fts`, `scotland`, `wales`.
limit / offset	int	Paging (limit max 200).

curl "https://api.procurebase.io/v1/buyers?q=council&limit=1" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer pk_live_..."

Get a buyer

GET/v1/buyers/{entity_id}

Fetch a single contracting authority by its stable ID.

Attribution

GET/attribution

Returns the required OGL v3.0 attribution statements for every data source. You must display or link to these when using the data (see the licence).

Supplier object

Field	Type	Description
entity_id	string	Stable ID. `COH:<number>` if resolved to Companies House, else `PB:<hash>`.
canonical_name	string	Best display name for the entity.
ch_number	string\|null	Companies House number, or null if unresolved.
resolution_method	string	`native_id`, `name_match`, `variant_*`, `rapidfuzz` or `unresolved`.
portals	object	Portal → occurrence count, e.g. `{"fts":22,"scotland":3}`.
name_variants	array	All spellings seen for this entity across portals.

Buyer object

Field	Type	Description
entity_id	string	Stable ID for the contracting authority.
canonical_name	string	Authority name.
scheme / org_id	string	Organisation identifier scheme and value, when published.
resolution_method	string	`native_id` or `name_only`.
portals	object	Portal → occurrence count.

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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © 2026 ProcureBase.