# /propublica_nonprofit/organizations/search

`POST /api/propublica_nonprofit/organizations/search`

Price: 1 credit

Search the IRS register of US tax-exempt organizations by name, US state, NTEE activity group and 501(c) subsection. Returns a list card per organization with its EIN.

## How to use it

Use this to turn an organization name into an EIN, then call propublica_nonprofit/organizations for the full profile and filings. `query` matches the registered name only, not the mission text, so a topical phrase finds organizations named after the topic rather than organizations working on it; for mission and programme wording search the filings instead. Omitting `query` browses the register by the filters alone. `ntee_group` is the one-digit NTEE major group, never the letter code that appears in `ntee_code`.

## Parameters

- `access-token` (string, required)

## Request body

- `timeout` (integer) — Max scrapping execution timeout (in seconds) (default: 300; min: 20; max: 1500)
- `query` (string, nullable) — Words matched against the organization name; omit it to browse the register by filters alone (examples: "cancer research", "food bank"; minLength: 1)
- `state` (string, nullable) — Two-letter US state or territory code of the organization's registered address (examples: "CA", "NY"; minLength: 2; maxLength: 2)
- `ntee_group` (string, nullable) — NTEE major group the organization's activity falls under (one of: "1", "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "10")
- `subsection_code` (string, nullable) — Section 501(c) subsection the organization is exempt under (one of: "2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "10", "11", "12", "13", "14", "15", "16", "17", "18", "19", "21", "22", "23", "25", "26", "27", "28", "92")
- `count` (integer, required) — Max number of organizations to return (min: 1; max: 5000)

## Response

### 200 — Successful Response

- `@type` (string) (default: "PropublicaNonprofitOrganizationCard")
- `ein` (string, required)
- `name` (string, required)
- `url` (string, required)
- `sub_name` (string, nullable)
- `city` (string, nullable)
- `state` (string, nullable)
- `ntee_code` (string, nullable)
- `subsection_code` (integer, nullable)
- `has_subsection_code` (boolean, nullable)
- `score` (number, nullable)

## Errors

### 422 — Validation Error

The request body did not validate

What to do: Check the fields against this schema. A URN with the wrong prefix is the most common cause.

- `detail` (array)
  - `loc` (array, required)
  - `msg` (string, required)
  - `type` (string, required)
  - `input` (any)
  - `ctx` (object)

### 408

The request ran past its time limit

What to do: Raise `timeout` in the request body, up to the maximum this endpoint documents. Lowering `count` or turning off the `with_*` flags also helps, because less work finishes sooner.

### 412

The entity was not found, or a precondition failed

What to do: Retrying will not help: either the entity does not exist, or the input points at a different one.

### 429

Too many requests: a rate limit or a usage window is exhausted

What to do: When the response carries an X-Retry-After header, wait that many seconds and retry: the same number is in the body as `detail.retry_after`, and the limit clears once that window passes. The message in the body names the limit that was hit.

### 500

Something broke on our side

What to do: Retrying will not help. If it keeps happening, send us the X-Request-ID from the response headers.

### 529

Rate limit reached, or the endpoint is overloaded

What to do: Wait at least 30 seconds, then retry.

## Response envelope

Success: Array of objects (may be empty if no results)

Error: Error may coexist with partial results if it occurs mid-execution. Check X-Error header and status code.

Every response carries these headers:

- `X-Error` — Error message text (present only on error)
- `X-Request-ID` — Unique request identifier
- `X-Execution-Time` — Execution time in seconds
- `X-Result-Count` — How many records the body carries. 0 means an empty result, which is a normal answer and not by itself an error. A non-zero count can come back together with X-Error when the failure happened partway through — read this header and X-Error independently.
- `X-Total-Available-Results` — How many records exist for this query, when the endpoint can say. On a `dry_run` request this is the answer and the body is empty. It saturates: the endpoint's documented maximum means 'at least that many', any smaller number is exact.
- `X-Warning` — Present when the request body carried keys this endpoint does not document. They were ignored, so any filter you meant to apply through them did not apply. Check the spelling against this schema and retry.
- `X-Retry-After` — Seconds to wait before retrying. Present only on 429.