Make your first API request

Retrieve the Crunchbase company profile, check the response, then choose which fields to return. You can follow along in the interactive API reference or use cURL.

Before you start: you need a provisioned Crunchbase REST API key and a browser or terminal. No application code is required.

1. Have your API key ready

If your API access is already provisioned, open your Crunchbase API integrations settings, sign in, and select Show Key. If you cannot find your key, contact your account team.

New REST API access is available through the Crunchbase sales team. An MCP seat is a separate access arrangement; this request requires a REST API key.

2. Open the interactive request

Open Lookup an Organization →

In the reference page:

1. Under CREDENTIALS, enter your API key in the Header input. ReadMe uses it as the X-cb-user-key request header. Enter only the key, without a header name or a Bearer prefix.
2. Under Path Params, set entity_id to crunchbase.
3. Leave the optional field_ids and card_ids inputs empty for this first request.
4. Choose a code language if you want to see the equivalent request.
5. Click Try It! to send the request.

The request URL should be:

https://api.crunchbase.com/v4/data/entities/organizations/crunchbase

This basic request works with all current REST API packages. For additional fields and cards, choose the reference matching your licensed package.

3. Check the live response

After clicking Try It!, look for HTTP 200 in the live response. The response includes the following values (excerpt; other fields omitted):

{
  "properties": {
    "identifier": {
      "uuid": "43ac6c2f-65ec-5b40-89d6-ab9d4c4988ef",
      "value": "Crunchbase",
      "permalink": "crunchbase"
    }
  }
}

• uuid is the organization's stable identifier. Store it when linking Crunchbase data to your records.
• value is its display name.
• permalink is the readable identifier used in this request's URL.

Other fields can vary as data changes. A schema-generated example containing values such as string is not evidence of a live request: click Try It! and inspect the returned HTTP status and response.

Alternatively, use cURL

Set CRUNCHBASE_API_KEY to your provisioned key in your local environment, then run:

curl --request GET \
  'https://api.crunchbase.com/v4/data/entities/organizations/crunchbase' \
  --header "X-cb-user-key: $CRUNCHBASE_API_KEY" \
  --header 'Accept: application/json'

4. Choose the fields you need

Now request the company's identifier, short description, and website.

In the same interactive reference, keep entity_id set to crunchbase. Under field_ids, click ADD STRING and select identifier. Repeat for short_description and website_url, adding each as a separate item. Leave card_ids empty, then click Try It! again.

Or run:

curl --request GET \
  'https://api.crunchbase.com/v4/data/entities/organizations/crunchbase?field_ids=identifier,short_description,website_url' \
  --header "X-cb-user-key: $CRUNCHBASE_API_KEY" \
  --header 'Accept: application/json'

Check for HTTP 200 and the three requested fields under properties. The website is https://www.crunchbase.com; the description may change as the company profile is updated.

field_ids selects fields on the organization. To retrieve related records, such as founders or funding rounds, learn about cards in Entity Lookup.

If the request fails

Next steps

• Search for matching companies.
• Retrieve fields and relationships.
• Explore available data and packages.
• Review authentication, limits, and retries.