Minnesota Secretary of State Business Search Scraper

Scrape Minnesota's Business Filings Online registry, the Secretary of State's free public database of every business, nonprofit, trademark, and general entity on file with the State of Minnesota. Search by business name or look up a specific record by its Minnesota file number, and get entity type, filing status, registered agent, officers/managers, addresses, and complete filing history. HTTP-only via the public mblsportal.sos.mn.gov search — no login, no API key, no proxy required.

What this actor does

• Two search modes: byBusinessName (with the source's own Begins-with/Contains, Active/Inactive, and Include-Prior-Names search options) and byFileNumber (direct lookup)
• Every entity type — Business Corporations, LLCs, LLPs, LPs, Cooperatives, Nonprofits, Assumed Names, Trademarks/Service Marks, Name Reservations, and General Entities
• Full detail-page coverage — officers, managers, presidents, CEOs (whichever roles the entity actually has on file), registered agent, registered office address, principal executive office address, and number of shares (for corporations)
• Complete filing history — every filing event on record (original filing, amendments, renewals, terminations, reinstatements) with date and description
• Trademark markholders — for Trademark/Service Mark records, the markholder name and address
• Empty fields are omitted — you never have to guard against null, only against fields not being present

Output per business record

• businessName — the entity's current registered name
• nameType — e.g. Minnesota Business Name, Word or Phrase (for trademarks)
• businessType — e.g. Limited Liability Company (Domestic), Business Corporation (Domestic), Nonprofit Corporation (Domestic), Trademark - Service Mark, General Entity
• fileNumber — the entity's Minnesota file number (the registry's own identifier; format varies by entity type/era, e.g. 1K-1056, 631180100027, 5761-NPA)
• filingGuid — the internal record identifier used by the source's own detail-page URL
• mnStatute — the Minnesota statute chapter governing the entity type, when applicable
• homeJurisdiction — the entity's jurisdiction of formation
• status — Active or Inactive
• statusDetail — the source's own status qualifier, e.g. In Good Standing, Dissolved
• filingDate — original filing date (YYYY-MM-DD; very old "General Entity" records that only have a year on file show the bare year)
• renewalDueDate — YYYY-MM-DD, when the entity is subject to annual/periodic renewal
• registeredOfficeAddress — the entity's registered office address on file
• principalExecutiveOfficeAddress — the entity's principal executive office address, when on file
• registeredAgentName — the entity's registered agent, when one is on file
• numberOfShares — authorized shares, for corporations that have this on file
• markType — for trademark/service mark records
• markholders[] — { name, address }, for trademark/service mark records
• officers[] — { title, name, address } — every officer/manager/director role the entity has on file (titles vary by entity type: Manager, President, Chief Executive Officer, Secretary, etc.)
• filingHistory[] — { filingDate, description } — every filing event on record, oldest to newest as rendered by the source
• comments — free-text notes from the registry, when present
• sourceUrl — the entity's own detail-page URL on mblsportal.sos.mn.gov
• recordType: "business", scrapedAt

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
mode	string	byBusinessName	byBusinessName / byFileNumber
businessName	string	Target	Business/entity name to search for (mode=byBusinessName)
matchType	string	BeginsWith	BeginsWith / Contains — how businessName is matched (mode=byBusinessName)
status	string	Active	Active / Inactive — filing status filter (mode=byBusinessName)
includePriorNames	boolean	false	Also match businesses' former/prior registered names (mode=byBusinessName)
fileNumber	string	–	The entity's Minnesota file number (mode=byFileNumber, required)
maxItems	int	10	Hard cap on emitted records (1–100)

Example: search by business name (begins with)

{
  "mode": "byBusinessName",
  "businessName": "Target",
  "matchType": "BeginsWith",
  "status": "Active",
  "maxItems": 10
}

Example: search anywhere in the name, including inactive filings

{
  "mode": "byBusinessName",
  "businessName": "Historical Society",
  "matchType": "Contains",
  "status": "Active",
  "includePriorNames": true,
  "maxItems": 25
}

Example: lookup by file number

{
  "mode": "byFileNumber",
  "fileNumber": "1K-1056"
}

Use cases

• Due diligence — confirm a counterparty's Minnesota entity type, status, and registered agent before contracting
• Compliance & KYC — cross-check a business's legal entity name and file number against the state's own records
• Officer/manager research — see who's listed as an entity's manager, president, or CEO
• Company name availability checks — see what similarly-named entities already exist before choosing a new name
• Trademark research — look up who holds a Minnesota state-registered trademark or service mark
• Historical/legal research — pull an entity's complete filing history (amendments, terminations, reinstatements)

FAQ

What's the data source? The Minnesota Secretary of State's own free public Business Filings Online search at mblsportal.sos.mn.gov. This actor is an independent third-party tool and is not affiliated with the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State.

Is this data official / legally binding? No. For an official Certificate of Good Standing or certified copies, use the Secretary of State's own paid ordering channels (see the source site). This actor returns the same free informational data the public search page shows.

What's the difference between BeginsWith and Contains? They mirror the source search form's own "Search Scope" radio buttons exactly: BeginsWith matches names starting with your query; Contains matches your query appearing anywhere in the name.

Why do some records have an officers array with a Manager title and others have President or Chief Executive Officer? Minnesota's registry records different officer roles depending on entity type — LLCs typically list a Manager, nonprofits a President, corporations a Chief Executive Officer. This actor captures whichever roles the source actually has on file for each specific entity, rather than assuming one fixed role.

Why is registeredAgentName missing on some records? Not every Minnesota entity is required to have a registered agent on file (the source's own registry shows "(Optional) Currently No Agent" for these) — the field is simply omitted rather than populated with a placeholder.

Why is filingDate sometimes just a year (e.g. 1849) instead of a full date? A small number of very old "General Entity" records in Minnesota's registry predate day-level date tracking and only have a filing year on file. This actor passes through the source's own real data rather than fabricating a day/month.

What entity types are covered? Every type the source's own search returns: Business Corporations, LLCs, LLPs, LPs, Cooperatives (including Housing Cooperatives), Nonprofit Corporations, Assumed Names, Trademarks/Service Marks, Name Reservations, and General Entities — both domestic and foreign where applicable.

How fresh is the data? Real-time — the search reflects the Secretary of State's database as of the moment of the search.