Washington DOL License Lookup Scraper

Scrape Washington State's Department of Licensing (DOL) License Lookup, the state's unified professional and business license verification tool covering 35 license categories in one search — Real Estate, Notary Public, Cosmetology, Engineers, Architects, Private Investigators, Bail Bonds, Auctioneers, Home Inspectors, and more. Look up an exact license number within a profession and get licensee/business name, license number, credential type, status, and issue/expiration dates. No login required.

What this actor does

• 35 license categories in one tool — the key differentiator vs. single-profession state actors
• Exact license-number lookup, scoped to a profession category (the same number can independently exist under different professions)
• Batch lookup: pass a list of license numbers via licenseNumbers to check a whole roster in one run (all within the same profession)
• Detail enrichment (optional): current issue date, original (first) issue date, expiration date, state, ZIP code
• Filters: license status, Washington county
• Empty fields are omitted — every record only contains fields DOL actually returned

Output per license record

• licenseeType — Individual or Business, DOL's own record-type classification
• licenseeName — for individual licensees, or businessName for business/firm licenses
• firstName, middleName, lastName, priorName — for individual licensees, when on file
• licenseNumber — the numeric license identifier
• licenseUniqueId — the number plus credential type (DOL's own composite key)
• credentialType — e.g. Notary Public, Real Estate Broker, Cosmetologist
• profession — the license category searched
• status — Active / Inactive / Expired / Suspended / Revoked / Canceled
• statusCategory — normalized: active / inactive / expired / suspended / revoked / canceled
• subStatus — e.g. Deceased, when on file
• hasDisciplinaryAction — boolean
• issueDate, originalIssueDate, expirationDate
• city, county, state, zip
• employeeFirm — sponsoring firm/employer, when on file
• relatedLicenseUniqueId — a linked license record, when applicable
• sourceUrl — the DOL license-lookup portal URL
• recordType: "license", scrapedAt

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
profession	string	Notary Public	License category to search within (35 options)
licenseNumber	string	9999	Exact license number to look up
licenseNumbers	array	–	Optional extra license numbers to batch-lookup in the same profession
statusFilter	string	any	any / active / inactive / expired / suspended / revoked / canceled
county	string	–	Washington county filter (40 options incl. "Out of State")
fetchDetails	boolean	true	Enrich each result with its detail record (dates, ZIP, state)
maxItems	int	10	Hard cap (1–50). A single lookup typically returns 1–2 records; raise for batches

Example: look up a notary commission

{
  "profession": "Notary Public",
  "licenseNumber": "9999"
}

Example: look up a real estate license, active only

{
  "profession": "Real Estate",
  "licenseNumber": "20512345",
  "statusFilter": "active"
}

Example: look up a business/firm license

{
  "profession": "Cosmetology",
  "licenseNumber": "9999",
  "fetchDetails": true
}

Example: batch-check a roster of notary commissions

{
  "profession": "Notary Public",
  "licenseNumber": "9999",
  "licenseNumbers": ["10000", "10001", "10002"],
  "maxItems": 20
}

Use cases

• Employment & vendor screening — confirm a professional's license is active before engaging them
• Compliance teams — verify notary commissions, real estate licenses, or contractor credentials
• Consumer protection — check a private investigator, security guard company, or home inspector's status
• Due diligence — pull disciplinary-action flags and expiration dates for a known license number
• Real estate & title — verify a broker's or firm's license before closing

FAQ

What is the data source? The Washington State Department of Licensing's public License Lookup tool (professions.dol.wa.gov). Data is refreshed every morning by 6am Pacific.

Is this affiliated with the Washington State Department of Licensing? No. This is an independent third-party actor that uses DOL's public license-lookup feature.

Why do I need to know the license number in advance? DOL's public license-lookup tool offers two search paths: an exact license-number lookup (used by this actor) and a separate "Advanced Search" by name/county, which DOL gates behind a visible Google reCAPTCHA challenge that must be solved by a human in a browser. This actor does not use paid CAPTCHA-solving services, so only the exact license-number path is automated. If you don't already have the license number, look up the licensee by name once at professions.dol.wa.gov, then use this actor for structured/repeat lookups by number.

Why does the same license number sometimes return two records? A license number is scoped to a profession category but not to individual-vs-business record type — some categories (e.g. Cosmetology) issue the same number to both an individual license and a business license independently. The actor returns every match.

Why are some fields missing on certain records? Business licenses don't have a licenseeName/firstName/lastName; individual licenses don't have a businessName. Detail-only fields (dates, state, ZIP) only appear when fetchDetails is enabled.

How fresh is the data? DOL states its license-lookup data is updated every morning by 6am and may not reflect same-day changes.

Can this be used for commercial purposes? Per Washington's Revised Code of Washington (RCW 42.56), use of lists of individuals from this public record for commercial purposes is prohibited. This actor is intended for individual license-verification lookups, not for building mailing/marketing lists.