# Vehicle VIN Decoder, Recall Campaigns & Safety Ratings — NHTSA (`jarek090/vehicle-vin-recalls-safety`) Actor

Decode VINs with official NHTSA vPIC data and optionally add model-level recall campaigns and crash-test safety ratings. No upstream API key required.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/jarek090/vehicle-vin-recalls-safety.md
- **Developed by:** [Jaroslaw Antolak](https://apify.com/jarek090) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.50 / 1,000 vehicle results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Vehicle VIN Decoder, Recall Campaigns & Safety Ratings — NHTSA

Decode one or more VINs using the official US NHTSA vPIC data and optionally add recall campaigns and crash-test safety-rating variants for the decoded year/make/model.

**No upstream account or API key is required.**

### What it returns

- make, model, model year, trim, body, engine, fuel and drivetrain fields when encoded/reported,
- manufacturing and selected EV / ADAS fields,
- VIN decode errors / validation text from NHTSA,
- optional **model-level recall campaigns** for the decoded year/make/model,
- optional NHTSA crash-test vehicle variants and ratings when available.

### Important safety scope

The public recalls API used here returns campaigns for a year/make/model. It is **not a VIN-specific unrepaired-recall determination**. For safety-critical decisions, use the official NHTSA VIN recall lookup or the manufacturer.

The public NHTSA safety API is not intended for bulk VIN lookups. This Actor caps public-API mode at 10 VINs per run and performs requests sequentially; larger-scale decoding should use the downloadable vPIC standalone database instead of the public API.

### Monetization

PAY\_PER\_EVENT event: `vehicle-result`.
Apex launch test price: **$0.0015 per delivered VIN result**.

# Actor input Schema

## `vin` (type: `string`):

One VIN. You can alternatively provide the VINs array.

## `vins` (type: `array`):

One or more VINs, maximum 10 per public-API run.

## `modelYear` (type: `integer`):

Optional model-year hint for partial/ambiguous decoding.

## `includeRecallCampaigns` (type: `boolean`):

When enabled, add NHTSA recall campaigns matched to the decoded vehicle year, make, and model.

## `includeSafetyRatings` (type: `boolean`):

When enabled, add available NHTSA crash-test safety ratings matched to the decoded vehicle.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "includeRecallCampaigns": true,
  "includeSafetyRatings": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("jarek090/vehicle-vin-recalls-safety").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("jarek090/vehicle-vin-recalls-safety").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call jarek090/vehicle-vin-recalls-safety --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,jarek090/vehicle-vin-recalls-safety"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/0FqFn0sOioA9YuXT3/builds/Hf8eWprx4P7i2JSVP/openapi.json