🔔 DC Basic Business Licenses

One record per DC Basic Business License (category/type, status, effective/expiry dates, premise address, entity + owner/agent names, ward) from the official DC DCRA open-data ArcGIS feed. Licence category/status/dates and addresses carried verbatim.

Public, robots-honoured.

Output is one dc_basic_business_license row per result; billing is pay-per-event, the value event being one registry record (a $0.02 start fee per run, then $0.02 per registry record). Source: maps2.dcgis.dc.gov.

No login, no API key and no CAPTCHA solving are involved: the source is read logged-out with an identified contact User-Agent.

📊 Sample Output

Real rows from run Y4w6Ad90FYYGKH6ne on build 0.1.4 (2026-09-18), the same input as the Quick start below — every value is as the source published it (emails masked, long text shortened):

customer_number	license_type	license_status_date	initial_issue_date	business_activity	premise_address
500624000099	Business License	2024-08-29	2024-02-06	Two Family Rental	815 E ST SE, WASHINGTON, DC, 20003, USA
400224000353	Business License	2024-03-01	2024-03-01	Charitable Solicitation	1140 CONNECTICUT AVE NW, 1200, WASHINGTON, DC, 20036, USA
39400991	Business License	2010-10-04	2010-10-04	Restaurant	1050 30TH ST NW, WASHINGTON, DC, 20007, USA
39902200	Business License	2010-10-05	1999-04-27	Delicatessen	327 7TH ST SE, WASHINGTON, DC, 20003, USA
500525002592	Business License	2025-06-21	2025-06-20	One Family Rental	627 HARVARD ST NW, Washington, DC, 20001, USA
400312001139	Business License	2026-03-13	2012-04-26	General Business	2300 N ST NW, 6135, WASHINGTON, DC, 20037, USA
65002525	Individual License	2026-03-06	2005-05-13	Motor Vehicle Salesperson	5917 GEORGIA AVE NW, WASHINGTON, DC, 20011, USA
420316000432	Individual License	2026-06-26	2016-08-24	Home Improvement Salesperson	1508 17TH ST NW, WASHINGTON, DC, 20036, USA

The run finished with the status message: NORMAL: 50 unique rows (0 duplicates collapsed). billable=50

✅ What you get

Each row is flat JSON with these fields (from the dataset schema and the sample run; a field the source does not publish for a given row is null):

• record_type (string) — e.g. dc_basic_business_license
• customer_number (string/null) — e.g. 500624000099
• license_status (string/null) — e.g. Active
• license_type (string/null) — e.g. Business License
• license_subtype (string/null) — null in every sample row
• license_status_date (string/null) — e.g. 2024-08-29
• license_start_date (string/null) — e.g. 2023-01-01
• license_end_date (string/null) — e.g. 2026-12-31
• initial_issue_date (string/null) — e.g. 2024-02-06
• primary_activity (string/null) — null in every sample row
• business_activity (string/null) — e.g. Two Family Rental
• premise_address (string/null) — e.g. 815 E ST SE, WASHINGTON, DC, 20003, USA
• entity_name (string/null) — e.g. Diem Trang Doan Nguyen
• entity_trade_name (string/null) — e.g. .
• entity_type (string/null) — e.g. Sole Proprietorship
• owner_first_name (string/null) — e.g. Diem Trang
• owner_last_name (string/null) — e.g. Nguyen
• agent_first_name (string/null) — e.g. Hung
• agent_last_name (string/null) — e.g. Nguyen
• ward (string/null) — e.g. Ward 6
• district (string/null) — e.g. FIRST
• data_refreshed_on (string/null) — e.g. 2026-09-18
• source (string/null) — e.g. dc-basic-business-licenses
• release_date (string/null) — null in every sample row
• source_url (string/null) — e.g. https://maps2.dcgis.dc.gov/dcgis/rest/services/FEEDS/DCRA/FeatureServer/0
• observed_at (string/null) — e.g. 2026-09-18T19:42:13Z
• terminal (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• reported_total (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• raw_seen (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• duplicates (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• unique_found (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• delivered (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• scope (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• note (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• license (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row
• attribution (string/integer/null) — null in every sample row

What you get

One registry_record per entity, deduplicated on the source-native id. Fields the source does not publish are honest null. A run_receipt row carries the source URL, scope, reconciliation counts, and delivered/duplicate totals.

⚙️ Sample inputs

1. Quick start — the Store example (this is what the sample above came from)

{
  "maxRecords": 50
}

The sample run charged exactly: 2 × $0.02 apify-actor-start + 50 × $0.02 registry_record = $1.04 on the Free tier — every delivered row was billed.

2. A smaller, narrowed run

{
  "maxRecords": 5
}

Caps the run at 5 rows — about $0.12 on the Free tier ($0.02 start + 5 × $0.02).

3. A full-size run

{
  "maxRecords": 5000
}

Up to 5000 rows (the schema default for maxRecords) — about $100.02 on the Free tier ($0.02 start + 5000 × $0.02) if the source has that many.

🧾 JSON sample record

One real record from run Y4w6Ad90FYYGKH6ne, exactly as it lands in the dataset (emails masked, long text shortened):

{
  "record_type": "dc_basic_business_license",
  "customer_number": "500624000099",
  "license_status": "Active",
  "license_type": "Business License",
  "license_subtype": null,
  "license_status_date": "2024-08-29",
  "license_start_date": "2023-01-01",
  "license_end_date": "2026-12-31",
  "initial_issue_date": "2024-02-06",
  "primary_activity": null,
  "business_activity": "Two Family Rental",
  "premise_address": "815 E ST SE, WASHINGTON, DC, 20003, USA",
  "entity_name": "Diem Trang Doan Nguyen",
  "entity_trade_name": null,
  "entity_type": "Sole Proprietorship",
  "owner_first_name": "Diem Trang",
  "owner_last_name": "Nguyen",
  "agent_first_name": "Hung",
  "agent_last_name": "Nguyen",
  "ward": "Ward 6",
  "district": "FIRST",
  "data_refreshed_on": "2026-09-18",
  "source": "dc-basic-business-licenses",
  "release_date": null,
  "source_url": "https://maps2.dcgis.dc.gov/dcgis/rest/services/FEEDS/DCRA/FeatureServer/0",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-18T19:42:13Z"
}

🔧 How it works

Transport. Plain HTTPS from the Apify platform, no proxy. robots.txt is read first and a disallowed path is never fetched. Every request carries an identified contact User-Agent. Pacing: CRAWL_DELAY=0.0.

Charging. Each registry record is charged at the moment it is pushed (registry_record); a row that fails to charge is not delivered, so the dataset count always equals the charged count.

How it behaves

The DC DCRA FeatureServer layer is paged (resultOffset/resultRecordCount, OBJECTID-ordered) and returnCountOnly reconciled against delivery. Fields copied verbatim from the published attributes; nulls preserved. Streaming, bounded to maxRecords.

Source

https://maps2.dcgis.dc.gov/dcgis/rest/services/FEEDS/DCRA/FeatureServer/0

What is not done. No login, no cookie or CAPTCHA bypass, no private or personal-account data, no browser automation.

💰 Pricing example

Event	Free	Bronze	Silver	Gold
Actor Start (apify-actor-start)	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02
Registry Record (registry_record)	$0.02	$0.02	$0.02	$0.01

Worked at the live Free-tier price:

• 8 registry records: $0.02 start + 8 × $0.02 = $0.18
• 25 registry records: $0.02 start + 25 × $0.02 = $0.52
• 5000 registry records: $0.02 start + 5000 × $0.02 = $100.02

A run that delivers zero rows charges the $0.02 start fee only. A BLOCKED run (source refused) fails loud and charges no value event. The start fee is charged once per GB of run memory; the default run memory is 4096 MB.

Yield on the sample run: NORMAL: 50 unique rows (0 duplicates collapsed). billable=50. maxRecords is a hard ceiling on what is delivered and billed, never a target.

⚖️ Legal & ToS

This actor reads public, logged-out pages and feeds published by maps2.dcgis.dc.gov. It collects only what the source publishes to any visitor, keeps to the source's robots rules (checked on every run), identifies itself with a contact User-Agent, and does not access accounts, private data or anything behind authentication. Use the output in line with the source's terms and your local law; the intended use is B2B research and monitoring.

❓ FAQ

Q: Do I need an API key or a login?
A: No. The source (maps2.dcgis.dc.gov) is read logged-out; the input schema has no key field and the actor carries no secrets.

Q: Why did my run return 0 rows?
A: Read the run's status message. GENUINE_EMPTY means the source was read and had nothing in scope for your input; BLOCKED means the source refused and the run failed without billing a value event — retry later or narrow the input. A zero-row run bills the start fee only.

Q: How many rows can one run return?
A: Up to maxRecords (default 5000). Raise the cap for a bigger run; you pay per delivered row.

Q: How fresh is the data?
A: Every run reads the source live at run time; nothing is cached between runs. Put it on a schedule for a continuous feed.

Q: What formats can I export?
A: The dataset downloads as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or RSS from the run's Dataset tab or the Apify API, and any run can push to a webhook or integration.

Q: How is this different from the other NexGen Watch actors actors?
A: Same output shape and billing model; this one covers maps2.dcgis.dc.gov. The siblings under Related Actors cover the other sources or slices — run several on one schedule for a combined feed.

Q: Are there rate limits?
A: The actor paces itself against the source (CRAWL_DELAY=0.0) and honours its robots rules; there is no per-buyer limit beyond your Apify plan's concurrency.

🆘 Troubleshooting

• Run FAILED with BLOCKED → the source refused the request or changed its page shape → nothing was billed beyond the start fee; retry after a while, and if it persists open an Issue with the run id.
• Status says CAPPED → your cap (maxRecords) was reached → raise it for a bigger run.
• Input validation error on start → a field is outside the schema's allowed values → start from the Quick start block and change one field at a time.
• Run TIMED-OUT → a very wide request on a slow day → raise the run timeout in Run options or narrow the input; what was delivered before the timeout is still in the dataset.

🔗 Related Actors

• CMS Hospice Facilities — A clean, structured roster of Medicare-certified hospice facilities in the United States,
• Colorado Business Entities Master — One structured registryrecord per record from the official public source, logged-out. Public, robots-honoured
• Czech ARES Company Registry — One structured registryrecord per record from the keyless ares.gov.cz REST economic-subjects API, logged-out. Public, logged-out, robots-honoured
• Estonia Company Registry (bulk) — One structured registryrecord per record from the official public source, logged-out. Public, robots-honoured, keyless
• Ireland CRO Company Records — One structured registryrecord per record from the official public source, logged-out. Public, robots-honoured
• Ireland CRO Financial Statement Filings — One structured registryrecord per record from the official public source, logged-out. Public, robots-honoured
• 🏢 About NexGenData — NexGen Watch is NexGenData's fleet of 256 public monitoring and lookup actors built on official sources, pay-per-result. Browse the catalog at apify.com/nexgenwatch.

⭐ Found this useful?

If this actor saved you a manual check, a quick review on the Apify Store helps other teams find it. Feature request or a source that changed? Open it from the Issues tab — every one is read.