California SoS Business Scraper - bizfileOnline Company Data & Agent

Extract official company data from the California Secretary of State business registry (bizfileOnline) - the registry of every corporation, LLC, and LP in the largest US state - by company name or entity/file number, as structured JSON. Each record gives status, standing, entity type, formation date, and the registered agent for service of process. The official CALICO API is key-gated and capped; this actor is the open API, and you never bring your own state API key.

No login, no API key, nothing to configure - a search term in, structured records out.

What data do you get?

One record per entity - including the registered agent that lighter scrapers omit:

{
  "name": "TESLA MOTORS CLUB LLC",
  "entityNumber": "201313510058",
  "status": "Terminated",
  "standing": "Good Standing",
  "entityType": "Limited Liability Company - CA",
  "formedIn": "CALIFORNIA",
  "initialFilingDate": "05/13/2013",
  "registeredAgent": "CALIFORNIA CORPORATE AGENTS, INC.",
  "jurisdiction": "California, USA",
  "source": "California SoS bizfileOnline (bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov)",
  "sourceUrl": "https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business",
  "searchQuery": "Tesla Motors",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-28T00:00:00.000Z"
}

How much does it cost?

Pay per result - you are not charged for Apify platform usage, only per entity record. See the Pricing tab on this page for the current figure. The free Apify plan returns a small preview; upgrade for full, uncapped results. No subscription, no minimum.

Is it legal, and where does the data come from?

Data comes from the official California Secretary of State bizfileOnline registry at bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov. California business-entity records are public records; this actor reads the open public search and does not log in or bypass any paywall. Scraping public US business records is well-established (public records; post-Van Buren / hiQ v. LinkedIn). Use the data lawfully for KYC/AML, due-diligence, and B2B purposes.

How do I use it?

Click Try it and search by company name:

{ "searchQueries": ["Tesla"] }

For an exact single entity, use the California entity/file number ({ "searchQueries": ["3814816"] }). You can mix names and numbers in one searchQueries array.

Daily feed of new California filings (beta)

Switch What to do to New filings and the actor delivers every newly approved California entity - LLCs, corporations, LPs, nonprofits and out-of-state registrations - as a feed you can schedule daily. Each run continues from where the previous one stopped, so nothing is missed and nothing is delivered twice.

{ "mode": "newFilings", "startEntityNumber": "B20260403469" }

• First run: set startEntityNumber to the California entity number to start from (entity numbers are issued in order, B + year + 7 digits). Every later run picks up automatically from the saved position, which lives in a key-value store in your Apify account (stateStoreName, default california-new-filings).
• Freshness: the registry approves most online filings within one to three business days of submission. Filings that are submitted but not yet approved are re-checked on the next runs until they appear; whatever is never approved is dropped after three weeks.
• Volume: California issues roughly 1,500-2,000 entity numbers per business day. A daily schedule at the default maxNumbersPerRun keeps up; if a run reaches its cap or its time limit, the next run continues from the same spot.
• Name reservations share the number sequence but are not businesses; they are skipped and not billed unless includeNameReservations is on.
• Billing: the same per-record price as a search - you pay only for the filings delivered, never for the numbers checked.

Set it up once: create a Task with the input above, add a Schedule (daily, e.g. 06:00 America/Los_Angeles), and read each day's dataset via the API, an export, or an n8n / Make / Zapier integration.

Input options

Field	Type	Description
mode	string	search (default) looks up the terms below; newFilings runs the daily feed described above.
searchQueries	array	Company names or entity/file numbers. The registry serves at most 500 matches per term - when a search hits that ceiling the run tells you the list is incomplete and asks you to narrow the name, rather than presenting a partial list as the whole answer.
maxResultsPerQuery	integer	Cap per query (0 = no limit). Default 50.
startEntityNumber	string	New filings, first run only: the entity number to start from (e.g. B20260403469).
maxNumbersPerRun	integer	New filings: entity numbers checked per run. Default 2500.
includeNameReservations	boolean	New filings: also deliver name reservations. Default false.
restartFromStartNumber	boolean	New filings: discard the saved position and start again from startEntityNumber.
stateStoreName	string	New filings: key-value store that keeps the position between runs. Default california-new-filings.

What you can do with it

• KYC / KYB onboarding - verify a California entity's existence, status, and standing from a name or entity number.
• Registered-agent intelligence - pull the agent for service of process (for legal, compliance, or sales).
• Due diligence - check status (Active / Suspended / Dissolved) and good standing.
• Lead generation & market research - map California entities by type and formation date.

Run it from code

# cURL - start a run and get the dataset back
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/regdata~california-sos-business-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "searchQueries": ["Tesla"] }'

// Node.js - apify-client
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';
const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('regdata/california-sos-business-scraper').call({ searchQueries: ['Tesla'] });
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

# Python - apify-client
from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient("YOUR_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("regdata/california-sos-business-scraper").call(run_input={"searchQueries": ["Tesla"]})
items = client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).list_items().items

Integrations

Runs anywhere Apify does: call it from the REST API, schedule recurring checks, pipe results into n8n / Make / Zapier, or use it from any MCP client (Claude, Cursor) via mcp.apify.com.

FAQ

Is it legal? Yes. California business-entity records are public. This actor reads the open public search only. Scraping public US business records is well-established (post-Van Buren / hiQ). Use the data lawfully for KYC/AML and due-diligence purposes.

Do I need a state API key, an account, or a proxy? No - none of them. Unlike tools built on the key-gated CALICO API, you never register for or supply a state key. Just an Apify account.

Does it return the registered agent? Yes - the agent for service of process is included, which lighter scrapers omit.

How do I look up one exact entity? Use the California entity/file number as the search query.

What export formats are supported? JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML, or read live via the API.

Related actors

Part of a suite of official government registry actors - no public API to build or maintain, pay per result, nothing to configure.

Country	Actors
Poland	BDO · CRBR · KRS (financials) · EKW · KNF · KRS (board) · KRZ · MSiG · KYB check · PEP (Sejm) · REGON (sites) · REGON · UOKiK
Germany	Insolvenzbekanntmachungen · Handelsregister
Spain	BORME · Registro Mercantil · Registro Público Concursal
Italy	INI-PEC · Registro Imprese
Austria	Ediktsdatei · WKO
France	Societe.com
Belgium	KBO / BCE
Czechia	ISIR
Slovakia	RPVS
Cyprus	DRCOR
Ireland	CRO
Portugal	Publicações MJ
Nigeria	CAC
Colombia	RUES
USA	California SoS (this actor) · California UCC
UAE	ADGM
Global	Adverse media

Common combinations: company register -> UBO -> insolvency/debtors -> adverse media is the standard KYB/onboarding chain.

For Poland that whole chain is one call: Poland KYB Risk Check takes a NIP or KRS and returns identity, beneficial owners and insolvency - screened against the company and every beneficial owner - as a single verdict. The component registry lookups it runs bill as usual, plus a small orchestration fee.

Full suite: apify.com/regdata · Callable from any MCP client via mcp.apify.com