New York Business Entity Search & Filing History

Search the New York Department of State business registry by legal name, DOS ID number or assumed name (DBA). The actor returns live active, inactive and suspended entities with their registration details, registered agent, CEO and addresses, stock information, and optional name, filing, merger and assumed-name history. No login, account or proxy is required.

What this actor does

• 12 search modes: entity name, DOS ID, assumed name, assumed name ID, registered agent, county, entity type, jurisdiction of formation, city, officer/CEO, ZIP code and service-of-process state
• Live status: active, inactive and suspended entities, with status dates and the reason recorded by the Department of State
• Full detail: section of law, statement status and next due date, service-of-process and principal-office addresses, CEO, registered agent, e-service status, foreign formation details and stock/share information
• Optional history: name changes, filing timeline, mergers and assumed names for every record
• Agency and location coverage: registered agent, officer and business-location fields are merged in for active entities when the state's open-data feed carries them
• Filtering and ordering: entity-type categories, formation-date range, multiple search terms and newest / oldest / name sorting
• Empty fields are omitted — records never contain nulls or placeholder values

Data source and limitations

The records come from the New York Department of State's public business-entity registry and its official open-data publication of active corporations. Entity names, DOS IDs and statuses are informational, not certified. For a certified Certificate of Status or certified copies, order them from the Department of State.

• 300-row search cap: each name search returns at most 300 rows. Broad terms are automatically split by status, entity-type category and name prefix, but an extremely broad term can still be partial. Narrow the term or use a longer prefix for complete coverage.
• Active-only browse modes: registered agent, county, exact entity type, jurisdiction, city, officer, ZIP and state browsing cover active entities only. Use name, assumed-name or DOS-ID search to reach inactive and suspended entities.
• Sparse fields: CEO, registered agent and business-location information are on file for a minority of entities, and the open-data feed covers active entities only, so those fields are less common on inactive records. They are omitted when absent rather than shown as blank.
• No documents: filing history lists document type, date, file number, page count and amendment notes. The actor does not download filing PDFs or images.

Output per entity

Identity and status

• entityName — legal entity name
• idNumber — New York DOS ID number
• entityType — exact entity type, e.g. DOMESTIC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
• entityTypeCategory — CORPORATION, LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, LIMITED PARTNERSHIP or LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP (derived from the exact entity type when the source omits it)
• nameType — ACTUAL or ASSUMED NAME
• status — Active, Inactive or Suspended
• formationDate — original DOS filing date (YYYY-MM-DD)
• effectiveFilingDate — effective date of the initial filing
• county, counties — county (or counties, for a multi-county assumed name)
• jurisdiction — state, province or country of formation
• assumedName, assumedNameId — DBA name and its ID
• publicUrl — a public company-registry page for the DOS ID (OpenCorporates)

Registration detail (with includeDetails)

• sectionOfLaw — section of law the entity is registered under
• statementStatus, nextStatementDueDate — biennial-statement status and due date
• inactiveDate, reasonForStatus — when and why the entity became inactive
• foreignFormationDate, foreignLegalName, fictitiousName
• durationDate, latestDissolutionDate, nfpCategory, farmCorpFlag
• serviceOfProcessName, serviceOfProcessAddress — who receives legal process, with a structured address
• principalAddress, principalCity, principalState, principalZip
• principalExecutiveAddress — principal executive office, structured
• ceoName, ceoAddress — chief executive officer on file
• registeredAgentName, registeredAgentAddress — registered agent
• officerName, officerAddress — chairman/CEO on file
• businessLocationName, businessLocationAddress, locationName, locationAddress
• electronicServiceOfProcessStatus, electronicServiceOfProcessEmail
• stockShares[] — {stockType, parValue, quantity}

History (with includeHistory)

• nameHistory[] — {entityName, documentType, fileDate, fileNumber}
• filingHistory[] — {documentType, amendmentDescription, fileDate, fileNumber, pageCount}
• mergerHistory[] — {documentType, survivorResultEntity, constituents, fileDate, fileNumber}
• assumedNames[] — {assumedName, assumedNameId, status, fileDate}

Metadata

• sourceUrl — the entity's record in the state's open-data feed (active entities)
• recordType: "entity", scrapedAt

Input

Field	Type	Default	Description
mode	string	byEntityName	One of the 12 search modes
entityName	string	AMAZON	Legal name (mode=byEntityName)
entityNameMatchType	string	startsWith	startsWith / contains / exact
idNumbers	array	–	DOS ID numbers; entity-page URLs accepted
assumedName	string	–	DBA name (mode=byAssumedName)
assumedNameMatchType	string	contains	startsWith / contains
assumedNameId	string	–	Exact DBA ID (mode=byAssumedNameId)
agentName	string	–	Registered agent (mode=byRegisteredAgent, active only)
agentMatchType	string	contains	startsWith / contains
county	string	New York	One of the 62 NY counties (mode=byCounty, active only)
entityType	string	DOMESTIC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY	Exact entity type (mode=byEntityType, active only)
jurisdiction	string	Delaware	Formation jurisdiction (mode=byJurisdiction, active only)
city	string	BROOKLYN	Service-of-process city (mode=byCity, active only)
cityMatchType	string	startsWith	startsWith / contains
officerName	string	–	Officer/CEO (mode=byOfficerName, active only)
officerMatchType	string	contains	startsWith / contains
zipCode	string	10001	Service-of-process ZIP (mode=byZipCode, active only)
state	string	NY	Service-of-process state code (mode=byState, active only)
entityStatus	string	Active	AllStatuses / Active / Inactive / Suspended (official name and assumed-name modes)
entityTypeCategories	array	all	Any of the four DOS categories
includeDetails	boolean	true	Fetch the full registration detail
includeHistory	boolean	false	Fetch name, filing, merger and assumed-name history
sortBy	string	source	source / newest / oldest / name
searchTerms	array	–	Extra names or DOS IDs searched in the same run
formationDateFrom	string	–	YYYY-MM-DD, all modes
formationDateTo	string	–	YYYY-MM-DD, all modes
maxItems	int	25	Hard cap (1–5000)

Example: inactive entities with full history

{
  "mode": "byEntityName",
  "entityName": "AMAZON",
  "entityNameMatchType": "contains",
  "entityStatus": "Inactive",
  "includeDetails": true,
  "includeHistory": true,
  "maxItems": 25
}

Example: find every business using a DBA

{
  "mode": "byAssumedName",
  "assumedName": "AMAZON FRESH",
  "assumedNameMatchType": "contains",
  "entityStatus": "AllStatuses",
  "includeDetails": true,
  "maxItems": 25
}

Example: look up specific DOS IDs

{
  "mode": "byIdentificationNumber",
  "idNumbers": ["4809335", "4282851", "5561845"],
  "includeDetails": true,
  "includeHistory": true
}

Example: browse active entities by county and date

{
  "mode": "byCounty",
  "county": "Kings",
  "formationDateFrom": "2024-01-01",
  "formationDateTo": "2024-12-31",
  "sortBy": "newest",
  "maxItems": 100
}

Example: foreign entities formed in England

{
  "mode": "byJurisdiction",
  "jurisdiction": "ENGLAND",
  "maxItems": 50
}

Use cases

• Due diligence and KYC — confirm legal name, DOS ID, formation date and current status before signing or onboarding a vendor
• Compliance and litigation research — trace prior names, mergers and filing history for a New York entity
• Registered-agent research — find the active entities a specific agent represents in New York
• DBA and brand research — find the legal entity behind a storefront, brand or trade name
• Lead lists — build active-business lists by county, ZIP code, entity type or formation date
• Name availability — check existing names and DBAs before forming a new entity

FAQ

Where does the data come from? The New York Department of State's public business-entity registry, plus its official open-data publication of active corporations. This is an independent tool and is not affiliated with the State of New York.

Is this data official or legally binding? No. It is the same free informational data the Department of State publishes. For a certified Certificate of Status or certified copies, order them from the Department of State.

What do the statuses mean? Active means the entity is current with the Department of State. Inactive means it was dissolved, terminated or otherwise ended, and Suspended means it is not in good standing. The reasonForStatus and inactiveDate fields explain an inactive record.

Why did my broad name search stop at 300 rows? The state search returns at most 300 rows per query. The actor automatically splits broad searches by status, entity-type category and name prefix, but a very broad term can still be partial. Use a longer prefix or a narrower term.

Why are agent, CEO or business-location fields missing on some records? Those fields are on file for only a minority of entities. The active-only open-data feed adds them for some active entities; inactive records usually only carry the official registration detail. Missing fields are omitted, never shown as blank.

Why does exact return fewer results than expected? Exact mode filters the candidates returned by the state search. If the prefix itself is capped at 300 rows, the exact entity may not be among the returned candidates; use a full name with startsWith or reset the status filter.

How fresh is the data? Status, detail and history come from the live registry. The supplementary agent/location feed is refreshed periodically by the state, so those fields can lag the live record.

Does history include filing documents? No. History lists document type, date, file number, page count and amendment notes. Filing PDFs and images are ordered separately from the Department of State.

Do I need an API key or proxy? No. The actor works out of the box with no account, key, cookie or proxy configuration.