Use New Jersey Business Registry Lookup & Name Checker with Python

Look up New Jersey registered businesses by name, keyword or entity ID, and check whether a candidate business name is available for a new filing. Returns entity ID, entity type, city and incorporation date.

1. Choose the data you need

Review the published README for supported collection modes, examples, and limits. The recipe below uses the current published input definition.

2. Prepare a source-based input

This JSON contains published prefills and required-field defaults. Review every value for your task before running it; it is not a promise of successful collection.

{
  "businessNames": [
    "Amazon"
  ],
  "cityFilter": "",
  "entityIds": [],
  "entityTypes": [],
  "keywordSearches": [],
  "linkType": "principal",
  "maxItems": 1,
  "mode": "byName"
}

Download input.example.json and save your reviewed copy as input.json.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`mode`	string	required	What to fetch.
`businessNames`	array	optional	One or more names (mode=byName, availability). Name search is a prefix match: 'Amazon' finds names starting with Amazon, and a leading 'The' is ignored. Availability checks need a base name without a designator (no LLC, Inc., Corp., etc.) and at least 4 effective characters. Up to 50 names.
`keywordSearches`	array	optional	One or more keyword phrases (mode=byKeyword). Each phrase is split into words, and every word must appear in the business name; up to 5 words per phrase and 20 phrases.
`entityIds`	array	optional	Exact 10-digit New Jersey entity IDs (mode=byEntityId, documents). Invalid IDs are reported in the run status instead of being dropped silently. Up to 200 IDs.
`linkType`	string	optional	Which free Business Records Service search to use (mode=byLinkedName).
`linkedName`	string	optional	Last name, business name, registered-agent name, or previous/alternate name to search (mode=byLinkedName).
`linkedFirstName`	string	optional	Optional first name when linkType=principal (mode=byLinkedName).
`linkedMiddleName`	string	optional	Optional middle name when linkType=principal (mode=byLinkedName).
`linkedCity`	string	optional	Optional city filter for principal or registered-agent searches (mode=byLinkedName).
`entityTypes`	array	optional	Keep only these New Jersey entity types. Empty means no filter. Filters run on every page, not only after the 500-row display cap.
`cityFilter`	string	optional	Keep only businesses whose on-file city matches exactly (case-insensitive). Leave blank for all cities.
`maxItems`	integer	optional	Hard cap on emitted records (1-500, the source's display limit). Applied exactly, including when it is above 200.

3. Start an Actor run

Set APIFY_TOKEN in your environment. Python 3.10 or newer is sufficient; this recipe uses no third-party packages.

Execution may incur charges. Review current pricing on Apify. The request asks for a 120-second timeout and a charge limit; these settings are subject to Apify’s pricing and do not guarantee an all-inclusive spending cap.

import json
import os
import urllib.request

# Save the schema-derived example as input.json; review and edit it first.
with open("input.json", encoding="utf-8") as stream:
    actor_input = json.load(stream)

token = os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"]
request = urllib.request.Request(
    "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/b9tHhO0tvAYzBlP9Y/runs?timeout=120&maxTotalChargeUsd=0.50",
    data=json.dumps(actor_input).encode("utf-8"),
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer " + token, "Content-Type": "application/json"},
    method="POST",
)
# This starts a potentially billable run. Do not automatically retry this POST.
with urllib.request.urlopen(request, timeout=40) as response:
    run = json.load(response)["data"]
print("Run ID:", run["id"])
print("Status:", run["status"])
# Inspect and download results in Apify Console once the run succeeds.

4. Inspect the actual results

Open the run in Apify Console and wait for a successful completion. Use the published output schema to locate results and the dataset schema to understand declared views. Missing or optional record fields must not be treated as guaranteed values.

New Jersey registered-business records, name-availability results and free document indexes. Business records include the entity ID, entity type, city and incorporation date/month plus search provenance; availability records include similar names; document-index records list each orderable document and its filing year.

Questions before you run

Which inputs are required?

The published required fields are mode

What does this guide verify?

The fields, prefills, and schema links are rendered from the published build. This is a usage recipe, not a paid live extraction test. Source availability and collection results can vary.

What if the run request times out?

Check Apify Console before retrying. The first request may already have created a run. Do not automatically repeat a run-creation POST.

Open on Apify Full Actor reference

Generated from source build yzCQPRFfa7uWBW40K and its README and schemas. Source changes regenerate this guide; no third-party editorial claims are inferred.