Before you can use the Cognism API, your organisation must have API access enabled, available Bulk Credits, and the appropriate API Entitlements configured.
This article explains the requirements for using the Cognism API, how API Entitlements work, and how they determine the data available through the API.
Requirements
Before using the Cognism API, ensure that:
- Your Cognism subscription includes API access.
- API access has been enabled for your organisation.
- You have sufficient Bulk Credits available.
- API Entitlements have been configured for your organisation.
- You have permission to generate API tokens.
- You have reviewed the Cognism Developer Portal for the APIs you intend to use.
What are API Entitlements?
API Entitlements determine which Cognism data can be accessed through the API.
Rather than returning every available field, the API only returns data included in your organisation's entitlement.
Depending on your subscription, your API entitlement may include fields such as:
- Email addresses
- Mobile phone numbers
- Direct dial numbers
- Job titles
- Management level
- Seniority
- Job functions
- Company information
- Technologies
- Hiring data
- Skills
- Education
- Previous employment
- Company revenue
- Company size
- Company locations
Only fields included in your entitlement are returned when redeeming records through the API.
How are API Entitlements configured?
API Entitlements are configured during your API implementation.
The data available to your organisation is determined by your subscription and business requirements.
Note: API Entitlements are configured by the Cognism Provisioning team following approval from your Account Manager. If you require access to additional data fields, contact your Account Manager to discuss updating your API entitlement.
Bulk Credits
The Cognism API uses Bulk Credits when redeeming contact records.
Bulk Credits are required to retrieve full contact profiles using the Redeem API.
Search and Enrich APIs allow you to preview matching records without consuming Bulk Credits.
For more information, see Authentication & Bulk Credits.
Developer requirements
To build an integration using the Cognism API, you'll also need:
- An API token for authentication.
- A system capable of making REST API requests.
- Access to the Cognism Developer Portal for endpoint specifications and request examples.
Any programming language, ETL platform, or integration tool that supports REST APIs can be used to integrate with the Cognism API.
Before you start building
We recommend completing the following steps before writing your integration:
- Confirm API access has been enabled.
- Verify your API Entitlements.
- Generate an API token.
- Review the endpoint documentation in the Cognism Developer Portal.
- Test your authentication before making production API calls.