Washington DC

Data Sources
Company Identifiers
Search Capabilities
Quirks & Gotchas
Mappings
Data Availability
Documents
Example API Responses

Data Sources

Washington DC entity data comes from two complementary sources maintained by the DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP), Business and Professional Licensing Administration (BPLA):

DC DLCP Open Data CSV (fast / onboarding mode): A daily open-data export published at opendata.dc.gov under CC BY 4.0. Covers all ~494k domestic and foreign registered entities, refreshed every day. Entity-level fields only — no principals roster.
DC CorpOnline portal (authoritative / verification mode): The live authenticated portal at corponline.dlcp.dc.gov. Returns the authoritative entity status, full principals list (governors, managers, directors, authorized representatives), registered agent, and the printable Trade Register Extract.

In onboarding mode, data is served from the DC DLCP daily open-data snapshot. It is typically up to 24 hours behind the live register. Legal representatives (principals) are not included in onboarding mode — they are only returned in verification mode, which reads the DC CorpOnline portal live.

Company Identifiers

Query Identifiers

Identifier Type	Format	Example	Notes
DC File Number	Varies — see formats below	`L00005531281`	Assigned by DC DLCP at formation or qualification

DC File Number formats:

Format	Description	Example
Modern (letter-prefix)	Single letter encoding entity type + 11 digits	`L00005531281` (LLC), `C00001234567` (corporation), `N00001000000` (non-profit), `P00002000000` (partnership)
Legacy (numeric)	Purely numeric, no letter prefix	`571294`
Fully-qualified	`US-DC-FN` prefix + digits	`US-DC-FN042602087`

The letter prefix encodes entity type, not home state — foreign entities registered in DC receive a DC file number in the same format as domestic entities. All three formats are accepted for lookups; the response always returns the primary DC file number as stored in the register.

Identifiers in API Response

Identifier	Format	Example	Found In
`fileNumber`	String	`L00005531281`	All entities

Search Capabilities

Search Type	Pattern	Example	Match Type	Expected Results
By Name	Free-text string	`"Washington Gas Light"`	Any-word	Multiple results
By DC File Number	Exact file number	`L00005531281`	Exact	Single company

Search is powered by a Meilisearch index populated from the DC DLCP daily open-data extract. Name search uses any-word matching. File number lookup returns a single result with matchReason.matchType = "id".

Quirks & Gotchas

Quirk	Details
No principals in onboarding mode	The DC DLCP open-data extract does not include the principals roster (governors, managers, directors). `legalRepresentatives` is always empty in onboarding mode — use verification mode to retrieve the full principals list.
Complex file number formats	Three distinct formats exist: modern letter-prefix (L/C/N/P + 11 digits), legacy purely-numeric, and fully-qualified (`US-DC-FN…`). The letter prefix encodes entity type, not jurisdiction of formation — all three formats are accepted for lookups.
No bulk open data for principals	The open-data CSV covers entity-level fields only. Officer/principal data is available exclusively from the live CorpOnline portal in verification mode.
No activity codes (structured)	The DC DLCP open-data extract does not include structured NAICS codes. A free-text NAICS description is available from the CorpOnline portal in verification mode, but is not surfaced as a structured `activityCodes` datapoint.
No shareholders	DC does not collect or publish equity shareholder lists for any entity type.
No UBOs	No public beneficial ownership register is available at the DC level. Federal FinCEN BOI filings are not accessible through the DC register.
No EIN / federal tax ID	The federal Employer Identification Number is not disclosed through the DC public business register.
”Active - Not in Good Standing” is still active	Entities with this status are technically still registered but have failed to meet a compliance obligation (e.g. overdue biennial report). They are returned with `active: false` by Topograph to flag the compliance gap.

Mappings

Company Status

Status is drawn directly from the DC DLCP register and mapped deterministically. No AI inference is involved. Of the 12 possible status values, exactly two indicate an entity in full good standing.

DC DLCP Status	Active	Notes
`Active - In Good Standing`	Yes	Standard compliant status
`Active - In Good Standing - Pending Domestication`	Yes	Active while a domestication conversion is pending
`Active - Not in Good Standing`	No	Registered but out of compliance (overdue filing or fee)
`Revoked`	No	Registration revoked by DLCP
`Dissolved`	No	Voluntarily or administratively dissolved
`Withdrawn`	No	Foreign entity has withdrawn its DC registration
`Merged`	No	Entity merged into another entity
`Inactive - Cancelled`	No	Inactive and cancelled
`Terminated`	No	Registration terminated
`Domesticated`	No	Entity domesticated to another jurisdiction
`Converted`	No	Entity converted to a different legal form
`Consolidated`	No	Merged via consolidation

Legal Forms

DC DLCP uses a closed list of 18 entity types. All 18 are derived from the exhaustive distinct set in the full DC DLCP open-data extract. Every entity in the register falls into exactly one of these types.

Limited Liability Companies

DC DLCP Type	Standardized	ISO 20275
Domestic Limited Liability Company	LimitedLiabilityCompany	`2HBR`
Foreign Limited Liability Company	LimitedLiabilityCompany	—

Business Corporations

DC DLCP Type	Standardized	ISO 20275
Domestic Business Corporation	Corporation	`ECSB`
Foreign Business Corporation	Corporation	—
Domestic Act of Congress Corporation	Corporation	—
Foreign Act of Congress Corporation	Corporation	—

Nonprofit Corporations

DC DLCP Type	Standardized	ISO 20275
Domestic Nonprofit Corporation	NonprofitOrganization	—
Foreign Nonprofit Corporation	NonprofitOrganization	—

Partnerships

DC DLCP Type	Standardized	ISO 20275
Domestic Limited Partnership	Partnership	`LPNL`
Foreign Limited Partnership	Partnership	—
Domestic Limited Liability Partnership	Partnership	`LLP`
Foreign Limited Liability Partnership	Partnership	—

Cooperative Associations — DC Code § 29-9

DC DLCP Type	Standardized	ISO 20275
Domestic General Cooperative Association	Other	—
Domestic Limited Cooperative Association	Other	—
Foreign General Cooperative Association	Other	—
Foreign Limited Cooperative Association	Other	—

Statutory Trusts — DC Code § 29-12

DC DLCP Type	Standardized	ISO 20275
Domestic Statutory Trust	Other	—
Foreign Statutory Trust	Other	—

ISO 20275 ELF codes are assigned by jurisdiction of formation. Foreign variants (e.g. “Foreign Limited Liability Company”) are entities formed outside DC and qualified to do business in the District — they carry no DC ISO 20275 code because the code belongs to their formation jurisdiction.

Legal Representatives

Principals are returned from the DC CorpOnline portal in verification mode only. The open-data extract does not include a principals roster. Role titles are standardized using AI enrichment — the raw title from the portal is always preserved as role.localName, and a standardized category is added where one can be inferred.

legalRepresentatives is always empty in onboarding (fast) mode. Verification (authoritative) mode returns the full principals list as filed with the DC DLCP: governors, managers, directors, and authorized representatives. Individual vs. entity type is preserved on each record. Role titles are standardized by AI enrichment; the raw portal title is always returned as role.localName.

Other Key Persons

The registered agent is returned as an Other Key Person in both onboarding and verification modes (the open-data extract includes registered agent name and address).

Role	Standardized	Notes
Registered Agent	Registered Agent	Statutory service-of-process contact; required for all DC-registered entities. Can be an individual or a corporate agent.

Data Availability

Data Point	Onboarding (fast)	Verification (authoritative)	Notes
Legal name	Yes	Yes	Current legal name
Company status	Yes	Yes	Mapped from DC DLCP status field
Registration date	Yes	Yes	Effective date of formation or qualification
Legal address	Yes	Yes	Principal office address
Legal form	Yes	Yes	From 18-type DC DLCP closed enum
Registered agent	Yes	Yes	Name and address returned as Other Key Person
Locale	Yes	—	Domestic / Foreign indicator from open-data extract
Legal representatives	No	Yes	Principals from CorpOnline portal — only in verification mode
Activity description	No	Yes	Free-text NAICS description from CorpOnline portal
Activity codes (structured)	No	No	Not available — NAICS description only
Shareholders	No	No	Not collected by the DC business register
UBOs	No	No	No public DC-level beneficial ownership register
Federal tax ID (EIN)	No	No	Not published by the DC register

Documents

Available Documents

Document	API Category	Availability	Format	Notes
Trade Register Extract	`tradeRegisterExtract`	Always available	PDF	Printed PDF of the entity’s DC CorpOnline portal detail page

The Trade Register Extract is included with the company data block at no extra charge. It is generated from the live DC CorpOnline portal detail page and covers entity information, jurisdiction, registered agent, and the principals list as filed.

Example API Responses

All examples use placeholder data. Query with POST /v2/company.

Search by Name

curl -X POST "https://api.topograph.co/v2/search?country=US-DC&query=Washington+Gas" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

[
  {
    "id": "L00005531281",
    "legalName": "1 800 Water Damage North America LLC",
    "countryCode": "US-DC",
    "matchReason": { "matchType": "default" }
  }
]

Search by DC File Number

curl -X POST "https://api.topograph.co/v2/search?country=US-DC&query=L00005531281" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

[
  {
    "id": "L00005531281",
    "legalName": "1 800 Water Damage North America LLC",
    "countryCode": "US-DC",
    "matchReason": {
      "matchType": "id",
      "identifier": { "fileNumber": "L00005531281" }
    }
  }
]

Company Profile

curl -X POST "https://api.topograph.co/v2/company" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"countryCode": "US-DC", "id": "L00005531281", "dataPoints": ["company", "legalRepresentatives", "otherKeyPersons"]}'

Active Domestic LLC (onboarding mode — no legal representatives)

{
  "company": {
    "id": "L00005531281",
    "countryCode": "US-DC",
    "identifiers": { "fileNumber": "L00005531281" },
    "legalName": "Capitol Hill Ventures LLC",
    "registrationDate": "2015-04-10",
    "status": {
      "localName": "Active - In Good Standing",
      "active": true
    },
    "legalForm": {
      "localName": "Domestic Limited Liability Company",
      "standardized": "LimitedLiabilityCompany",
      "iso20275Code": "2HBR"
    },
    "legalAddress": {
      "addressLine1": "1350 Connecticut Avenue NW",
      "city": "Washington",
      "region": "DC",
      "postalCode": "20036",
      "countryCode": "US"
    }
  },
  "legalRepresentatives": [],
  "otherKeyPersons": [
    {
      "type": "company",
      "role": {
        "localName": "Registered Agent",
        "standardized": "RegisteredAgent"
      },
      "company": {
        "legalName": "CT Corporation System",
        "legalAddress": {
          "addressLine1": "1015 15th Street NW",
          "city": "Washington",
          "region": "DC",
          "postalCode": "20005",
          "countryCode": "US"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Note: legalRepresentatives is always empty in onboarding (fast) mode. Use verification mode to retrieve the principals list.

Active Domestic LLC (verification mode — with principals)

{
  "company": {
    "id": "L00005531281",
    "countryCode": "US-DC",
    "identifiers": { "fileNumber": "L00005531281" },
    "legalName": "Capitol Hill Ventures LLC",
    "registrationDate": "2015-04-10",
    "status": {
      "localName": "Active - In Good Standing",
      "active": true
    },
    "legalForm": {
      "localName": "Domestic Limited Liability Company",
      "standardized": "LimitedLiabilityCompany",
      "iso20275Code": "2HBR"
    },
    "legalAddress": {
      "addressLine1": "1350 Connecticut Avenue NW",
      "city": "Washington",
      "region": "DC",
      "postalCode": "20036",
      "countryCode": "US"
    }
  },
  "legalRepresentatives": [
    {
      "type": "individual",
      "role": { "localName": "Manager", "standardized": "Manager" },
      "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Jane A. Holloway" } }
    },
    {
      "type": "individual",
      "role": { "localName": "Governor", "standardized": "Director" },
      "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Thomas R. Kendrick" } }
    }
  ],
  "otherKeyPersons": [
    {
      "type": "company",
      "role": {
        "localName": "Registered Agent",
        "standardized": "RegisteredAgent"
      },
      "company": {
        "legalName": "CT Corporation System",
        "legalAddress": {
          "addressLine1": "1015 15th Street NW",
          "city": "Washington",
          "region": "DC",
          "postalCode": "20005",
          "countryCode": "US"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Active Domestic Business Corporation

{
  "company": {
    "id": "C00000123456",
    "countryCode": "US-DC",
    "identifiers": { "fileNumber": "C00000123456" },
    "legalName": "Georgetown Capital Corporation",
    "registrationDate": "1998-07-22",
    "status": {
      "localName": "Active - In Good Standing",
      "active": true
    },
    "legalForm": {
      "localName": "Domestic Business Corporation",
      "standardized": "Corporation",
      "iso20275Code": "ECSB"
    },
    "legalAddress": {
      "addressLine1": "3600 M Street NW",
      "city": "Washington",
      "region": "DC",
      "postalCode": "20007",
      "countryCode": "US"
    }
  },
  "legalRepresentatives": [
    {
      "type": "individual",
      "role": { "localName": "Director", "standardized": "Director" },
      "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Patricia W. Nguyen" } }
    },
    {
      "type": "individual",
      "role": { "localName": "Authorized Representative", "standardized": "AuthorizedSignatory" },
      "individual": { "name": { "fullName": "Marcus L. Duvall" } }
    }
  ],
  "otherKeyPersons": [
    {
      "type": "individual",
      "role": {
        "localName": "Registered Agent",
        "standardized": "RegisteredAgent"
      },
      "individual": {
        "name": { "fullName": "Sandra K. Pryor" },
        "residenceAddress": {
          "addressLine1": "2000 Pennsylvania Avenue NW",
          "city": "Washington",
          "region": "DC",
          "postalCode": "20006",
          "countryCode": "US"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Foreign LLC (qualified in DC)

{
  "company": {
    "id": "L00009876543",
    "countryCode": "US-DC",
    "identifiers": { "fileNumber": "L00009876543" },
    "legalName": "Coastal Ventures Group LLC",
    "registrationDate": "2010-03-05",
    "status": {
      "localName": "Active - In Good Standing",
      "active": true
    },
    "legalForm": {
      "localName": "Foreign Limited Liability Company",
      "standardized": "LimitedLiabilityCompany"
    },
    "legalAddress": {
      "addressLine1": "1775 I Street NW",
      "city": "Washington",
      "region": "DC",
      "postalCode": "20006",
      "countryCode": "US"
    }
  },
  "legalRepresentatives": [],
  "otherKeyPersons": [
    {
      "type": "company",
      "role": {
        "localName": "Registered Agent",
        "standardized": "RegisteredAgent"
      },
      "company": {
        "legalName": "Corporation Service Company",
        "legalAddress": {
          "addressLine1": "1090 Vermont Avenue NW",
          "city": "Washington",
          "region": "DC",
          "postalCode": "20005",
          "countryCode": "US"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Dissolved entity

{
  "company": {
    "id": "571294",
    "countryCode": "US-DC",
    "identifiers": { "fileNumber": "571294" },
    "legalName": "Old Dominion Trading Co.",
    "registrationDate": "1972-09-14",
    "status": {
      "localName": "Dissolved",
      "active": false
    },
    "legalForm": {
      "localName": "Domestic Business Corporation",
      "standardized": "Corporation",
      "iso20275Code": "ECSB"
    },
    "legalAddress": null
  },
  "legalRepresentatives": [],
  "otherKeyPersons": []
}

Available Documents

curl -X POST "https://api.topograph.co/v2/company" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"countryCode": "US-DC", "id": "L00005531281", "dataPoints": ["availableDocuments"]}'

{
  "documents": {
    "tradeRegisterExtract": {
      "id": "doc_tre_abc123",
      "name": "Trade Register Extract",
      "format": "pdf"
    }
  }
}

Western Europe

Northern Europe

Southern Europe

Central & Eastern Europe

Crown Dependencies & Offshore

United States

Asia & Indian Ocean

Table of Contents

Data Sources

Company Identifiers

Query Identifiers

Identifiers in API Response

Search Capabilities

Quirks & Gotchas

Mappings

Company Status

Legal Forms

Legal Representatives

Other Key Persons

Data Availability

Documents

Available Documents

Example API Responses

Search by Name

Search by DC File Number

Company Profile

Western Europe

Northern Europe

Southern Europe

Central & Eastern Europe

Crown Dependencies & Offshore

United States

Asia & Indian Ocean

Documentation Index

​Table of Contents

​Data Sources

​Company Identifiers

​Query Identifiers

​Identifiers in API Response

​Search Capabilities

​Quirks & Gotchas

​Mappings

​Company Status

​Legal Forms

​Legal Representatives

​Other Key Persons

​Data Availability

​Documents

​Available Documents

​Example API Responses

​Search by Name

​Search by DC File Number

​Company Profile

Table of Contents

Data Sources

Company Identifiers

Query Identifiers

Identifiers in API Response

Search Capabilities

Quirks & Gotchas

Mappings

Company Status

Legal Forms

Legal Representatives

Other Key Persons

Data Availability

Documents

Available Documents

Example API Responses

Search by Name

Search by DC File Number

Company Profile