MN Secretary of State API | Business Entity Lookup

Minnesota Secretary of State API for Business Lookups

The Minnesota Secretary of State maintains records on millions of business entities registered in the state. If you need programmatic access to this data—whether you're building compliance software, conducting due diligence, or verifying business information—an MN Secretary of State API eliminates manual lookups and spreadsheet management.

OpenSOSData provides a REST API that queries Minnesota SOS databases in real time, returning structured business entity information without the friction of web scraping or manual portal navigation.

What Data Does the MN Secretary of State API Return?

Each API call returns comprehensive entity details:

Entity name and type (LLC, Corporation, Partnership, etc.)
Unique entity ID
Current status (active, dissolved, etc.)
Formation date
Registered agent name and address
Principal business address
Officer and member names

This structured JSON response eliminates the need to parse HTML tables or navigate the Minnesota SOS portal manually. For developers integrating business verification into applications, this is significantly faster than human-driven lookups.

Why Use an API Instead of the Minnesota SOS Portal?

The official Minnesota Secretary of State portal works fine for single lookups. But if you're running hundreds or thousands of searches, you'll hit friction quickly:

Manual lookups don't scale. Each portal search requires human interaction.
Rate limiting. The state portal throttles automated access.
No structured output. You extract data from HTML; the API returns clean JSON.
Integration overhead. Embedding web scraping in production code is fragile and maintenance-heavy.

An MN Secretary of State API abstracts these problems. You send a POST request, receive JSON, and move forward.

OpenSOSData Pricing: $0.0314 Per Lookup

Unlike competitors, OpenSOSData charges per lookup with no hidden subscription fees:

$0.0314 per lookup (Pi pricing)
No subscription required
Minimum wallet: $3.14 (100 lookups)
7-day Redis cache to reduce redundant lookups
?fresh=true parameter forces real-time scrape if needed

For comparison, competitors charge significantly more:

OpenCorporates: $0.10–$0.50 per lookup
Cobalt Intelligence: $0.50–$2.00 per lookup
Middesk: $1.00+ per lookup

At $0.0314 per lookup, you can run 100 Minnesota business lookups for $3.14. If you're processing large batches, this model eliminates the cost structure of traditional subscription tiers.

Quick Start: Making Your First MN SOS API Call

Here's how to query the Minnesota Secretary of State API:

curl -X POST https://api.opensosdata.com/v1/lookup \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "state": "MN",
    "query": "Target Corporation"
  }'

Response (example):

{
  "entity_name": "TARGET CORPORATION",
  "entity_type": "Corporation",
  "entity_id": "91234567",
  "status": "active",
  "formation_date": "1962-05-01",
  "registered_agent": {
    "name": "John Smith",
    "address": "123 Main St, Minneapolis, MN 55401"
  },
  "principal_address": "1111 E Target Center Dr, Minneapolis, MN 55403",
  "officers": [
    {
      "name": "Jane Doe",
      "title": "Secretary"
    }
  ]
}

The API response is immediate and structured. No HTML parsing. No portal navigation.

State Coverage: Minnesota and 50+ US Jurisdictions

Minnesota is one of 50+ actively covered states. OpenSOSData covers all 50 states plus DC, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, and American Samoa. If your use case spans multiple states, a single API handles them all.

Caching and Real-Time Data

By default, the API caches results for 7 days using Redis. If you need live data—for example, to verify a business was just dissolved—add the ?fresh=true parameter to force a real-time scrape from the Minnesota SOS:

curl -X POST https://api.opensosdata.com/v1/lookup?fresh=true \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "state": "MN",
    "query": "Example LLC"
  }'

For most compliance workflows, the 7-day cache is sufficient and saves cost. Use fresh=true sparingly for critical verification moments.

Use Cases for the MN Secretary of State API

Customer Onboarding. Verify business registration during signup. Reduce fraud by confirming the entity exists and is active in Minnesota.

Due Diligence. Batch-check counterparty entities before entering contracts. Pull registered agent and officer details programmatically.

Compliance Automation. Monitor Minnesota entities for status changes. Integrate into your compliance dashboard.

Sales Intelligence. Enrich lead databases with official SOS data. Confirm business legitimacy before outreach.

Credit Decisioning. Add business registry verification to lending workflows. Reduce default risk.

API Documentation and Integration

Full OpenAPI specification available at https://opensosdata.com/openapi.yaml. The spec includes all endpoints, request/response schemas, and error codes. Integrate into your stack using any REST client or SDK generator.

Getting Started

Sign up at https://opensosdata.com to join the waitlist. Once approved, you'll receive API credentials and can begin querying Minnesota SOS data immediately. Start with a $3.14 wallet for 100 lookups and scale as needed.

No long-term commitment. No subscription tiers. Pay only for what you use.

Query Minnesota Business Entities with the MN Secretary of State API