Understand the Cognism API
The Cognism API allows you to search, enrich and retrieve B2B contact and company data directly from the Cognism database.
Unlike the Cognism platform or CRM integrations, the API enables you to access Cognism data from your own applications, workflows and systems. This makes it suitable for organisations that need real-time data enrichment, custom automations or integrations across multiple platforms.
Before you begin
Before using the Cognism API, ensure that:
- Your Cognism subscription includes API access.
- Your API Entitlements have been configured.
- You have generated an API token.
- You have access to the Cognism Developer Portal documentation.
What you can do with the API
You can use the Cognism API to:
- Search the Cognism database for contacts and companies.
- Enrich existing contacts and companies using known identifiers.
- Preview available data before redeeming records.
- Retrieve complete contact and company profiles.
- Integrate Cognism data into your internal applications, CRM, data warehouse or automation workflows.
When to use the API
The API is designed for organisations that need Cognism data outside the Cognism platform.
Common use cases include:
| Use Case | Why use the API? |
|---|---|
| Real-time enrichment | Enrich records automatically when a workflow or event occurs. |
| Lead routing | Enrich new leads before routing or scoring them. |
| Data warehouses and customer data platforms | Populate platforms such as Snowflake, Databricks, Amazon S3. |
| AI and scoring models | Supply structured data for machine learning, prioritisation, or automation. |
| Multi-system workflows | Deliver Cognism data to multiple business systems instead of a single CRM. |
The API is best suited to organisations with technical teams responsible for managing integrations and data workflows.
API services
The Cognism API includes three services.
Search API
Use the Search API to search the Cognism database using filters such as:
- Job title
- Company
- Industry
- Location
- Seniority
- Technologies
Search results return preview information together with a Redeem ID, which you can use to retrieve the full record.
Enrich API
Use the Enrich API when you already have a contact or company record.
The API matches records using identifiers such as:
- Email address
- LinkedIn profile
- Company domain
- Website
If a match is found, the response includes preview data and a Redeem ID.
Redeem API
Use the Redeem API to retrieve the complete contact or company profile using a Redeem ID returned by the Search API or Enrich API.
The data returned depends on your organisation's configured API Entitlements.
Typical API workflows
Search workflow
- Search for contacts or companies.
- Review the preview results.
- Select the records you want.
- Redeem the selected records to retrieve the complete profile.
Enrichment workflow
- Submit an existing contact or company.
- Cognism searches for the best available match.
- Review the preview response.
- Redeem the record to retrieve the complete profile.
Understand API credits
Credits are only consumed when redeeming contact records.
Key points:
- Search and Enrich requests only return preview data and do not consume Credits.
- Redeeming a contact consumes Credits.
- Redeeming a company does not consume Credits.
- Redeeming the same contact again does not consume additional Credits after the first redemption.
Understand API Entitlements
API Entitlements determine which data fields are available through your API.
Depending on your organisation's configuration, available fields may include:
- Email addresses
- Mobile phone numbers
- Direct dial numbers
- Company information
- Technologies
- Hiring data
- Skills
- Education
- Previous employment history
Only fields included in your organisation's configured API Entitlements are returned by the Redeem API.
Note: API Entitlements are configured by the Cognism Provisioning team after approval from your Account Manager. If you need access to additional data fields, contact your Account Manager.
API vs Other Cognism Solutions
| Solution | Best Used When |
|---|---|
| API | You need real-time or on-demand data in custom applications, automations, or multiple business systems. |
| CRM Enrichment | You want to maintain Salesforce data quality and CRM hygiene. |
| Data as a Service (DaaS) | You need managed bulk data cleansing or scheduled data deliveries. |
Plan your implementation
Before implementing the API, define:
- Business objectives
- Integration scope
- Target systems
- Data ownership
- Security requirements
- Data governance requirements
- Project timeline
After implementation, test your integration to confirm that data mappings, permissions and workflows operate correctly between Cognism and your downstream systems.
Next steps
Once your API access has been configured:
- Generate an API token.
- Review the Cognism Developer Portal documentation.
- Build your integration.
- Test your implementation before moving to production.