Overview

Lob.com provides a US Address Verification API that validates, standardizes, and geocodes US mailing addresses using USPS data, ensuring mail deliverability and cleaning up address databases. It also supports international address verification, address autocomplete, and physical mail sending (postcards, letters, checks) via API. The free test mode allows unlimited verifications against a sandbox environment.

Beginner Tip

Create an account at lob.com and use the test API key (prefixed with `test_`) for free sandbox verification. The verification endpoint is `https://api.lob.com/v1/us_verifications`. Authentication uses HTTP Basic Auth — set the API key as the username with an empty password. Test keys return standardized results but do not charge credits.

Available Data

The kind of data this API exposes, based on its documentation. We could not call the endpoint to confirm the exact field names.

Use case: Integrate us address verification data into web and mobile applications
Lob.com data via REST API

Example Response

Illustrative shape only — we were not able to call this endpoint (it requires credentials or exposes no public sample URL), so the fields below show the kind of data this API returns rather than a recorded response.

JSON Response · Illustrative
{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "result": "Data from Lob.com",
    "description": "US Address Verification",
    "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z"
  }
}

Field Reference

deliverability USPS deliverability status: `deliverable`, `deliverable_unnecessary_unit`, `deliverable_incorrect_unit`, `deliverable_missing_unit`, or `undeliverable`.
primary_line The standardized first line of the address (street number and name).
last_line The standardized city, state, and ZIP+4 code on the last line.
components Parsed address components including street number, street name, city, state, zip code, and zip+4.
urbanization Urbanization code used for Puerto Rico addresses; empty for continental US addresses.

Implementation Example

Calls a real endpoint of this API. Replace any placeholder credentials with your own key.

Request
const url = "https://lob.com/";
// Replace headers or query params with the values required by this API.
const response = await fetch(url, {
  headers: {
  "X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
  }
});
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

What Can You Build?

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

Common Errors & Troubleshooting

Generated guidance based on this API's documentation, not observed by us. Treat it as a starting point and check against the provider's own error reference.

401 Unauthorized Incorrect Basic Auth format. Lob requires the API key as the HTTP Basic username, not a Bearer token.
Use `curl -u 'YOUR_API_KEY:' https://api.lob.com/v1/us_verifications` — note the colon after the key indicating an empty password.
deliverability: undeliverable for a real address Address input is malformed, using abbreviations that USPS cannot parse, or missing a zip code.
Provide `primary_line`, `city`, `state`, and `zip_code` as separate fields. Avoid concatenated strings. Use the autocomplete endpoint to pre-clean inputs.
Exceeded free tier verifications in live mode Live API keys consume verification credits which are not free.
Use the test key (`test_*`) for development and testing — it runs all verifications against a sandbox at no cost.

Metadata Score Breakdown

Estimated from metadata — endpoint not independently tested

This score is estimated from observable metadata — HTTPS support, authentication model, declared CORS, and documentation reachability — because the API requires authentication or exposes no publicly testable endpoint. The five-signal breakdown is only shown for live-tested APIs.

Metadata estimate · endpoint not independently tested

Technical Specifications

Auth API Key
HTTPS REQUIRED
CORS UNKNOWN
Category Data Validation
Difficulty Intermediate
Listing details not endpoint-verified

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