NPPES API

Beginner's Pick Health / No Auth Required Beginner HTTPS
Free to Use
62 C
Measured Score 0 50 100 Speed 18/30 Consistency 20/20 Security 20/20 Browser access 0/15 Transparency 4/15 TESTED 2026-08-10

Overview

The NPPES NPI Registry API lets you look up US healthcare providers by their National Provider Identifier (NPI) number or by name and specialty. It is completely free with no authentication required and returns detailed provider information including address, taxonomy, and contact details. This is useful for building healthcare directories or verifying provider credentials.

Beginner Tip

Search by a provider's last name and state using the number and enumeration_type parameters to narrow results — the API can return up to 200 records per request.

Measurement Record

What actually happened when we called this API from our own infrastructure. Every value below was recorded by the request, not copied from the provider's documentation.

Request
GET https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/?number=1234567890&version=2.1
Result
HTTP 200 · application/json · 31 bytes
Response time
206 ms (median of 3) · fastest 198 ms
Transport
TLSv1.3 · TLS_AES_128_GCM_SHA256 · certificate issued by Amazon
Browser CORS
No Access-Control-Allow-Origin header — call it from a server, not the browser
Recorded
2026-08-10

Fields Returned

Top-level fields present in the response we captured, with the type and value we actually received.

Field Type Value received
result_count integer 0
results array [0 items]

Captured Response

Captured from a real request to https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/?number=1234567890&version=2.1 on 2026-08-10. Long arrays and nested objects are truncated to keep the shape readable.

JSON Response · Captured
{
  "result_count": 0,
  "results": []
}

Field Reference

result_count Total number of providers matching the search criteria.
results Array of matching provider records.

Implementation Example

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

Request
const url = "https://npiregistry.cms.hhs.gov/api/?number=1234567890&version=2.1";
const response = await fetch(url);
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.

Empty results array The NPI number does not exist or search parameters are too restrictive
Double-check the 10-digit NPI number or loosen search filters like removing the state parameter.
Too many results warning Search by name alone matches thousands of providers
Add additional filters such as state, city, or taxonomy_description to narrow the result set.
400 Bad Request Missing required version parameter in the request
Always include version=2.1 as a query parameter in your request URL.

Measured Score Breakdown

Live HTTP request to the API endpoint

Speed 18/30
Consistency 20/20
Security 20/20
Browser access 0/15
Transparency 4/15
Endpoint Response Time 206ms

Fully tested on Aug 10, 2026

Technical Specifications

Auth No Auth
HTTPS REQUIRED
CORS UNKNOWN
Category Health
Difficulty Beginner
Endpoint last called: 2026-08-10

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