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Vehicle History Finder endpoints accept either a US VIN or a French license plate. POST /search is validation-only: it normalizes the input and does not call providers or consume credits. 
{
  "value": "AB-123-CD",
  "type": "plate_fr"
}

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Search types

Canonical types:
  • vin
  • plate_fr
Aliases:
  • plate, plaque, plaque_fr, license_plate_fr, french_plate, and immatriculation -> plate_fr
VIN inputs must be valid 17-character VINs. French plates support modern SIV formats such as AB-123-CD, temporary WW plates, diplomatic/consular formats, and older departmental formats such as 123 AB 75.

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Endpoint groups

OperationEndpointCostNotes
SearchPOST /tools/vehicle-history-finder/searchFreeValidates and normalizes only.
VINPOST /tools/vehicle-history-finder/vin1NHTSA vPIC decode, recalls, complaints, safety ratings, and deterministic attention score.
Plate FRPOST /tools/vehicle-history-finder/plate-fr1French plate parsing, vehicle candidates, Castrol details, fluids, capacities, and official links.
AllPOST /tools/vehicle-history-finder/all2Dispatches by type and charges once.
save: true is only supported on /all.

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Fast path

Validate a French plate before launching enrichment. 
curl -X POST "https://api.osint.ly/tools/vehicle-history-finder/search" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OSINTLY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "value": "AB-123-CD", "type": "plaque" }'
Run the French plate collector. 
curl -X POST "https://api.osint.ly/tools/vehicle-history-finder/plate-fr" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OSINTLY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "value": "AB-123-CD", "type": "plate_fr" }'
Run the VIN collector. 
curl -X POST "https://api.osint.ly/tools/vehicle-history-finder/vin" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OSINTLY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "value": "1HGCM82633A004352", "type": "vin" }'
Use /all when you want a saved result or a single generic entry point. 
curl -X POST "https://api.osint.ly/tools/vehicle-history-finder/all" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OSINTLY_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "value": "AB-123-CD", "type": "plate_fr", "save": true }'

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Response data

For plate_fr, the response includes:
  • parsed format, normalized plate, and format label
  • SIV sequence metadata or old departmental metadata when available
  • official links for HistoVec, ANTS, SIV, and technical inspection
  • provider vehicle candidates
  • a mapped vehicle.presentation object in English for vehicle identity, engine, transmission, steering, model year, fluids, and capacities
  • Castrol details and imagin.studio metadata when available
A valid plate can still return vehicle.found: false if no vehicle candidate is returned by the provider. For vin, the response includes:
  • identity fields such as make, model, year, body class, trim, vehicle type, and manufacturer
  • engine, drivetrain, electric, plant, and safety equipment details
  • NHTSA recalls, complaints, NCAP safety ratings, and attention scoring

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Availability

No provider secret is required in V1. French plate data uses public parsing plus provider lookups; personal owner data and full official vehicle history remain available only through official French services such as HistoVec or ANTS. Provider failures are normalized as API errors on focused routes when the main provider fails. Secondary metadata such as imagin.studio can be omitted without failing the whole plate response.

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Caching

Provider responses are cached by normalized input and provider:
  • Castrol vehicle/details: 12 hours
  • imagin.studio metadata: 24 hours
  • NHTSA VIN decode: 24 hours
  • NHTSA recalls and complaints: 6 hours
  • NHTSA safety ratings: 24 hours
Cache entries reduce repeated provider calls and do not change route pricing.