Autodoc APIautodoc.co.uk ↗
Access the Autodoc auto parts catalog: browse car makers, models, and engines, search parts by keyword or OE number, and find compatible alternatives.
What is the Autodoc API?
The Autodoc API provides 8 endpoints covering the full Autodoc auto parts catalog, from vehicle hierarchy lookup to part-level specifications. Starting with get_car_makers, you can traverse makers, models, and engine variants by integer ID, then search parts by keyword or article number, retrieve technical specs and OE reference numbers, and pull a list of compatible alternative products — all tied together through a UK registration plate lookup endpoint.
No input parameters required.
curl -X GET 'https://api.parse.bot/scraper/70de51f9-9aaa-46f7-89f2-d9e784c78466/get_car_makers' \ -H 'X-API-Key: $PARSE_API_KEY'
Returns all car manufacturers available on Autodoc, grouped into popular and alphabetical lists. Each maker has an integer ID used to drill into models. No input required.
No input parameters required.
{
"type": "object",
"fields": {
"makers": "array of maker objects each containing id (integer), name (string), and group (string indicating popularity grouping)"
},
"sample": {
"data": {
"makers": [
{
"id": 16,
"name": "BMW",
"group": "Popular carmakers"
},
{
"id": 121,
"name": "VW",
"group": "Popular carmakers"
},
{
"id": 5,
"name": "AUDI",
"group": "Popular carmakers"
}
]
},
"status": "success"
}
}About the Autodoc API
Vehicle Hierarchy
get_car_makers returns every manufacturer listed on Autodoc, grouping them into popular and alphabetical buckets, each with an integer id. That id feeds get_car_models, which returns model objects including a production date range in the name field and a series grouping. Each model's id then feeds get_car_engines, which groups engine variants by fuel type (Petrol, Diesel, etc.) and includes power output and date ranges in the engine name.
Parts Search and Product Data
search_parts accepts a free-text query — a keyword like 'brake pads', a part number, or an article number — and returns results typed as 'suggestion', 'category', or 'product', each with a title, url, and additional metadata. That product url is the key input for the two detail endpoints. get_product_details returns the full product record: name, brand, price, a specs object mapping specification labels to values, an oe_numbers array of OEM reference strings, and the article_number. get_equivalent_products takes the same URL and returns an equivalents array, where each entry has a brand, part_number, price, and its own url for further lookup.
Registration Plate Lookup and Vehicle-Specific Search
lookup_vehicle_by_registration accepts a UK VRM string (spaces stripped automatically), returning one or more matched vehicles with fields including make, model, model_year, fuel type, power, and the critical car_id integer. When multiple engine variants share a plate, all are returned. That car_id feeds directly into get_parts_for_vehicle, which takes a search query and returns a parts array with brand, article_number, title, price, url, and image_url for each result — letting you go from a number plate to a list of compatible, priced parts in two calls.
Response Shape and IDs
All hierarchy traversal uses opaque integer IDs (maker_id, model_id, engine id, car_id). Product endpoints use URL path strings as the primary key, and those paths are consistent across search_parts, get_product_details, and get_equivalent_products. Prices are returned as formatted strings with currency symbols, or null when unavailable. OE numbers are only present in get_product_details, not in listing-level results from get_parts_for_vehicle.
The Autodoc API is a managed, monitored endpoint for autodoc.co.uk — not a raw scraper you maintain. Every endpoint is automatically health-checked on a schedule, and when autodoc.co.uk changes and a check fails, the API is automatically queued for repair and re-verified. It is built to keep working as the site underneath it changes.
This isn't an official autodoc.co.uk API — it's an independent, maintained REST wrapper over public data. Where the source has no official API (or only a limited one), Parse gives you a stable contract over a source that never promised one, and keeps it current. Need a new endpoint or field? You can revise it yourself in plain English and the agent rebuilds it against the live site in minutes — contributing the change back to the shared API is free.
Will this API break when the source site changes?+
Is this an official API from the source site?+
Can I fix or extend this API myself if I need a new endpoint or field?+
What happens if I call an endpoint that has an issue?+
- Build a UK car parts finder that resolves a registration plate to compatible brake pad listings with prices.
- Populate a parts compatibility database by traversing makers → models → engines and recording integer IDs.
- Show side-by-side brand alternatives for a specific part using
get_equivalent_productswith price comparison. - Validate OEM part numbers by checking the
oe_numbersarray returned inget_product_details. - Build an autocomplete search widget for auto parts using the
suggestionandcategoryresults fromsearch_parts. - Generate a parts catalog export by resolving article numbers to full specs, including technical attributes from the
specsobject. - Identify all engine variants for a given model to filter parts by exact engine fitment.
| Tier | Price | Credits/month | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 200 | 5 req/min |
| Hobby | $30/mo | 1,000 | 20 req/min |
| Developer | $100/mo | 5,000 | 100 req/min |
| Team | $300/mo | 20,000 | 300 req/min |
| Company | $1,000/mo | 100,000 | 500 req/min |
Each endpoint has a fixed posted price per successful call — most fall between 1 and 10 credits — shown on this API's page before you run it. Exceeding the rate limit returns a 429 response. Authenticate with the X-API-Key header.
Does Autodoc have an official public developer API?+
What does `lookup_vehicle_by_registration` return when more than one engine variant matches a plate?+
vehicles array. Each object carries its own car_id, maker_id, model_id, engine description, fuel type, power, and production date range, so callers can present the user with a choice or filter by fuel type before calling get_parts_for_vehicle.Are OE reference numbers available in part listing results?+
oe_numbers array is only present in the get_product_details response. Listing-level results from get_parts_for_vehicle include brand, article_number, title, price, url, and image_url, but not OE numbers. To get OE references, make a follow-up get_product_details call using the product url from the listing.Does the API cover non-UK registrations for the vehicle lookup?+
lookup_vehicle_by_registration is scoped to UK VRM plates. Autodoc's catalog covers many European markets, but plate-based vehicle lookup is only available for UK registrations in this API. You can fork it on Parse and revise to add additional registration lookup endpoints for other markets if that data becomes available.