UL Prospector APIulprospector.com ↗
Search and browse UL Prospector's chemical and material database across 7 industries. Retrieve product names, INCI names, supplier info, and descriptions via 4 endpoints.
What is the UL Prospector API?
The UL Prospector API exposes 4 endpoints for searching and retrieving chemical and material data across seven industries including Personal Care, Food, Coatings, and Adhesives. Use search_materials to find products by keyword and get back structured results with product IDs, supplier names, INCI names, and slugs ready to feed into get_material_detail for full product specifications.
No input parameters required.
curl -X GET 'https://api.parse.bot/scraper/0201b976-3d9d-4092-a40c-7875f8ad3806/get_industries' \ -H 'X-API-Key: $PARSE_API_KEY'
Typed, relational, agent-ready
A generated client with real types, enums, and the links between objects — the structure a flat JSON response can't carry. Autocompletes in your editor and reads cleanly to coding agents.
- Fully typed · autocompletes
- Objects link to objects
- Typed errors & pagination
Typed Python client. Set up the SDK in your uv project, then pull this API’s typed client:
uv add parse-sdk uv run parse init uv run parse add --marketplace ulprospector-com-api
uv run parse add --marketplace pulls a pinned snapshot of this canonical API — it won’t change underneath you. To customize it, subscribe and swap to your own copy.
"""Walkthrough: UL Prospector SDK — search, browse, and drill into material details."""
from parse_apis.ul_prospector_api import ULProspector, Industry, MaterialNotFound
client = ULProspector()
# Search for materials in the Personal Care industry
for material in client.materials.search(query="sodium", industry=Industry.PERSONAL_CARE, limit=3):
print(material.product_name, material.supplier_name, material.inci_name)
# Drill into a single result's full detail via sub-resource
material = client.materials.search(query="vitamin", industry=Industry.FOOD, limit=1).first()
if material:
detail = material.detail.get()
print(detail.product_name, detail.description, detail.url)
# Browse materials in an industry without a keyword
for item in client.materials.list(industry=Industry.COATINGS, limit=3):
print(item.product_name, item.slug, item.detail_url)
# Typed error handling
try:
bad = client.materials.search(query="nonexistent_xyz_zzz", industry=Industry.INKS, limit=1).first()
except MaterialNotFound as exc:
print(f"Material not found: {exc.slug}")
print("exercised: materials.search / materials.list / material.detail.get / MaterialNotFound")
Get the list of supported industries and their URL slugs. Returns a fixed map of industry slug to human-readable display name. Use these slugs as the industry parameter for search_materials, list_materials, and get_material_detail.
No input parameters required.
{
"type": "object",
"fields": {
"Food": "string display name for Food, Beverage & Nutrition",
"Inks": "string display name for Graphic Arts & Inks",
"Cleaners": "string display name for Household, Industrial & Institutional Cleaners",
"Coatings": "string display name for Paint & Coatings",
"Adhesives": "string display name for Adhesives & Sealants",
"Lubricants": "string display name for Lubricant & Metalworking Fluids",
"PersonalCare": "string display name for Personal Care & Cosmetics"
},
"sample": {
"data": {
"Food": "Food, Beverage & Nutrition",
"Inks": "Graphic Arts & Inks",
"Cleaners": "Household, Industrial & Institutional Cleaners",
"Coatings": "Paint & Coatings",
"Adhesives": "Adhesives & Sealants",
"Lubricants": "Lubricant & Metalworking Fluids",
"PersonalCare": "Personal Care & Cosmetics"
},
"status": "success"
}
}About the UL Prospector API
What the API Covers
The UL Prospector API surfaces material and ingredient data from UL Prospector's database, spanning seven industry verticals: Personal Care & Cosmetics, Food Beverage & Nutrition, Graphic Arts & Inks, Household/Industrial/Institutional Cleaners, Paint & Coatings, Adhesives & Sealants, and Lubricant & Metalworking Fluids. The get_industries endpoint returns the full map of industry slugs (e.g. PersonalCare, Coatings, Lubricants) to their display names — use these slugs as the required industry parameter in every other endpoint.
Searching and Browsing Materials
search_materials accepts a query string (e.g. 'sodium', 'surfactant', 'vitamin') and an industry slug, and returns a paginated array of material objects. Each object includes product_name, product_id, supplier_id, slug, supplier_name, inci_name, description, and a detail_url. The start parameter controls the pagination offset. list_materials works similarly but without a keyword constraint, useful for bulk enumeration of materials in a given industry — results come back in batches of approximately 100, also controlled by start.
Retrieving Material Detail
get_material_detail takes the product_id, supplier_id, slug, and industry values returned by either search or list endpoint and resolves a full product record. The response includes product_name, supplier_name, inci_name, description, and the canonical url for the product page. The INCI name field may be empty for materials where INCI naming is not applicable (e.g. industrial coatings ingredients vs. cosmetic ingredients).
Pagination and Industry Scope
Both search_materials and list_materials return a total_results count alongside the results array, letting you calculate how many pages exist before issuing follow-up requests. Industry scope is enforced per request — there is no cross-industry search in a single call. To cover multiple industries, call search_materials once per relevant industry slug and merge results client-side.
The UL Prospector API is a managed, monitored endpoint for ulprospector.com — not a raw scraper you maintain. Every endpoint is automatically health-checked on a schedule, and when ulprospector.com 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 ulprospector.com 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 an ingredient lookup tool for cosmetic formulation using INCI names returned by
search_materialsin the PersonalCare industry. - Enumerate all materials in the Food industry via
list_materialsto populate a food ingredient sourcing database. - Cross-reference supplier names from
get_material_detailagainst an internal vendor list to identify approved raw material sources. - Monitor which suppliers offer a specific surfactant by searching the Cleaners industry with a keyword query.
- Extract product descriptions from
get_material_detailto feed into an NLP pipeline classifying material functionalities. - Build a coatings formulation assistant that resolves full product specs from
product_idvalues collected during bulk listing. - Aggregate INCI name coverage across personal care ingredients to audit labeling compliance against a product portfolio.
| Tier | Price | Credits/month | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 100 | 5 req/min |
| Hobby | $30/mo | 1,000 | 20 req/min |
| Developer | $100/mo | 5,000 | 100 req/min |
One credit = one API call regardless of which marketplace API you call. Exceeding the rate limit returns a 429 response. Authenticate with the X-API-Key header.
Does UL Prospector have an official developer API?+
What does `get_material_detail` return beyond what `search_materials` already includes?+
search_materials returns a surface-level record with product name, supplier name, INCI name, description, and a detail URL. get_material_detail resolves the same fields from the authoritative product page and confirms the canonical URL, but the key reason to call it is to ensure you have a verified, fully resolved record rather than a summary from a search index. The inci_name field may be empty for non-cosmetic categories.Can I search across multiple industries in a single call?+
industry parameter is required and scoped to one slug per request. To search across industries, call search_materials once per relevant industry slug (e.g. PersonalCare, Coatings, Food) and combine results in your application.Does the API return regulatory or safety data, such as SDS sheets or compliance certifications?+
product_name, supplier_name, inci_name, description, and url — it does not expose Safety Data Sheets, regulatory compliance status, or certification documents. You can fork this API on Parse and revise it to add an endpoint that retrieves those sections from the material detail page.How does pagination work across `search_materials` and `list_materials`?+
total_results integer alongside the results array. Use the start offset parameter to page through results in increments. list_materials returns approximately 100 results per page. If total_results is 450, you would issue calls with start values of 0, 100, 200, 300, and 400 to retrieve all records.