API: Single Skip Trace

POST /trace is the synchronous version of skip tracing: send one owner and property — or every owner on one lead in rows — and the response comes back with phones and emails inline, typically in a few seconds: no polling, no result files. It is the right tool for real-time flows like enriching a single inbound lead the moment it hits your CRM, and it takes the same add_ons (DNC, tested emails, …) as bulk jobs — the Verified tier (verified_contact) runs inline on up to 3 rows per call. For lists, use bulk jobs instead. If you prefer clicking to coding, the same lookup exists in the dashboard — see the single skip trace guide.

Request fields

The body is a single flat JSON object. address, city, and state are required; everything else improves match quality. Unknown fields are rejected with 422 validation_error. Two optional keys sit beside the row fields: add_ons (any of dnc, litigator, deceased, tested_emails, llc_trust, data_verification, family_contacts, verified_contact — their columns appear in the result; verified_contact is honoured on up to 3 rows per call) and the deprecated exclude_unreachable_phones (accepted, no effect).

Tracing an individual

curl -X POST https://www.acquired-data.com/api/v1/trace \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ad_live_XXXX" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "first_name": "John",
    "last_name": "Doe",
    "address": "123 Main St",
    "city": "Phoenix",
    "state": "AZ",
    "zip": "85001"
  }'

{
  "job_id": "8f3b83b4-2c1e-4f0a-9d7b-6a1e2c3d4e5f",
  "status": "completed",
  "matched": true,
  "cached": false,
  "credits_charged": 2,
  "environment": "production",
  "result": {
    "property_address": "123 Main St",
    "property_city": "Phoenix",
    "matched_first_name": "John",
    "matched_last_name": "Doe",
    "primary_phone": "6025551234",
    "primary_phone_type": "Mobile",
    "mobile_phone_1": "6025551234",
    "mobile_phone_2": "",
    "mobile_phone_3": "",
    "landline_phone_1": "",
    "email_1": "john@example.com",
    "email_2": ""
  }
}

Every result field is a flat string keyed like primary_phone or email_1, so you can map fields directly into GoHighLevel or any workflow tool without transformation. matched tells you whether the lookup found the owner, and cached is true when a recent trace of the same owner was served from cache within the freshness window — repeat lookups return at full speed.

Several owners in one call

A lead often has two owners on the deed. Rather than two calls, send them together in rows (up to 10, same fields as above) and leave the top-level row fields out. The response then carries results — one flat object per row, in the order you sent them — plus total_rows, matched_rows and cached_rows. One call, one vendor round trip, one response.

curl -X POST https://www.acquired-data.com/api/v1/trace \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ad_live_XXXX" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "rows": [
      {"first_name": "John", "last_name": "Doe", "address": "123 Main St", "city": "Phoenix", "state": "AZ", "zip": "85001"},
      {"first_name": "Jane", "last_name": "Doe", "address": "123 Main St", "city": "Phoenix", "state": "AZ", "zip": "85001"}
    ],
    "add_ons": ["dnc", "tested_emails"]
  }'

Tracing an LLC or trust

For company-owned properties, put the full entity name in last_name and leave first_name empty. Entity detection is automatic (an explicit owner_type like "Company" or "Trust" helps), and the trace bills at your llc_trust_trace rate instead of single_trace because the platform first pierces the entity to find the person behind it.

curl -X POST https://www.acquired-data.com/api/v1/trace \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ad_live_XXXX" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "last_name": "Sunrise Holdings LLC",
    "address": "456 Oak Ave",
    "city": "Portland",
    "state": "OR",
    "owner_type": "Company"
  }'

Pricing and errors

Every row of a single trace bills at your single_trace rate (default 2 credits) plus the add-ons you selected, rounded up per call — higher than the per-row base_trace rate bulk jobs use, in exchange for the synchronous inline response. LLC/Trust owners bill at llc_trust_trace (default 6 credits). Check GET /pricing for your account rates. Watch for these errors:

• 402 insufficient_credits — balance below the trace cost.
• 422 validation_error — missing address/city/state, unknown fields, more than 10 rows, or rows mixed with top-level row fields.
• 429 job_in_progress — single traces run synchronously, so they wait while a bulk job is running on your account; retry after Retry-After. (Bulk jobs themselves don't collide — they queue, see the bulk jobs guide.)

When to use bulk jobs instead

If you have more than a handful of records, bulk jobs are cheaper per row (the base_trace rate), accept up to 10,000 rows per request as JSON or a raw CSV upload, and notify you via signed webhooks when they finish.