Hi team,
We are not able to connect to the API.
Here’s our request
GET
Seeing the below error.
# Sorry, there is a problem with the service
Try again later.
Contact us if you have any questions.
Our clients are currently affected due to this.
Your help will be greatly appreciated.
Hi,
Can we get some help on this?
Thank you for posting your query to the Developer Forum, we will consider along with relevant technical colleagues and respond further as soon as possible - in the meantime, the option remains available for other Forum viewers to contribute. KAJ
Hi. I have been advised that if If you are trying to connect to the API you need to be using this URL - https://api.company-information.service.gov.uk. If you could also provide me with screenshots on what you are doing and the error you are getting, the IT team would be able to investigate further. Thanks KAJ
HI. Thank you for your response.
The issue is with the authorization. We have been using the same URLs for authorization since 2021. Now, we are seeing the below error. “https://identity.company-information.service.gov.uk/oauth2/authorise”
“https://identity.company-information.service.gov.uk/oauth2/token”
Hi,
We started using this service a few weeks ago. Perhaps the process changed? This is our process and it’s all working:
Step1: Register + set up LIVE APPLICATION + get API Key
Step2: api.company-information.service.gov.uk (add search etc. to retrieve company information)
Also visit: Companies House API Overview
Good luck.
Hi,
Thanks for the response. Unfortunately we are not even able to create a successful connection. Step 2 mentioned above can be looked into only after the authorization part. Below is a simple request from Postman which is showing the service unavailability error.
Your help will be much appreciated.
Can we get some help on this?
Using Rest API Key type instead of Web Key type seems to be working fine. Is Web Key Type not supported anymore?
Can we please get some help here?
Can someone help us on this? We have been reaching out but getting no help.
@voracityemail Existing (old from 2021) OAuth 2.0 connection is working fine but we are not able to create any new connection. Were there any changes done on OAuth 2.0 front?
Now, is it recommended to use Rest API Key for authentication?
You tagged me - not sure why? (I’m not part of the Companies House staff, just a long-time user).
We don’t use the identity / OAuth portal so I can’t advise on that.
However I can say that which authentication method is used depends on which API you’re trying to access. As far as I’m aware you only use a REST API key and http Basic authentication if you’re querying the Public Data API, the Documents API, the Streaming API and the Test Sandbox data creation API. (And you don’t use the OAuth method for those).
The Companies House documentation does currently appear to note which authentication method / key type you should use e.g. see Document API: Fetch a document's metadata
Detail:
Companies House currently have multiple systems offering access to different APIs. The following are available via the developer portal ( https://developer.company-information.service.gov.uk/ )
Access to the Public Data API, the Documents API and the Streaming API (I think you can use the same key for this but we don’t use that currently). This is done by obtaining a REST API key and the authentication is via http Basic.
Access to the Filing API, the Companies House identity service. This uses OAuth authentication, and you register as described here.
Again we don’t use that, but I understand that this is currently extremely limited in scope. There are other quirks like the test / sandbox systems seem to have issues etc.
There are other APIs listed which may use one or other above (e.g. the Discrepencies reporting service and the Test Sandbox data creation API)
See these all in the specification list here: https://developer-specs.company-information.service.gov.uk/
Beyond these there are other portals to this and other data e.g. the XML Gateway (paid service) etc.
Hope this helps.
