Discover a government document-verification API (for example PAN) in India's API Setu directory and call it after consumer registration and publisher approval.
domain: apisetu.gov.in · 11 steps · contributed by dpi-india-routes-v1
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Browse https://directory.apisetu.gov.in/ and filter by organisation type, sector, API category or use case (for example KYC Verification) to locate the API you need, such as the PAN collection at https://directory.apisetu.gov.in/api-collection/pan.
Open the specific API's listing to read its published OpenAPI/Swagger specification. The base URL, path, HTTP method and request/response schema are documented per-API and must be read from that listing - they are not uniform across the directory.
Create a consumer account at https://apisetu.gov.in/signin. This is separate from the publisher flow at partners.apisetu.gov.in, which is for organisations exposing their own APIs.
Subscribe to the chosen API from your consumer dashboard at https://dashboard.apisetu.gov.in.
Wait for the publishing department's approval. Per API Setu's own documentation, access is granted only after the publisher approves - this is not instant self-serve provisioning.
Once approved, retrieve your issued API/subscription key from the dashboard.
Read that API's OpenAPI spec for the exact auth header name it expects and any required consent or purpose fields. Indian document-verification APIs typically require an explicit citizen-consent artefact alongside the document number.
Call the documented endpoint with the document identifier and consent payload using the key and header combination that API specifies.
Handle the response per that API's own schema - fields vary by publishing department because API Setu aggregates independently published government APIs rather than exposing one uniform contract.
For DigiLocker-mediated flows, note that API Setu distinguishes Authorized Partners (accessing user data via the MeriPehchaan/DigiLocker document service) from Offline Consumers calling APIs directly. The onboarding path and consent model differ.
Official docs: https://directory.apisetu.gov.in/ | https://docs.apisetu.gov.in/document-central/explore-apisetu/Overview.html | https://apisetu.gov.in/digilocker
Known gotchas
Access is approval-gated. Per API Setu's own documentation a consumer registers and subscribes, but access is granted only after the publishing department approves. Approval timelines are department-dependent and can be slow.
Authentication header names, request fields and response schemas are NOT uniform across the directory. Read each API's own OpenAPI spec - reusing a pattern from another API Setu listing will fail.
Two distinct integration modes exist (Authorized Partner via DigiLocker/MeriPehchaan versus direct Offline Consumer) with different onboarding paths. Choosing the wrong one blocks your subscription request.
Document-verification APIs covering PAN, Aadhaar or education certificates require explicit consent handling. Build consent capture into the flow rather than passing a bare document number.
The official Standard Operating Procedure PDF linked from apisetu.gov.in/sop returns HTTP 403 to automated fetches. Confirm the exact approval and KYC procedure directly on the portal before building.
Directory listing pages render client-side, so scraping the catalogue is unreliable. Use the published OpenAPI spec for each API rather than parsing the HTML listing.
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