SA ID Validation API

Quick Start

Get started with the SA ID Checker API in minutes. Here's a simple example to validate an ID number:

curl -X POST https://www.saidchecker.co.za/api/validate \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"idNumber": "8501015009086"}'

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "isValid": true,
    "idNumber": "8501015009086",
    "errors": [],
    "details": {
      "dateOfBirth": "15 January 1985",
      "age": 40,
      "gender": "Male",
      "citizenship": "SA Citizen"
    }
  }
}

Authentication

All API requests require authentication using an API key. Include your key in the X-API-Key header:

Getting an API Key

1. Sign up for a Business plan
2. Go to Dashboard → API Keys
3. Click "Create New Key"
4. Copy your key (it won't be shown again)

Validate ID Number

Validates the structure of a single South African ID number — its format, date, and Luhn checksum — and returns the date of birth, age, gender, and citizenship decoded from the number itself. It does not check the number against Home Affairs or verify a person's real-world identity.

Request Body

Response

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "isValid": boolean,
    "idNumber": string,
    "errors": string[],
    "details": {
      "dateOfBirth": string | null,
      "age": number | null,
      "gender": "Male" | "Female" | null,
      "citizenship": "SA Citizen" | "Permanent Resident" | null
    } | null,
    "breakdown": {  // Only if includeBreakdown: true
      "birthDate": string,
      "genderSequence": string,
      "citizenship": string,
      "checksum": string
    } | null
  }
}

Bulk Validation

Validate multiple ID numbers in a single request (up to 1000 per request).

curl -X POST https://www.saidchecker.co.za/api/validate/bulk \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "idNumbers": [
      "8501015009086",
      "9001015800088",
      "7505115111081"
    ]
  }'

Error Handling

The API uses standard HTTP status codes to indicate success or failure:

Rate Limits

API rate limits depend on your plan:

Code Examples

JavaScript / Node.js

const response = await fetch('https://www.saidchecker.co.za/api/validate', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'X-API-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ idNumber: '8501015009086' })
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

Python

import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://www.saidchecker.co.za/api/validate',
    headers={
        'X-API-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json'
    },
    json={'idNumber': '8501015009086'}
)

print(response.json())

PHP

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => 'https://www.saidchecker.co.za/api/validate',
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_POST => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        'X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY',
        'Content-Type: application/json'
    ],
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode(['idNumber' => '8501015009086'])
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
curl_close($curl);

print_r(json_decode($response, true));