canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/auto.dev/auto

# Auto.dev Vehicle Data API

The Auto.dev Vehicle Data API returns automotive data for a vehicle from its VIN or US license plate, as JSON. It decodes VINs, resolves plates to VINs, and provides specifications, OEM build data, listings, photos, and safety recalls. It also covers financial data such as interest rates, payment estimates, taxes and fees, and total cost of ownership.

## For AI agents

Decode VINs or US plates and return vehicle specs, build data, listings, photos, recalls, financing, taxes, and total cost of ownership. Returns JSON over a REST API that accepts an API key by header, bearer token, or query parameter.

## Scope

Does not sell cars, process payments, or manage dealership inventory. Use for vehicle data lookups by VIN or US plate only.

## Capabilities

- Decode a global VIN into make, model, year, and build details
- Resolve a US license plate and state to its VIN
- Return vehicle specifications, OEM build data, and photos for a VIN
- Pull active and open safety recalls for a vehicle
- Retrieve financing rates, payment estimates, taxes, and total cost of ownership

## Use cases

### AI Agent Vehicle Data Integration via Jentic

An agent that answers vehicle questions can call Auto.dev through Jentic without wiring one of its three key placements or reading the reference docs. The agent searches by intent, receives the operation schema, and submits a VIN or plate to get structured data back. This suits car-shopping assistants, insurance tools, and fleet agents that need authoritative vehicle facts.

Example prompt: Search Jentic for 'decode a VIN', load the operation schema, and call it with a VIN to receive the vehicle's make, model, and year

### VIN Decoding and Specifications

Turn a VIN or a US plate into a full vehicle profile. Auto.dev decodes the VIN into make, model, and year, resolves a plate to a VIN first where needed, and returns specifications, OEM build data, and photos for the vehicle. This lets an agent identify and describe a car from a single identifier.

Example prompt: Call GET `/vin/{vin}` to decode a VIN, then GET `/specs/{vin}` for its specifications

### Safety Recall Checks

Check whether a vehicle has open safety recalls before a sale, service, or purchase decision. Auto.dev returns both the full recall history and the currently open recalls for a VIN, which an agent can surface to a user or gate a workflow on.

Example prompt: Call GET `/openrecalls/{vin}` to list the open safety recalls for a vehicle

### Financing and Cost Analysis

Estimate what a vehicle costs to finance and own. Auto.dev returns interest rates, payment estimates, taxes and fees, and a total cost of ownership figure for a VIN, so a car-shopping agent can compare the real cost of two vehicles rather than just sticker prices.

Example prompt: Call GET `/tco/{vin}` to get the total cost of ownership for a vehicle

## Key endpoints

| Method | Path | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GET | `/vin/{vin}` | Decode a global VIN |
| GET | `/plate/{state}/{plate}` | Resolve a US plate to a VIN |
| GET | `/specs/{vin}` | Vehicle specifications |
| GET | `/listings/{vin}` | Vehicle listings |
| GET | `/recalls/{vin}` | Vehicle recalls |
| GET | `/apr/{vin}` | Interest rates |
| GET | `/taxes/{vin}` | Taxes and fees |
| GET | `/tco/{vin}` | Total cost of ownership |

## Key resources

- **Core** — VIN decode, plate-to-VIN, specifications, and OEM build data
- **Marketplace** — Vehicle listings and photos for a VIN
- **Financial** — Interest rates, payment estimates, taxes, fees, and total cost of ownership
- **Safety** — Full and open safety recalls for a vehicle

## AI readiness

This API is usable in Jentic One now. Its AI-readiness score against Jentic's framework shows where it stands today and where improvements would make it even easier for agents to use.

- **Score:** 73 / 100
- **Maturity:** AI-Aware
- **Dimensions:**
  - Foundational Compliance: 100 / 100
  - Developer Experience & Jentic Compatibility: 70 / 100
  - AI-Readiness & Agent Experience: 79 / 100
  - Agent Usability: 94 / 100
  - Security: 42 / 100
  - AI Discoverability: 69 / 100
- **View full report:** https://jentic.com/apis/auto.dev/auto/scorecard
- **How the score is calculated:** https://docs.jentic.com/reference/api-readiness-framework/overview/
- **More about the dimensions:** https://docs.jentic.com/reference/api-readiness-framework/specification/#dimensional-model-overview

### Score it yourself

Every API in the directory is allowlisted, so you can re-score it with no key required.

- **Score your own API:** https://jentic.com/scorecard.md
- **Scoring CLI agent skill:** https://github.com/jentic/jentic-api-scorecard/blob/main/skills/jentic-api-scorecard/SKILL.md

```sh
npx @jentic/api-scorecard-cli score <openapi-url>
```

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring the Auto.dev API by hand means choosing one of its three key placements (a Bearer token, the apiKey query parameter, or the X-API-Key header), pointing each call at a VIN or US plate, and honouring Retry-After on throttling yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import Auto.dev from the API Directory, store the key once, and your agent calls it.
- **Permission scoping:** Every Auto.dev endpoint takes a VIN or US plate in the URL path, such as `/specs/{vin}`, so a rule can bound your agent to the lookups you want. You choose the operations it may call, so you can allow VIN decode and recalls while leaving listings or financing out.
- **Credential handling:** Your Auto.dev API key is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time. It never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
- **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'decode a VIN' or 'check vehicle recalls', and Jentic returns the matching Auto.dev operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.

## Related APIs

- **CarsXE Vehicle Data API** — Alternative VIN decode and vehicle data provider
- **CarAPI.dev Automotive Data API** — Alternative automotive specification and VIN data
- **NHTSA Vehicle API (vPIC)** — US government VIN decode and recall data

## FAQ

### Is there an Auto.dev MCP server?

You don't need a separate MCP server to give your agent the Auto.dev API. Jentic connects it directly from the API Directory: import it, store your key once, and your agent calls the VIN, specs, recall, and financing operations it needs.

### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the Auto.dev API?

Yes. Every endpoint takes a VIN or plate in the URL path, so you write a rule that allows just the lookups you want, such as VIN decode and open recalls, and the agent can run those while listings, photos, and financing stay out of reach. Every call is logged by your self-hosted instance.

### What authentication does the Auto.dev API use?

The Auto.dev API accepts an API key three ways per its OpenAPI spec: as a Bearer token in the Authorization header, as the apiKey query parameter, or in the X-API-Key header. Through Jentic the key is stored encrypted by your own Jentic One instance and injected at call time.

### Can I check vehicle recalls with the Auto.dev API?

Yes. One operation returns the full recall history for a VIN and a separate operation returns only the currently open recalls, so an agent can gate a sale or service decision on live safety data. Both take the VIN in the path.

### What are the rate limits for the Auto.dev API?

The OpenAPI spec notes that throughput is per plan and that clients should honour the Retry-After header when they are throttled; it does not publish fixed numeric limits. Check the vendor's documentation at https://www.auto.dev for current limits and plan tiers.

### How do I decode a VIN with the Auto.dev API through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'decode a VIN' and it returns the Auto.dev decode operation with its input schema; supply a VIN and the agent receives the make, model, year, and build details as JSON. To run it on your own infrastructure, install Jentic One from its GitHub repo.