Install Jentic One Beta

Connect the PlateAPI to your agent

Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the PlateAPI, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.

Two steps, two machines. Install the instance in a safe environment, then register your agent from wherever it runs.

Step 1: Jentic One Host machine

# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fplateapi.com.au%2Fplateapi" | sh

Step 2: Agent machine

# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fplateapi.com.au%2Fplateapi" | sh
jentic register       # connects your agent to your Jentic One instance

Jentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with PlateAPI API.

Identify a vehicle's make, model, year range, body, and engine from an Australian registration plate and state code

Request a detailed_description with chassis codes, drivetrain, fuel type, engine code, and power output by setting detailed to true

Build make, model, year, series, engine, and variant dropdowns for cars or motorcycles from the cascading vehicle database query

Fetch one vehicle record by its stable vehicle_id to integrate on the id rather than the description text

GET STARTED

Start building with PlateAPI API

Explore with Jentic One

View OpenAPI Document

Use Cases

Patterns agents use PlateAPI API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Agent-Driven Plate Lookup via Jentic

An AI agent helping a parts retailer, insurer, or workshop takes a customer's plate and state from a chat and identifies the exact vehicle. Through Jentic the agent calls the lookupPlate operation, reads the make, model, year range, and engine, and uses the vehicle_id to match parts or quote cover, checking the match value when more than one candidate trim comes back in alternatives.

Look up plate ABC123 in state VIC with detailed true, and if match is multiple, list each candidate's description and vehicle_id from alternatives

Parts Fitment from a Registration Plate

Online car parts stores ask for a plate instead of a make and model form. The lookup returns a stable vehicle_id that matches records in the PlateAPI vehicle database, so the store maps products to vehicle ids once and shows only fitting parts, and the change feed keeps those mappings current when records are updated or merged.

Look up plate XYZ789 in NSW, then fetch the full record with getVehicle using the returned vehicle_id and report its make, model, and year range

Vehicle Selector Dropdowns

Sites that let customers pick a vehicle by hand build cascading dropdowns from the queryVehicles operation: call it with no parameters to list makes, then add make, model, year, series, engine, and variant one level at a time until a vehicle record with its vehicle_id is returned. Passing type=motorcycle switches to the motorcycle cascade.

Call queryVehicles with type car and make TOYOTA to list models, then add model COROLLA and year 2005 to list the series

Key Endpoints

7 endpoints — the plateapi api looks up australian vehicle registration plates and returns structured vehicle data as json: year range, make, model, body type, engine displacement, and a stable vehicle_id.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/api/v1/lookup

Look up a vehicle by registration plate

GET

/api/v1/vehicles

Query the vehicle database by cascade

GET

/api/v1/vehicles/{vehicle_id}

Fetch one vehicle by id

GET

/api/v1/vehicles/changes

List vehicles changed since a date

GET

/api/v1/keys/usage

Check quota and plan details

GET

/api/v1/keys/logs

Read lookup history

GET

/api/v1/lookup

Look up a vehicle by registration plate

GET

/api/v1/vehicles

Query the vehicle database by cascade

GET

/api/v1/vehicles/{vehicle_id}

Fetch one vehicle by id

GET

/api/v1/vehicles/changes

List vehicles changed since a date

GET

/api/v1/keys/usage

Check quota and plan details

GET

/api/v1/keys/logs

Read lookup history

Why Jentic?

What agents get from Jentic-routed access to this vendor.

Setup

Wiring PlateAPI by hand means sending an X-API-Key header from an allowed IP, handling 429 responses from both the rate limit and the plan quota, and paging the vehicle change feed with cursors. Through Jentic you install once, import PlateAPI from the API Directory, store the key once, and your agent looks up plates.

Permission scoping

PlateAPI takes the plate and state as query parameters rather than path segments, so rules bound which operations your agent may call, not which plates. You choose the operations it may call, so key usage and lookup history are not included unless you add them.

Credential isolation

Your PlateAPI 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.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'look up an Australian number plate' or 'list vehicle models for a make', and Jentic returns the matching PlateAPI operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.

FAQs

Specific to using PlateAPI API through Jentic.

What authentication does PlateAPI use?

PlateAPI uses an API key sent in the X-API-Key header, per its OpenAPI spec. Keys come from your PlateAPI dashboard, and free keys start with pk_live_. The health check is open and needs no key. A key can also carry an IP allowlist, and a request from an address not on it returns 403. Through Jentic the key is stored encrypted on your own instance and injected at call time.

Is there a PlateAPI MCP server?

You don't need an MCP server to give your agent PlateAPI. Jentic connects it directly from the API Directory: import PlateAPI, store your API key once, and your agent can look up plates straight away. Operations are discovered on demand, so no extra server's tool definitions sit in your agent's context.

Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with PlateAPI?

Yes. Write a rule that allows only lookupPlate and getVehicle, so the agent can identify vehicles and read their records but cannot read your key usage or lookup history, and every call it makes is logged.

Which states does PlateAPI cover?

The state parameter accepts all eight Australian states and territories: ACT, NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC, and WA. Plates are case-insensitive, may contain letters, numbers, dashes, and spaces, and run to a maximum of 10 characters. The sandbox plate TEST123 returns a fixed response with no quota cost.

What are the rate limits for PlateAPI?

Per the OpenAPI spec, PlateAPI applies a per-minute limit over a sliding window and a monthly lookup quota, both set by your plan, and returns 429 with a Retry-After header when either is reached. The getKeyUsage operation reports your plan's current quota usage and rate limit; see https://plateapi.com.au for plan figures.

How do I look up a plate with PlateAPI through Jentic?

Search Jentic for an intent like 'look up an Australian number plate', import PlateAPI, and store your API key once. Your agent then calls lookupPlate at /api/v1/lookup with plate and state, and reads the vehicle object and vehicle_id from the response. To run it on your own infrastructure, install Jentic One from its GitHub repo.

PlateAPI

AI ReadinessAI-Aware (B)64/100

See full scorecard

Official vendor OpenAPI document · agent-readyData EnrichmentData TransformationapiKey7 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Identify a vehicle from an Australian registration plate and state, browse the PlateAPI vehicle database by make, model, and year, and track vehicle record changes. Also reports quota usage and lookup history for your key.

Use for: I need to find out what car this Australian number plate belongs to, Look up plate ABC123 in Victoria, Get the engine and body type for a registration plate, List all models Toyota makes for a vehicle dropdown

Not supported: Does not handle registration renewals, owner details, or VIN decoding. Use for identifying vehicles from Australian plates and browsing PlateAPI vehicle records only.

The PlateAPI API looks up Australian vehicle registration plates and returns structured vehicle data as JSON: year range, make, model, body type, engine displacement, and a stable vehicle_id. A lookup takes a plate and a state code such as NSW, VIC, or QLD, and can include a detailed_description with chassis codes, drivetrain, fuel type, and power output where available. Beyond plate lookups, a cascading vehicle database query walks make, model, year, series, engine, and variant for car or motorcycle dropdowns, and a change feed reports vehicles added, updated, or merged since a date. Key usage and lookup history operations show quota, plan, and past results.

Jentic One on Github View OpenAPI Document

Show dimension breakdown

Foundational Compliance

Base layer of spec validity and structural soundness.

Grade: CSignals: 4

96%

Lint Results

Aggregated quality score from linter diagnostics, weighted by severity.

100%

Resolution Completeness

Percentage of `$ref` references that resolve successfully.

Specification Validity

Checks whether the API description parses successfully and conforms to its declared specification (e.g., OpenAPI).

17%

Structural Integrity

Structural correctness score based on schema issues using logarithmic dampening.

Developer Experience & Jentic Compatibility

Clarity, completeness, and ingestion readiness for developers and tooling.

Grade: A-Signals: 4

23%

Example Density

How richly the API is illustrated with examples.

100%

Example Validity

Percentage of examples that conform to their schemas.

61%

Response Coverage

Percentage of operations with complete response definitions (success, client error, server error).

100%

Tooling Readiness

Health of API ingestion, bundling, and resolution within Jentic pipelines.

AI-Readiness & Agent Experience

Semantic breadth, depth, and agent comprehension for AI systems.

Grade: CSignals: 4

54%

Description Coverage

Coverage of descriptions across API elements.

Error Standardization

Coverage of RFC 9457 Problem Details for error responses.

100%

OperationId Quality

Coverage, uniqueness, and casing consistency of operationIds for AI inference.

70%

Summary Coverage

Coverage of summaries across operations/tags/info.

Agent Usability

Functional utility, complexity comfort, and AI orchestration readiness.

Grade: A+Signals: 1

94%

Complexity Comfort

Agent comfort level based on API operational and structural complexity.

Security

Trust, risk posture, and security compliance.

Grade: C-Signals: 1

50%

Authentication Strength

Average quality of security schemes based on authentication method strength (weakest link for OAuth2).

AI Discoverability

Findability, semantic richness, and reasoning readiness.

Grade: A-Signals: 1

77%

Descriptive Richness

Clarity and depth of descriptions across API elements.

Connect the PlateAPI to your agent

Capabilities

Start building with PlateAPI API

Use Cases

Key Endpoints

Why Jentic?

Related APIs

FAQs

PlateAPI

Jentic AI Readiness Score

PlateAPI

Foundational Compliance

Lint Results

Resolution Completeness

Specification Validity

Structural Integrity

Developer Experience & Jentic Compatibility

Example Density

Example Validity

Response Coverage

Tooling Readiness

AI-Readiness & Agent Experience

Description Coverage

Error Standardization

OperationId Quality

Summary Coverage

Agent Usability

Complexity Comfort

Security

Authentication Strength

AI Discoverability

Descriptive Richness