> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.peopledatalabs.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart - Person Retrieve API

> *A fast hands-on introduction to the Person Retrieve API*

## Getting Started

In order to use our Person Retrieve API, you must have an active API key. You can look up your API key by logging into our [self-serve dashboard](https://www.peopledatalabs.com/main/api-keys) and going to the **API Keys** section.

<Tip>
  **Need an API Key?**

  If you don't have an API key, you can easily create one by [signing up](https://peopledatalabs.com/signup) for a self-serve account. Check out our [Self-Serve Quickstart Guide](https://blog.peopledatalabs.com/post/self-signup-api-quickstart), which walks you through the sign-up process as well as shows you how to use the self-serve API dashboard.
</Tip>

## Simple Example

As mentioned in the [Overview](/docs/archived-person-retrieve-api-archived#overview), the Person Retrieve API is a way to directly look up records from our Person Dataset. In order to use the Person Retrieve API, **you will need to know the[PDL Person ID](/docs/archived-input-parameters-person-retrieve-api-archived#person_id) of the person that you want to look up**.

Here's a quick example that demonstrates retrieving a record with a `person_id` of `qEnOZ5Oh0poWnQ1luFBfVw_0000`:

<CodeGroup>
  ```python Python3 SDK theme={null}
  import json

  # See https://github.com/peopledatalabs/peopledatalabs-python
  from peopledatalabs import PDLPY

  # Create a client, specifying your API key
  CLIENT = PDLPY(
      api_key="YOUR API KEY",
  )

  # Create a parameters JSON object
  PARAMS = {
      "person_id": "qEnOZ5Oh0poWnQ1luFBfVw_0000", # The ID for the record we want
      "pretty": True
  }

  # Pass the parameters object to the Person Retrieve API
  json_response = CLIENT.person.retrieve(**PARAMS).json()

  # Print the API response in JSON format
  print(json_response)
  ```

  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  API_KEY="REPLACE WITH YOUR API KEY HERE"
  PDL_PERSON_ID="qEnOZ5Oh0poWnQ1luFBfVw_0000"
  curl -X GET -G \
    "https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5/person/retrieve/${PDL_PERSON_ID}"\
    -H "X-Api-Key: ${API_KEY}" \
    --data-urlencode 'pretty=True'
  ```

  ```javascript JavaScript theme={null}
  // See https://github.com/peopledatalabs/peopledatalabs-js
  import PDLJS from 'peopledatalabs';

  // Create a client, specifying your API key
  const PDLJSClient = new PDLJS({ apiKey: "YOUR API KEY" });

  // Pass a person ID to the Person Retrieve API
  PDLJSClient.person.retrieve({'id':'qEnOZ5Oh0poWnQ1luFBfVw_0000'}).then((data) => {
    // Print the API response in JSON format
    console.log(data);
  }).catch((error) => {
    console.log(error);
  });
  ```

  ```ruby Ruby theme={null}
  # See https://github.com/peopledatalabs/peopledatalabs-ruby
  require 'peopledatalabs'

  # Set your API key
  Peopledatalabs.api_key = 'YOUR API KEY'

  # Pass a person ID to the Person Retrieve API
  response = Peopledatalabs::Retrieve.person(person_id: "qEnOZ5Oh0poWnQ1luFBfVw_0000")

  # Print the API response in JSON format
  puts response
  ```

  ```go Go expandable theme={null}
  package main

  import (
      "fmt"
      "encoding/json"
      "context"
  )

  // See https://github.com/peopledatalabs/peopledatalabs-go
  import (
      pdl "github.com/peopledatalabs/peopledatalabs-go"
      pdlmodel "github.com/peopledatalabs/peopledatalabs-go/model"
  )

  func main() {
      // Set your API key
      apiKey := "YOUR API KEY"
      // Set API key as environmental variable
      // apiKey := os.Getenv("API_KEY")

      // Create a client, specifying your API key
      client := pdl.New(apiKey)
      
      // Create a parameters JSON object
      params := pdlmodel.RetrievePersonParams {
          BaseParams: pdlmodel.BaseParams {
              Pretty: true,
          },
          PersonID: "qEnOZ5Oh0poWnQ1luFBfVw_0000",
      }
      
      // Pass the parameters object to the Person Retrieve API
      response, err := client.Person.Retrieve(context.Background(), params)
      // Check for successful response
      if err == nil {
          // Convert the API response to JSON
          jsonResponse, jsonErr := json.Marshal(response)
          // Print the API response
          if (jsonErr == nil) {
              fmt.Println(string(jsonResponse))
          }
      }
  }
  ```

  ```python Python3 theme={null}
  import requests, json

  # Set your API key
  API_KEY = "YOUR API KEY"

  # Set the Person Retrieve API URL
  PDL_BASE_URL = "https://api.peopledatalabs.com/v5/person/retrieve"

  # Set the person ID
  PERSON_ID = "qEnOZ5Oh0poWnQ1luFBfVw_0000" # The ID for the record we want

  # Create a parameters JSON object
  PARAMS = {
      "api_key": API_KEY,
      "pretty": True
  }

  # Append the person ID to the API URL
  URL_PATH = f"{PDL_BASE_URL}/{PERSON_ID}"

  # Pass the URL path and the parameters object to the Person Retrieve API
  json_response = requests.get(URL_PATH, params=PARAMS).json()

  # Print the API response in JSON format
  print(json_response)
  ```
</CodeGroup>

<Info>
  **Note: Common Mistakes**

  When using the Person Retrieve API, there are a couple common mistakes, such as:

  * Using an ID that does not refer to a person profile (such as a company or school ID)
  * Passing the ID as a URL parameter rather than part of the URL path. For example, using:
    * Incorrect: `v5/person/retrieve?person_id=<PDL_PERSON_ID>`
    * Correct: `v5/person/retrieve/<PDL_PERSON_ID>`
</Info>

The API returns the full person profile if the `person_id` exists in our dataset:

```json JSON theme={null}
{
  "status": 200,
  "data": {
    "id": "qEnOZ5Oh0poWnQ1luFBfVw_0000",
    "full_name": "sean thorne",
    ...
  },
  "billed": true
}
```

To see Sean's full profile that would be returned in the `data` object, check out our [Example Person Record](/docs/example-record).

If you don't get this response, check out our [Errors](/docs/errors) page for more information.

***


## Related topics

- [Quickstart - Person Identify API](/docs/quickstart-person-identify-api.md)
- [Quickstart - Person Enrichment API](/docs/quickstart-person-enrichment-api.md)
- [Quickstart - Person Search API](/docs/quickstart-person-search-api.md)
- [April 2022 Release Notes](/changelog/april-2022-release-notes-v18.md)
- [January 2023 Release Notes](/changelog/january-2023-release-notes-v21.md)