LinkedIn Search API: How It Works, Benefits & Integration Guide

This long-form guide explains what the LinkedIn Search API is (and isn’t), the current official options for searching and discovering people/companies on LinkedIn, what’s changed (deprecations and restrictions), compliant ways to build search features, practical alternatives, implementation tips (OAuth, rate limits, data storage rules), and a checklist you can use to evaluate the right approach for your product or marketing workflow.

Why this matters (and who should read this)

If you build tools for recruiting, sales intelligence, marketing automation, or any product that benefits from discovering professionals or companies, you likely searched for linkedin search api. This article is for:

Product managers evaluating LinkedIn integrations
Developers planning a people- or company-search feature
Marketers & recruiters wanting compliant ways to enrich workflows

Throughout this post I’ll separate what LinkedIn officially supports from what third-party services offer — and show safe, compliant ways to get the business outcomes you need.

What is the “LinkedIn Search API”?

Historically people talked about a “LinkedIn Search API” to mean any programmatic way to query LinkedIn for members, companies, jobs, or content. Over time LinkedIn tightened access: many of the broad member search endpoints were restricted or deprecated, while targeted partner and product APIs remain for approved uses (Profile APIs, Company APIs, Talent/Sales integrations, etc.).

There is no longer an open, public member-search endpoint available to arbitrary developer apps the way there once was. If you need programmatic access, you must either use LinkedIn’s supported partner products or the member-scoped endpoints that are allowed under the developer program and your app’s permissions.

State of the platform — what LinkedIn officially offers today

Below are the major official API domains and what they let you do:

Profile & People APIs (member data, limited scope). Return the authenticated member’s profile and limited fields for that member’s 1st-degree connections in approved scenarios. These APIs are permissioned and intended for identity, sign-in, or app features that operate on behalf of the user. You cannot arbitrarily query profiles of any member.
Company and Organization APIs. For company pages, posts, and admin actions. Useful for gathering company data and managing a Company Page when you have admin rights or approved developer access.
Talent / Jobs / Recruiter & Sales Navigator APIs (partner programs). These are productized solutions with stricter access rules; many features are only available to partners or paid customers (e.g., Recruiter, Apply With LinkedIn). If your product needs deep candidate search or bulk access for hiring workflows you’ll usually need to join a partner program.
Marketing & Ads APIs. For advertising, analytics, and campaign management. Not for arbitrary member search.
Developer program & migration notes. LinkedIn maintains a developer product catalog and regularly deprecates old endpoints — for example major migrations took place in 2019 and further restrictions and deprecations have continued since then. Always check LinkedIn’s migration and deprecation notices.

What changed (a brief timeline)

2015 onward: LinkedIn began restricting broad API access; public profile fields and certain APIs were removed for non-partners.
2019: Version 1.0 shut down; v2 became the standard. Developers had to migrate.
2020–2021: Further deprecations and stricter request rules (e.g., query tunneling, max lengths, and rejecting requests that don’t meet criteria).
2023–2025: LinkedIn continues to make search and discovery improvements for users (including AI-powered search features), while keeping most programmatic member-search capabilities restricted to approved partners.

So — can I programmatically search LinkedIn members today?

Direct answer: Not in the open way you could before. Public, unrestricted member search via a free public API is no longer available. Developer apps that need search must:

Use the limited, member-scoped Profile/People APIs on behalf of authenticated users (only returns the authorized user’s profile and limited data for permitted connections).
Apply to relevant LinkedIn partner programs (Talent/Sales/Marketing) to gain access to product-specific search capabilities.
Or use compliant third-party services that have their own licensing/agreements — but verify those vendors’ compliance and LinkedIn policies.

Why the restriction? LinkedIn focuses on privacy, spam prevention, and protecting member data — which is why generic member search endpoints were closed or limited. This means most broad “scrape-and-search” approaches violate LinkedIn’s terms and can lead to legal/rate-limiting action.

Compliant options to implement search-like features

Below are viable, compliant approaches ranked from most to least recommended.

1) Build features that run on behalf of the authenticated user

If the member authorizes your app, you can access profile fields and use that permission to expose features restricted to the user’s scope — e.g., “Find which of your 1st-degree connections works at X.” This is done via OAuth + Profile/Connections APIs. Always display clear consent and follow storage rules.

Use case: A Chrome extension that helps a recruiter annotate profiles — but only after the recruiter logs in and the extension acts on their behalf.

Implementation snapshot (high level)

Register your app on LinkedIn Developer portal and request required permissions
Implement OAuth 2.0 authorization code flow to get an access token for the signed-in member.
Call Profile API endpoints limited to the permitted fields and only store data as LinkedIn allows.

2) Apply to the Partner Programs (Sales Navigator, Recruiter, Marketing)

If you need advanced search over many members or company-level intelligence (e.g., resume-style candidate searches, company firmographics), apply to the appropriate paid/partner program. These partner APIs give productized access to deeper search features for approved use-cases.

Tip: Prepare a clear product brief describing exactly how you’ll use the data, who will see it, retention policies, and consent flows — LinkedIn evaluates partner requests carefully.

3) Use LinkedIn-provided product endpoints (Company/Jobs/Ads) where relevant

Many business outcomes don’t require member-level searches. For example:

Use Company API for company pages and metadata.
Use Jobs/Talent product endpoints if you’re an approved talent partner.

4) Use third-party data & enrichment vendors (carefully)

There are vendors that provide enriched professional data and even “search” APIs built on multiple sources. If you go this route:

Verify the vendor’s compliance and their data sourcing policies.
Avoid vendors that rely on scraping LinkedIn against terms of service; those solutions are risky and can be cut off.

5) Avoid building systems that scrape LinkedIn

Scraping LinkedIn can violate terms of service, lead to IP bans, and create legal exposure. It’s not a sustainable or recommended approach for production systems.

Architecture & implementation checklist (for a compliant LinkedIn-enabled search feature)

Define the business question — Do you need global search across LinkedIn, or is member-scoped / company-scoped search enough?
Map to LinkedIn products — If you need broad candidate search, apply to Talent/Recruiter. For company-level insights, Company APIs may suffice.
Authentication & permissions — Implement OAuth 2.0 correctly. Only request scopes you need (principle of least privilege).
Data handling policy — Follow storage rules: only store data you are allowed to, and follow retention policies. Document how data is used and obtain user consent where necessary.
Rate limits & error handling — Implement exponential backoff and handle rate-limit errors gracefully. Monitor usage and keep within partner limits.
Privacy & compliance — GDPR/CCPA considerations if you store EU/California user data. Provide deletion workflows and transparency.
Monitoring & logging — Log API calls, errors, and user consent events for audits.
Fallback & UX — When a required API is not available, provide a graceful message and alternatives (manual import, file upload, or partner integration request).

Example: A practical design for a recruiter search feature (compliant)

Goal: Let authenticated recruiters find candidates with specific skills within their network and annotate candidate notes.

Design decisions

Use OAuth to act on behalf of the recruiter (member-scoped).
Only surface candidates who are within permitted scope (1st-degree connections or profiles the member explicitly has access to).
Store notes and tags in the recruiter’s account (not LinkedIn data for other members) and provide export only with user consent.

Why this is compliant: The app acts on behalf of the user and does not attempt to pull arbitrary member profiles outside the user’s permissioned scope. This avoids violating LinkedIn’s restrictions while delivering value.

Developer tips & best practices

Always read LinkedIn’s developer docs first. Their product catalog and API guides are the authoritative source.
Design for rate limits and migrations. LinkedIn has a history of deprecations — keep your implementation modular so endpoints can be swapped.
Minimal, transparent data storage. Store the minimum required data; log consent and provide deletion.
Consider hybrid solutions. If LinkedIn APIs don’t provide exactly what you need, combine permitted LinkedIn data with third-party firmographic data from compliant vendors (for company enrichment, industry classification, etc.).

What about “AI-powered” people search? (recent developments)

LinkedIn has been rolling out AI-enhanced search features for users (natural-language “I’m looking for…” prompts that return people or jobs). These are product-side improvements for LinkedIn users — they do not imply a new open API you can call. In practice that means:

Users benefit from better in-product search UX.
Programmatic access to those AI search capabilities is not generally exposed to public developer apps — if you need similar functionality in your product, you’ll likely need to partner with LinkedIn or build your own AI enrichment on top of permitted data.

Alternatives & companion strategies (if LinkedIn APIs fall short)

Encourage user import: Allow users to upload CSVs or import contacts they control; then enrich those records with permitted data.
Leverage email+enrichment: If you have verified business email addresses (with consent), use enrichment vendors for company, role, and firmographic data.
Partner integrations: Build integrations with HR/ATS, CRM, or job boards that already have partnerships with LinkedIn — this can get you the required data without direct API access.
In-app assistant for users: Teach recruiters to use LinkedIn’s in-product AI search then bring results into your workflow (manually or via user-approved export options).

Legal, ethical, and ToS considerations (must-read)

Never store or use LinkedIn member data beyond what you are permitted to. The Profile API explicitly restricts storing data of members other than the authenticated member unless your agreement allows otherwise.
Avoid scraping. Scraping is a high-risk approach and often violates the platform’s terms. It will frequently result in IP bans, legal exposure, or abrupt loss of service.
Obtain explicit consent. If you collect or process member data on behalf of another user, make consent, purpose, and retention clear.
Prepare for audits. If you integrate via a partner program, LinkedIn may audit usage and compliance.

FAQs: LinkedIn Search API

Q — Is there a single “LinkedIn Search API” I can call to search all members by keyword?
A — No. Public, unrestricted member-search endpoints are no longer available. Use member-scoped APIs or apply to partner programs for product-grade search.

Q — Can I use Sales Navigator API to perform advanced searches?
A — Sales Navigator APIs do provide enhanced search features but are tied to the product and partnership/access level; you’ll need to be an approved partner/customer to access those endpoints.

Q — Are there sample libraries or SDKs?
A — Several third-party SDKs and vendors provide wrappers around permitted endpoints or their own search products. If you rely on a third-party library, verify its source and confirm it doesn’t rely on scraping.

Quick developer snippet: OAuth + Profile fetch (pseudo-code)

# 1) Redirect user to LinkedIn OAuth endpoint to get authorization code

GET https://www.linkedin.com/oauth/v2/authorization

  ?response_type=code

  &client_id={YOUR_CLIENT_ID}

  &redirect_uri={YOUR_REDIRECT_URI}

  &scope=r_liteprofile%20r_emailaddress
# 2) Exchange code for access token

POST https://www.linkedin.com/oauth/v2/accessToken

  grant_type=authorization_code

  code={AUTH_CODE}

  redirect_uri={YOUR_REDIRECT_URI}

  client_id={YOUR_CLIENT_ID}

  client_secret={YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET}

# 3) Call Profile API for the authenticated user (example) GET https://api.linkedin.com/v2/me Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}

Remember: Only request scopes you need and obey data-storage rules in the Profile API docs.

Final summary: LinkedIn Search API

The classic “open” linkedin search api no longer exists for arbitrary developer apps. Public member-search endpoints were restricted or deprecated.
Use member-scoped Profile/People APIs for features that act on behalf of authenticated users, or apply to LinkedIn partner programs (Sales, Recruiter, Marketing) for product-level search access.
Avoid scraping. Consider compliant third-party enrichment vendors if LinkedIn’s APIs don’t meet your needs, but verify their sourcing and compliance.