MAC Address Lookup API

About the MAC Address Lookup API

Pass a MAC address in any common notation. The endpoint checks validity, normalizes the address, and produces colon, dash, Cisco dot, and delimiter-free raw string representations. If an address is invalid, the formats object returns null. Set addressing=true to read the address type from its first octet: whether it is unicast, multicast or broadcast on any plan, and on paid plans whether it is universally assigned or locally administered, as the randomized private addresses used by phones and laptops are. Paid plans also return the hardware vendor and registered OUI prefix, with records refreshed weekly.

What people use it for

Network Asset Inventory

When scanning local subnets, parse raw ARP table entries into uniform colon notation to catalog connected hardware.

Rogue Device Detection

Flag unrecognized hardware on corporate Wi-Fi by checking incoming MAC prefixes against approved vendor lists on paid tiers.

Switch Configuration Generation

Sysadmins convert colon-delimited MAC addresses into Cisco dotted format to paste directly into port security ACL rules.

Packet Capture Inspection

Security analysts normalize hex strings extracted from PCAP network traces into dashed or colon formats for log correlation.

Ways to call it

One endpoint, many ways in — REST with JSON, XML, YAML and CSV, plus GraphQL and an MCP interface for AI agents.

JSON

Default REST response

XML

Markup format

YAML

Human-readable

CSV

Tabular export

Beta

GraphQL

Query language

New

MCP

For AI agents

Request parameters — GET /v1/macaddresslookup

Sent in the query string. Premium parameters are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them. Anything not listed here is dropped rather than passed through.

Required

Optional

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curl "https://api.apiverve.com/v1/macaddresslookup?mac=00-B0-D0-63-C2-26&addressing=true" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"

Authentication

Send your key in the x-api-key header. That is the only auth step — no token exchange, and no per-endpoint scope to configure.

Response — GET /v1/macaddresslookup

Every APIVerve endpoint returns the same three top-level keys, so one response handler covers your whole integration: status, error and data. Only data changes shape.

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{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "mac": "00:B0:D0:63:C2:26",
    "isValid": true,
    "vendor": "Dell Inc.",
    "oui": "00B0D0",
    "formats": {
      "colon": "00:B0:D0:63:C2:26",
      "dash": "00-B0-D0-63-C2-26",
      "dot": "00B0.D063.C226",
      "raw": "00B0D063C226"
    },
    "addressing": {
      "castType": "unicast",
      "isMulticast": false,
      "isBroadcast": false,
      "administration": "universal",
      "isLocallyAdministered": false
    }
  }
}

Response fields

Paths are relative to data. Premium fields are absent rather than zeroed on plans that do not include them, so check for presence instead of comparing to 0.

Response headers

Every response carries your balance, so your own code always knows where it stands without polling anything. All four are exposed to browsers through CORS.

Errors

Read the HTTP status first, then error for the specific reason. The body names the parameter that has to change.

What a call costs — 2 credits per call

Credits are shared across every APIVerve API — one balance, one key, one bill. Failed requests never count against it, so a rejected input costs nothing.

Calls are what the credits buy at this API's rate — spend them here, on any of the other APIs, or across both. Nothing is reserved per endpoint.

Zero-code embed — one snippet, no backend

Drop an interactive MAC Address Lookup form onto any page. The widget calls the API for you, so no key ever appears in your markup and there is nothing to deploy.

Changelog — MAC Address Lookup API

Every change to this endpoint, newest first. Breaking changes ship as a new version and the previous one keeps serving — response fields are added, never removed or retyped in place, so an integration written against v1 keeps working.

Currently v1Data refreshed weekly