FBI Wanted API

⭐ Beginner's Pick Government / No Auth Required Beginner HTTPS
Free to Use Varies (check documentation)

Overview

The FBI Wanted API provides access to the official FBI Most Wanted list, including details on fugitives, missing persons, and sought individuals. No authentication is required, making it simple to integrate into applications. You can search and filter the list programmatically to build awareness tools or data projects.

💡

Beginner Tip

Use the ?page= and ?pageSize= query parameters to paginate through results, as the full list contains many entries. Each person record includes photos, descriptions, and reward information.

Available Data

FBI Wanted data via REST API
JSON-formatted response data
Freely accessible without authentication

Example Response

JSON Response
{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "result": "Data from FBI Wanted",
    "description": "Access information on the FBI Wanted program",
    "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z"
  }
}

Field Reference

items Array of wanted person objects returned for the current page
title Full name or alias of the wanted individual
description Narrative description of the case, crimes, and background
reward_text Text describing the monetary reward offered for information leading to capture
images Array of image objects with thumb and large URLs for photos of the individual
total Total number of records matching the query across all pages

Implementation Example

// ⚠️ Note: This URL may be a documentation page. Check official docs for actual API endpoint.
const url = "https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/api";
const response = await fetch(url);
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

What Can You Build?

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

Common Errors & Troubleshooting

400 Bad Request Invalid query parameter name or value provided
Check the FBI API docs at api.fbi.gov and use only supported parameters like page, pageSize, field, and sort_on
Empty items array The page number exceeds the total number of available results
Check the total field in the response and make sure your page number does not exceed Math.ceil(total / pageSize)
Images not loading Image URLs in the response point to FBI servers that may throttle external requests
Cache images on your own server rather than hotlinking directly from the FBI CDN

Matrix Score Breakdown

🌐 Reachability 0/30
⚡ Speed 20/20
🔒 Security 15/15
🛠 Developer XP 15/20
✓ Reliability 7/15
Response Time 113ms

Fully tested on Apr 5, 2026

Technical Specifications

Auth No Auth
HTTPS REQUIRED
CORS UNKNOWN
Category Government
Difficulty Beginner
Verified: 2026-04-04

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