Quickstart

You’ll check a name, create a registration, upload documents, submit it and download the certificate, all in test mode. Nothing here reaches CAC or costs anything.

Before you start

Sign in at developers.fastcac.com, create an organization, and create a test API key. It starts with fc_test_. Keep it on your server: anyone with the key can act for your organization.

export FASTCAC_KEY="fc_test_..."

Check that your key works

curl https://api.fastcac.com/v1/ping \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FASTCAC_KEY"

Response

{
  "object": "ping",
  "organization": "org_5d6upqK9XmkRuRqhvEPMCI",
  "organization_name": "Bumpa",
  "api_key": "key_5axvqGwEnX6uXdNJoVSugK"
}

Check the business name

line_of_business must be one of the values from GET /v1/lines-of-business.

curl https://api.fastcac.com/v1/name-checks \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FASTCAC_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "Ada Foods Ventures", "line_of_business": "Educational Services And Consultancy"}'

const res = await fetch("https://api.fastcac.com/v1/name-checks", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.FASTCAC_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    name: "Ada Foods Ventures",
    line_of_business: "Educational Services And Consultancy",
  }),
});
const check = await res.json();

import os, requests

check = requests.post(
    "https://api.fastcac.com/v1/name-checks",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['FASTCAC_KEY']}"},
    json={"name": "Ada Foods Ventures", "line_of_business": "Educational Services And Consultancy"},
).json()

Response

{
  "object": "name_check",
  "name": "ADA FOODS VENTURES",
  "line_of_business": "Educational Services And Consultancy",
  "available": true,
  "requires_certificate": false,
  "reason": null,
  "similarity_score": 12.5,
  "most_similar_name": null,
  "similar_names": [],
  "suggested_names": []
}

When available is false, reason.code says why. See Name checks.

Create the registration

Send what you have; you can fill in the rest later with PATCH. Send an Idempotency-Key so a retried request can’t create two registrations.

curl https://api.fastcac.com/v1/registrations \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FASTCAC_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: order-1182-create" \
  -d '{"external_id": "order-1182", "proposed_names": ["Ada Foods Ventures", "Ada Kitchen Ventures"], "line_of_business": "Educational Services And Consultancy", "business": {"email": "hello@adafoods.ng", "phone": "08031234567", "address": {"street_number": "12", "street": "Admiralty Way", "city": "Lekki", "lga": "Eti-Osa", "state": "Lagos", "postcode": "105102"}}, "proprietors": [{"first_name": "Ada", "last_name": "Obi", "gender": "female", "date_of_birth": "1990-04-12", "nationality": "Nigerian", "nin": "12345678901", "email": "ada@example.com", "phone": "08031234567", "address": {"street_number": "12", "street": "Admiralty Way", "city": "Lekki", "lga": "Eti-Osa", "state": "Lagos", "postcode": "105102"}}]}'

Response (201)

{
  "object": "registration",
  "id": "reg_1G7StLhyz24vL6sB5eC64K",
  "business_id": "biz_1bIJpSFM4oxl6bkou74oob",
  "external_id": "order-1182",
  "type": "business_name",
  "status": "draft",
  "proposed_names": [
    "ADA FOODS VENTURES",
    "ADA KITCHEN VENTURES"
  ],
  "line_of_business": "Educational Services And Consultancy",
  "business": {
    "email": "hello@adafoods.ng",
    "phone": "08031234567",
    "address": {
      "street_number": "12",
      "street": "Admiralty Way",
      "city": "Lekki",
      "lga": "Eti-Osa",
      "state": "Lagos",
      "postcode": "105102"
    }
  },
  "proprietors": [
    {
      "first_name": "Ada",
      "last_name": "Obi",
      "other_names": null,
      "gender": "female",
      "date_of_birth": "1990-04-12",
      "nationality": "Nigerian",
      "nin": "12345678901",
      "email": "ada@example.com",
      "phone": "08031234567",
      "address": {
        "street_number": "12",
        "street": "Admiralty Way",
        "city": "Lekki",
        "lga": "Eti-Osa",
        "state": "Lagos",
        "postcode": "105102"
      }
    }
  ],
  "missing_fields": [],
  "query": null,
  "failure": null,
  "registered_name": null,
  "registration_number": null,
  "certificate_available": false,
  "status_report_available": false,
  "history": [
    {
      "from": null,
      "to": "draft",
      "at": "2026-10-23T22:06:48Z"
    }
  ],
  "submitted_at": null,
  "approved_at": null,
  "created_at": "2026-10-23T22:06:48Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-23T22:06:48Z"
}

missing_fields lists what’s still needed before you can submit. Here it’s empty.

Upload the documents

Each proprietor needs a means_of_id, a passport photograph and a signature. Upload them as multipart form data.

for kind in means_of_id passport signature; do
  curl https://api.fastcac.com/v1/registrations/$REG_ID/documents \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $FASTCAC_KEY" \
    -F kind=$kind -F proprietor=0 -F file=@$kind.jpg
done

Response (201)

{
  "object": "document",
  "id": "doc_1f3vn4z6FzDYjcbdUYUVtK",
  "registration_id": "reg_5iLOZvP27DZ2zDQTjOzY1O",
  "proprietor": 0,
  "kind": "passport",
  "filename": "passport.jpg",
  "content_type": "image/jpeg",
  "size": 8,
  "status": "verified",
  "reason": null,
  "created_at": "2026-10-23T22:06:51Z"
}

Submit

curl -X POST https://api.fastcac.com/v1/registrations/$REG_ID/submit \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FASTCAC_KEY"

The registration moves to pending_payment. In test mode, mark it paid with the test helper:

curl https://api.fastcac.com/v1/test/registrations/$REG_ID/advance \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FASTCAC_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"to": "paid"}'

After payment FastCAC checks the proprietor’s identity and files with CAC, so the registration comes back submitted. In test mode CAC’s decision arrives about 60 seconds later. To skip the wait, advance it to approved:

curl https://api.fastcac.com/v1/test/registrations/$REG_ID/advance \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FASTCAC_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"to": "approved"}'

Response

{
  "object": "registration",
  "id": "reg_1G7StLhyz24vL6sB5eC64K",
  "business_id": "biz_1bIJpSFM4oxl6bkou74oob",
  "external_id": "order-1182",
  "type": "business_name",
  "status": "approved",
  "proposed_names": [
    "ADA FOODS VENTURES",
    "ADA KITCHEN VENTURES"
  ],
  "line_of_business": "Educational Services And Consultancy",
  "business": {
    "email": "hello@adafoods.ng",
    "phone": "08039876543",
    "address": {
      "street_number": "12",
      "street": "Admiralty Way",
      "city": "Lekki",
      "lga": "Eti-Osa",
      "state": "Lagos",
      "postcode": "105102"
    }
  },
  "proprietors": [
    {
      "first_name": "Ada",
      "last_name": "Obi",
      "other_names": null,
      "gender": "female",
      "date_of_birth": "1990-04-12",
      "nationality": "Nigerian",
      "nin": "12345678901",
      "email": "ada@example.com",
      "phone": "08031234567",
      "address": {
        "street_number": "12",
        "street": "Admiralty Way",
        "city": "Lekki",
        "lga": "Eti-Osa",
        "state": "Lagos",
        "postcode": "105102"
      }
    }
  ],
  "missing_fields": [],
  "query": null,
  "failure": null,
  "registered_name": "ADA FOODS VENTURES",
  "registration_number": "4818873",
  "certificate_available": true,
  "status_report_available": true,
  "history": [
    {
      "from": null,
      "to": "draft",
      "at": "2026-10-23T22:06:48Z"
    },
    {
      "from": "draft",
      "to": "pending_payment",
      "at": "2026-10-23T22:06:49Z"
    },
    {
      "from": "pending_payment",
      "to": "paid",
      "at": "2026-10-23T22:06:49Z"
    },
    {
      "from": "paid",
      "to": "submitted",
      "at": "2026-10-23T22:06:49Z"
    },
    {
      "from": "submitted",
      "to": "approved",
      "at": "2026-10-23T22:06:49Z"
    }
  ],
  "submitted_at": "2026-10-23T22:06:49Z",
  "approved_at": "2026-10-23T22:06:49Z",
  "created_at": "2026-10-23T22:06:48Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-23T22:06:49Z"
}

Download the certificate

curl https://api.fastcac.com/v1/registrations/$REG_ID/certificate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FASTCAC_KEY" -o certificate.pdf

In test mode it’s a sample PDF marked “SANDBOX - NOT A CAC DOCUMENT”. The status report is at /status-report.

Handle every outcome

Make a registration get queried, rejected or fail verification, on purpose.

Listen for changes

Get a webhook when a registration is approved instead of polling.

Get started

Registering a business

Webhooks

API basics

Going live

Before you start

Next

Handle every outcome

Listen for changes

​Before you start

​Next

Handle every outcome

Listen for changes

Before you start

Next