Overview
Company Lookup works by aggregating official SEC EDGAR company filings data. The database includes ~10,000 US public companies with their metadata, SIC codes, contact information, and former names. Data is refreshed weekly from SEC submissions.
Live Test Company Grounding Data for AI Agents Source →
The tool
Once your client is connected to the VerveContext server, this appears in its tool list as CompanyGroundingDataforAIAgents. It is read-only and open-world — it fetches and never mutates anything on your side — so most clients call it without asking you to confirm.
{
"name": "CompanyGroundingDataforAIAgents",
"arguments": {
"ticker": "AAPL"
}
}You do not name the tool yourself; the model picks it. Asking about AAPL in the terms this source covers is enough for it to reach for CompanyGroundingDataforAIAgents on its own — naming it explicitly also works, and is the way to force the call.
Connecting
One server URL covers every source in the catalog, including this one. Authorization is OAuth: the client opens a browser once, and there is no key to paste into a config file.
{
"mcpServers": {
"vervecontext": {
"url": "https://api.vervecontext.com/v1/mcp"
}
}
}https://api.vervecontext.com/v1/mcpPer-client setup — Claude, Cursor, VS Code, ChatGPT — is on the MCP setup page.
Arguments
These are the properties on the tool's inputSchema, so a well-behaved client validates them before the call is made. Premium arguments are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them.
| Argument | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
tickerRequired | string | Stock ticker symbol (e.g. AAPL, MSFT, GOOGL) length 1–5 |
What the model gets back
The result carries a structuredContent object matching the tool's declared outputSchema, so a client reads fields without parsing prose. status is "ok" and error is null on success; a null field means the value was not available for that input, not that the call failed.
{
"status": "ok",
"error": null,
"data": {
"count": 1,
"companies": [
{
"ticker": "AAPL",
"cik": "0000320193",
"name": "Apple Inc.",
"tickers": [
"AAPL"
],
"exchanges": [
"Nasdaq"
],
"entityType": "operating",
"sic": "3571",
"sicDescription": "Electronic Computers",
"sector": "Manufacturing",
"category": "Large accelerated filer",
"stateOfIncorporation": "CA",
"fiscalYearEnd": "0926",
"ein": "942404110",
"phone": "(408) 996-1010",
"addresses": {
"mailing": {
"street1": "ONE APPLE PARK WAY",
"street2": null,
"city": "CUPERTINO",
"stateOrCountry": "CA",
"zipCode": "95014",
"stateOrCountryDescription": "CA",
"isForeignLocation": 0,
"foreignStateTerritory": null,
"country": null,
"countryCode": null
},
"business": {
"street1": "ONE APPLE PARK WAY",
"street2": null,
"city": "CUPERTINO",
"stateOrCountry": "CA",
"zipCode": "95014",
"stateOrCountryDescription": "CA",
"isForeignLocation": null,
"foreignStateTerritory": null,
"country": null,
"countryCode": null
}
},
"formerNames": [
{
"name": "APPLE INC",
"from": "2007-01-10T05:00:00.000Z",
"to": "2019-08-05T04:00:00.000Z"
},
{
"name": "APPLE COMPUTER INC",
"from": "1994-01-26T05:00:00.000Z",
"to": "2007-01-04T05:00:00.000Z"
},
{
"name": "APPLE COMPUTER INC/ FA",
"from": "1997-07-28T04:00:00.000Z",
"to": "1997-07-28T04:00:00.000Z"
}
]
}
]
}
}
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.
| Field | Type | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
count | number | 1 | Number of companies returned |
companies | array[1] | Matching companies | |
companies.0.ticker | string | AAPL | Stock ticker symbol for the company |
companies.0.cik | string | 0000320193 | SEC Central Index Key identifier number |
companies.0.name | string | Apple Inc. | Legal company name registered with SEC |
companies.0.tickers | array | ["AAPL"] | All ticker symbols associated with company |
companies.0.exchanges | array | ["Nasdaq"] | Stock exchanges where company trades |
companies.0.entityType | string | operating | Company entity type classification |
companies.0.sic | string | 3571 | Standard Industrial Classification code |
companies.0.sicDescriptionPremium | string | Electronic Computers | Human-readable SIC code description |
companies.0.sectorPremium | string | Manufacturing | High-level industry sector classification |
companies.0.category | string | Large accelerated filer | SEC filer category designation |
companies.0.stateOfIncorporation | string | CA | State where company is incorporated |
companies.0.fiscalYearEnd | string | 0926 | Fiscal year end month and day |
companies.0.ein | string | 942404110 | Employer Identification Number for tax purposes |
companies.0.phone | string | (408) 996-1010 | Primary phone number from SEC filings |
companies.0.addresses | object | {…} | Addresses on file with the SEC |
companies.0.addresses.mailing | object | {…} | Mailing address |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.street1 | string | ONE APPLE PARK WAY | Mailing address street line |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.street2 | object | null | Mailing address second street line (suite, floor, etc.), null when not applicable |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.city | string | CUPERTINO | Mailing address city name |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.stateOrCountry | string | CA | Mailing address state or country code |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.zipCode | string | 95014 | Mailing address postal code |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.stateOrCountryDescription | string | CA | Human-readable name of the mailing address state or country |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.isForeignLocation | number | 0 | Whether the mailing address is outside the United States, null when not determined |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.foreignStateTerritory | object | null | Foreign state or territory name for the mailing address, null for US addresses |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.country | object | null | Mailing address country name, null for US addresses |
companies.0.addresses.mailing.countryCode | object | null | Mailing address ISO country code, null for US addresses |
companies.0.addresses.business | object | {…} | Business address |
companies.0.addresses.business.street1 | string | ONE APPLE PARK WAY | Business address street line |
companies.0.addresses.business.street2 | object | null | Business address second street line (suite, floor, etc.), null when not applicable |
companies.0.addresses.business.city | string | CUPERTINO | Business address city name |
companies.0.addresses.business.stateOrCountry | string | CA | Business address state or country code |
companies.0.addresses.business.zipCode | string | 95014 | Business address postal code |
companies.0.addresses.business.stateOrCountryDescription | string | CA | Human-readable name of the business address state or country |
companies.0.addresses.business.isForeignLocation | object | null | Whether the business address is outside the United States, null when not determined |
companies.0.addresses.business.foreignStateTerritory | object | null | Foreign state or territory name for the business address, null for US addresses |
companies.0.addresses.business.country | object | null | Business address country name, null for US addresses |
companies.0.addresses.business.countryCode | object | null | Business address ISO country code, null for US addresses |
companies.0.formerNamesPremium | array[3] | List of all previously used company names | |
companies.0.formerNames.0.namePremium | string | APPLE INC | A previously used legal name for the company |
companies.0.formerNames.0.fromPremium | string | 2007-01-10T05:00:00.000Z | ISO 8601 timestamp when the company began using this former name |
companies.0.formerNames.0.toPremium | string | 2019-08-05T04:00:00.000Z | ISO 8601 timestamp when the company stopped using this former name |
Why ground on it
A model can produce something that looks like this answer from its training data, and be confidently out of date or simply wrong. This source returns the current value in a shape you can check, which is the difference between an answer you can cite and one you have to hedge.
Point an evaluation at count: it is the field most worth pinning a claim to, and it is either present and current or absent — never plausibly invented.
Failure modes
Errors come back as tool errors carrying a sentence the model can act on, not a bare status code. Error handling covers the full list.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
400 / 422 | The arguments did not validate. The message names the offending one. |
401 | The OAuth session is invalid or expired — reconnect the server. |
403 | Blocked by a key restriction or an IP allow-list. Never a bad identity. |
404 | This source is not part of VerveContext. Check the catalog. |
429 | Out of credits, or a brief rate limit. The message tells them apart. |
A call costs 2 credits each time the tool actually runs; a model that reasons about the tool without calling it costs nothing.
Use cases
- Investor Search Autocomplete
- Brokerage apps resolve user-typed company names to verified ticker symbols, trading exchanges, and SEC CIK numbers in real time.
- Vendor Due Diligence
- To confirm vendor tax identities, procurement teams match submitted business entities against official SEC Employer Identification Numbers and registered headquarters addresses.
- Compliance Onboarding
- When onboarding institutional accounts, KYC software reads state of incorporation, SEC filer category, and contact phone numbers directly from SEC records.
- Industry Peer Screening
- Filter publicly traded companies by four-digit SIC codes to build comparable company sets across specific manufacturing or technology segments.
Other ways to use Company Grounding Data for AI Agents
Set up Company Grounding Data for AI Agents on VerveContext, or reach the same source a different way. Your VerveContext account and credits work on all of them — one key, one balance.
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