Do I need a LinkedIn developer account?

No. There is no LinkedIn app, OAuth flow or app review. One InsightSocial API key works for this endpoint and every other platform, and your first 10 calls priced at 100 credits or less are free.

How do I get every result, not just the first page?

This endpoint pages. Each response carries pagination.next_cursor and pagination.has_more. Send next_cursor back unchanged as the cursor parameter and stop when has_more is false. Every page is a separate call and is charged as one.

What happens if the account is private or nothing is found?

You get an error or an empty result, and it costs 0 credits. The API reads public LinkedIn data only, so private accounts and deleted content come back as not found rather than as partial data.

Can I call the LinkedIn Search People API from Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor?

Yes. Add the hosted MCP server at https://api.insightsocial.app/mcp to your AI app and sign in. The assistant finds this endpoint by name, shows its price and calls it with your credits.

GET /v1/linkedin/search/people

LinkedIn Search People API

Returns LinkedIn members matching a name or filters, each with handle, headline, location, follower count, profile URL, and member id.

Get a free API key Full API reference

100–500 credits, metered · cursor pagination · failed calls free · 10 free calls to start

curl "https://api.insightsocial.app/v1/linkedin/search/people?query=Bill+Gates" \
-H "x-api-key: $INSIGHTSOCIAL_API_KEY"

200 OKJSON

{
"success": true,
"platform": "linkedin",
"endpoint": "/v1/linkedin/search/people",
"schema_version": "2",
"data": {
"items": [
{
"author": {
"id": "<string>",
"username": "<string | null>",
"display_name": "<string | null>",
"avatar_url": "<string | null>",
"bio": "<string | null>",
"verified": "<boolean | null>",
"followers": "<integer | null>",
"followers_approximate": "<boolean | null>",
"following": "<integer | null>",
"posts_count": "<integer | null>",
"likes_count": "<integer | null>",
"url": "<string | null>",
"location": "<string | null>",
"external_url": "<string | null>",
"private": "<boolean | null>",
"joined_at": "<string | null>",
"last_post_at": "<string | null>",
"ext": "<object | null>"
}
}
],
"total": "<integer | null>",
"truncated": "<boolean | null>"
},
"pagination": {
"next_cursor": "<string | null>",
"has_more": "<boolean>"
},
"unavailable": [],
"credits_used": "<integer>"
}

When to use it

Use it to build a prospect list by job title, company, school, or location; use company/people to list one employer's staff.

Parameters

Query parameters for GET /v1/linkedin/search/people. Send your key in the x-api-key header.

Name	Required	Description
query	Yes	Name or display-name keyword to search for (e.g. 'Bill Gates').
page	No	Page number for pagination (default 1).
first_name	No	Filter by first name.
last_name	No	Filter by last name.
title	No	Filter by job title or headline.
current_company	No	Filter by current company, using a numeric company id from /v1/linkedin/company (author.id). Comma-separated for multiple.
past_company	No	Filter by a previously-worked company, using a numeric company id from /v1/linkedin/company (author.id).
school	No	Filter by school, using a school id from /v1/linkedin/search/schools (id).
industry	No	Filter by industry, using an industry id from /v1/linkedin/search/industry (industry_id).
geocode_location	No	Filter by location, using a geocode id from /v1/linkedin/search/location (geocode).
profile_language	No	Filter by profile language (ISO 2-letter code, e.g. 'en').
service_category	No	Filter by service category, using a numeric service-category id. No endpoint resolves these, so pass one you already hold.
follower_of	No	Return people who follow a specific member, using the member's URN from /v1/linkedin/profile (author.ext.urn). This one is a URN and not a numeric id.
include	No	Set to profile (one token only) to join every row to the member's profile lookup in this one call: author.followers becomes the exact count and followers_approximate reads false on every row the lookup filled, author.following is filled with the member's connection count, and the location, joined date, country, website, cover image and profile flags land where the row lacks them.
limit	No	Take the top N rows of this page (1 to 10). The page cursor still advances past the full page of 10, so the rows past your limit are skipped, not carried to the next page.
cursor	No	The pagination.next_cursor from the previous page, sent back unchanged. Omit it for the first page.

Response fields

The same unified schema every platform returns, so code written for LinkedIn works on the other eight. A field the platform did not provide is null and listed in unavailable.

Field	Type	Notes
id	string	An identifier, always a string. Never parse it as a number: several platforms use ids above 2^53.
username	string \| null
display_name	string \| null
avatar_url	string \| null
bio	string \| null
verified	boolean \| null
followers	integer \| null	A count. null when the platform does not expose it; 0 only when it is really zero.
followers_approximate	boolean \| null
following	integer \| null	A count. null when the platform does not expose it; 0 only when it is really zero.
posts_count	integer \| null	A count. null when the platform does not expose it; 0 only when it is really zero.
likes_count	integer \| null	A count. null when the platform does not expose it; 0 only when it is really zero.
url	string \| null
location	string \| null
external_url	string \| null
private	boolean \| null
joined_at	string \| null	ISO-8601 timestamp in UTC, ending in Z.
last_post_at	string \| null	ISO-8601 timestamp in UTC, ending in Z.
ext	object \| null	Platform-specific fields, snake_case.

Every field, error and example is in the LinkedIn Search People API reference.

How much does the LinkedIn Search People API cost?

Metered: 100–500 credits a call. The ceiling is reserved when the call starts and you are charged what it actually read.

Failed calls are free
A call that errors or finds nothing costs 0 credits.
Know the price first
Add dry_run=1 and the response quotes the call without making it. Nothing is charged.
One balance
API calls and Chrome extension exports share the same credits, on the free plan too.

See plans and credit packs How credits work