> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.focusalpha.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Company identifiers

> How company IDs, tickers, CIKs, and ISINs resolve across the API.

Every company in the FocusAlpha registry has one canonical ID of the form `cmp_…`.
Everything else — tickers, CIKs, ISINs, local market codes — is an identifier *attached*
to that company. Most routes accept any of them; one route insists on the canonical ID.
This page gives you the exact rules.

## The canonical `cmp_` ID

The registry spans roughly 25,000 listed companies across 82 countries. A company's
`cmp_` ID is stable: tickers change, companies re-list, ISINs get reassigned, but the
`cmp_` ID keeps pointing at the same company. You get it from any registry search:

```bash theme={null}
curl "https://api.focusalpha.ai/v1/companies?ticker=AAPL" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOCUSALPHA_API_KEY"
```

Each row in `data` carries the company's `cmp_` ID alongside its identifiers.

## What each route accepts

**The four registry routes are strict.** `GET /v1/companies/:company_id` and its
siblings `/identifiers`, `/listings`, and `/events` require a literal `cmp_` ID in the
path — a ticker there returns `404`:

```bash theme={null}
# Works
curl "https://api.focusalpha.ai/v1/companies/cmp_01hxyzabc" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOCUSALPHA_API_KEY"

# 404 — the registry routes do not resolve tickers
curl "https://api.focusalpha.ai/v1/companies/AAPL/identifiers" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOCUSALPHA_API_KEY"
```

**Every other `/v1/companies/:company_id/...` dataset route is flexible.** Market data,
short interest, news, events, guidance, executive compensation, the Taiwan and Korea
datasets, disclosures, 20-F — all of them resolve the path segment as a **ticker, CIK,
ISIN, or `cmp_` ID**, whichever you pass:

```bash theme={null}
# All four hit the same company's market data
curl "https://api.focusalpha.ai/v1/companies/AAPL/market-data?series=prices" ...
curl "https://api.focusalpha.ai/v1/companies/320193/market-data?series=prices" ...
curl "https://api.focusalpha.ai/v1/companies/US0378331005/market-data?series=prices" ...
curl "https://api.focusalpha.ai/v1/companies/cmp_01hxyzabc/market-data?series=prices" ...
```

An identifier that cannot be resolved returns a `404` whose message names the accepted
forms — so a failed lookup tells you what to try next rather than leaving you guessing.

<Tip>
  For scripts and integrations, resolve once and use the `cmp_` ID everywhere. Ticker
  resolution is convenient interactively, but tickers are reused and reassigned over
  time; the canonical ID is the only spelling that cannot drift under you.
</Tip>

## Non-US symbols carry a market suffix

Outside the US, a bare local code is ambiguous — Taiwan's 6976 and Japan's 6976 are
different companies. Pass the suffixed symbol:

| Market        | Example     |
| ------------- | ----------- |
| Taiwan (TWSE) | `2330.TW`   |
| Taiwan (TPEx) | `6976.TWO`  |
| Korea         | `005930.KS` |

## Listing every identifier

`GET /v1/companies/:company_id/identifiers` returns every identifier the registry holds
for a company — useful when you arrive with one identifier system and need another:

```json theme={null}
{
  "data": [
    { "id_type": "CIK", "id_value": "0000320193", "source": "sec", "confidence": "high" },
    { "id_type": "TICKER", "id_value": "AAPL", "source": "registry", "confidence": "high" },
    { "id_type": "ISIN", "id_value": "US0378331005", "source": "registry", "confidence": "high" }
  ],
  "next_cursor": null,
  "coverage": { ... }
}
```

Identifier types include `CIK`, `TICKER`, `ISIN`, and market-specific systems such as
`TW_UBN` (Taiwan unified business number) and `DART_CORP` (Korea DART corporation
code), among others. Sibling routes complete the picture:

* `GET /v1/companies/:company_id/listings` — every exchange listing
* `GET /v1/companies/:company_id/events` — splits and name changes (partial history)

## One company, many tickers

A company can trade under several symbols — dual listings, share classes, ADRs. The
guidance and earnings routes (`/guidance*`, `/earnings-results`) deliberately resolve
your identifier to **every ticker the company is known by**, not just its primary
listing, so data filed under a secondary symbol still shows up. You do not need to
enumerate a company's tickers yourself before querying those datasets.

## Related pages

<Card title="Coverage and freshness" href="/concepts/coverage" icon="clock">
  What the registry covers, and how to read the coverage object on responses.
</Card>

<Card title="Errors" href="/concepts/errors" icon="triangle-exclamation">
  What a 404 from an unresolvable identifier looks like.
</Card>