# UPCitemdb > Turn a barcode into a product. UPCitemdb holds records for around 735 million barcodes (what the thing is, who makes it, what it looks like, and what the shops it tracks are charging), so a scan, a supplier's spreadsheet or a stock take can be filled in without anyone typing a product name. Look up one code or a whole column of them, or search by name when you don't have a code at all. Free to use with no account; add an API key when you need a bigger daily allowance. App · E-Commerce · 3 actions. Web page: https://docs.lodol.com/docs/integrations/upcitemdb ## Actions ### Look up a product Turn a barcode into a product: its name, brand, model, category, pictures, and what the shops UPCitemdb tracks are charging, cheapest in stock first. Takes the number printed under the bars (a UPC, an EAN, a GTIN or a book's ISBN) or an Amazon ASIN, and works out which it is. The short barcode on a small package is expanded and an old 10-digit ISBN is converted, so the code you actually have is the code that works. A barcode nobody has comes back as not found rather than as an error, so a workflow can branch on it. **Inputs** - Barcode (`code`, text, required): The number printed under the bars on the product: a UPC, an EAN, a GTIN, or a book's ISBN. Spaces and hyphens don't matter. An Amazon ASIN works here too. **Outputs** - `allowance_resets_at` (text): When that allowance comes back, as a date and time (UTC). - `asin` (text): Amazon's own code for the product, when it is known. Empty for most products. - `barcode` (text): The barcode UPCitemdb files this product under, as 13 digits. This is the one to store and to look it up by again. - `best_offer` (object): The cheapest listing that is actually in stock -- the one to quote or to watch for a price drop. Empty when nothing is in stock. - `brand` (text): Who makes it. - `category` (text): Where it sits in Google's product categories, as a path: 'Home & Garden > Kitchen & Dining > Kitchen Tools'. - `code_given` (text): The code this row was asked for, exactly as it was given, so results can be written back beside the list they came from. - `color` (text): Its colour, as the manufacturer names it. - `currency` (text): The currency the prices below are in. - `description` (text): The manufacturer's description, where there is one. - `dimension` (text): How big it is, as the manufacturer writes it, e.g. '8 X 1 X 1 inches'. - `ean` (text): The 13-digit EAN. - `found` (true/false): Whether UPCitemdb holds a record for this code. Everything below is empty when it does not. - `gtin` (text): The 14-digit GTIN, when the product has one. - `highest_recorded_price` (number): The highest price it has ever seen, on the same basis. - `image_url` (text): A picture of the product, ready to put in an email, a page or a record. - `images` (list): Every picture UPCitemdb holds, best first. - `in_stock_offer_count` (number): How many of them have it in stock. - `lowest_recorded_price` (number): The lowest price UPCitemdb has ever seen for this product, across every shop and the whole time it has been watching. This is a historical low, not today's price -- today's prices are in Offers. - `message` (text): Why nothing came back, when nothing did. Empty otherwise. - `model` (text): The manufacturer's model number. - `offer_count` (number): How many shops are listed. - `offers` (list): What the shops UPCitemdb tracks are charging, cheapest first, with anything sold out after the rest. - `product_url` (text): The product's page on upcitemdb.com, for a person who wants to see the record themselves. - `read_as` (text): Empty unless the code had to be converted before it could be looked up -- a short barcode expanded, or an old 10-digit ISBN read as a 13-digit one -- in which case this says what it was read as. - `requests_left_today` (number): How many more requests UPCitemdb will answer today. Without an API key the allowance is 100 a day and is shared with everyone else using UPCitemdb from Lodol without one, so it is worth checking before a step that looks up a long list. - `size` (text): Its size, as the manufacturer writes it: a clothing size, a volume, a pack count. - `title` (text): The product's name. - `upc` (text): The 12-digit UPC-A, when the product has one. This is the same number as the barcode above without its leading zero. - `weight` (text): How heavy it is, as the manufacturer writes it, e.g. '0.1 Pounds'. **Example output** ```json { "allowance_resets_at": "2026-09-15T00:00:00+00:00", "asin": "B0000DJYE3", "barcode": "4002293401102", "best_offer": { "condition": "New", "currency": "USD", "domain": "chefscatalog.com", "in_stock": true, "link": "https://www.upcitemdb.com/norob/alink/?id=u2o243z2w203b454s2", "list_price": 26.0, "merchant": "Chefs Catalog", "price": 15.95, "shipping": "Free Shipping", "shipping_cost": 0.0, "title": "Wusthof Gourmet 3-in. Serrated Paring Knife", "updated": "2015-12-01T16:47:55+00:00" }, "brand": "Wusthof", "category": "Home & Garden > Kitchen & Dining > Kitchen Tools & Utensils", "code_given": "4002293401102", "color": "Multi", "currency": "USD", "description": "Wusthof Gourmet 3-in. Serrated Paring Knife", "dimension": "8 X 1 X 1 inches", "ean": "4002293401102", "found": true, "gtin": "", "highest_recorded_price": 32.94, "image_url": "https://www.chefscatalog.com/img/products/500x500/99528_500.jpg", "images": [ "https://www.chefscatalog.com/img/products/500x500/99528_500.jpg" ], "in_stock_offer_count": 1, "lowest_recorded_price": 12.99, "message": "", "model": "4011-7", "offer_count": 1, "offers": [ { "condition": "New", "currency": "USD", "domain": "chefscatalog.com", "in_stock": true, "link": "https://www.upcitemdb.com/norob/alink/?id=u2o243z2w203b454s2", "list_price": 26.0, "merchant": "Chefs Catalog", "price": 15.95, "shipping": "Free Shipping", "shipping_cost": 0.0, "title": "Wusthof Gourmet 3-in. Serrated Paring Knife", "updated": "2015-12-01T16:47:55+00:00" } ], "product_url": "https://www.upcitemdb.com/upc/4002293401102", "read_as": "", "requests_left_today": 87, "size": "", "title": "Wusthof Gourmet 3-Inch Serrated Paring Knife", "upc": "", "weight": "0.1 Pounds" } ``` ### Look up several products Give this a list of barcodes and get one row back for each (in the order they were given, and whether or not UPCitemdb holds a record), so the results can be written straight back beside the column they came from. This is the step behind filling in a supplier's spreadsheet, enriching a stock take, or checking a batch of scans. A barcode the list repeats is looked up, and returned, once. **Inputs** - Barcodes (`codes`, list, required): The barcodes to look up, up to 50 at a time. Type them in, or wire in a column from a spreadsheet or an earlier step. A long list takes a moment and uses more of your daily allowance. **Outputs** - `allowance_resets_at` (text): When that allowance comes back, as a date and time (UTC). - `count` (number): How many barcodes were looked up. - `found_count` (number): How many of them UPCitemdb had a record for. - `not_found` (list): The barcodes with no record, exactly as they were given. - `products` (list): One row per distinct barcode asked for, in the order they were given. - `requests_left_today` (number): How many more requests UPCitemdb will answer today. Without an API key the allowance is 100 a day and is shared with everyone else using UPCitemdb from Lodol without one, so it is worth checking before a step that looks up a long list. **Example output** ```json { "allowance_resets_at": "2026-09-15T00:00:00+00:00", "count": 2, "found_count": 1, "not_found": [ "0000000000000" ], "products": [ { "asin": "B0000DJYE3", "barcode": "4002293401102", "best_offer": { "condition": "New", "currency": "USD", "domain": "chefscatalog.com", "in_stock": true, "link": "https://www.upcitemdb.com/norob/alink/?id=u2o243z2w203b454s2", "list_price": 26.0, "merchant": "Chefs Catalog", "price": 15.95, "shipping": "Free Shipping", "shipping_cost": 0.0, "title": "Wusthof Gourmet 3-in. Serrated Paring Knife", "updated": "2015-12-01T16:47:55+00:00" }, "brand": "Wusthof", "category": "Home & Garden > Kitchen & Dining > Kitchen Tools & Utensils", "code_given": "4002293401102", "color": "Multi", "currency": "USD", "description": "Wusthof Gourmet 3-in. Serrated Paring Knife", "dimension": "8 X 1 X 1 inches", "ean": "4002293401102", "found": true, "gtin": "", "highest_recorded_price": 32.94, "image_url": "https://www.chefscatalog.com/img/products/500x500/99528_500.jpg", "images": [ "https://www.chefscatalog.com/img/products/500x500/99528_500.jpg" ], "in_stock_offer_count": 1, "lowest_recorded_price": 12.99, "message": "", "model": "4011-7", "offer_count": 1, "offers": [ { "condition": "New", "currency": "USD", "domain": "chefscatalog.com", "in_stock": true, "link": "https://www.upcitemdb.com/norob/alink/?id=u2o243z2w203b454s2", "list_price": 26.0, "merchant": "Chefs Catalog", "price": 15.95, "shipping": "Free Shipping", "shipping_cost": 0.0, "title": "Wusthof Gourmet 3-in. Serrated Paring Knife", "updated": "2015-12-01T16:47:55+00:00" } ], "product_url": "https://www.upcitemdb.com/upc/4002293401102", "read_as": "", "size": "", "title": "Wusthof Gourmet 3-Inch Serrated Paring Knife", "upc": "", "weight": "0.1 Pounds" }, { "asin": "", "barcode": "0000000000000", "code_given": "0000000000000", "found": false, "message": "UPCitemdb holds no product for 0000000000000." } ], "requests_left_today": 87 } ``` ### Search for products Find products by name when you don't have a barcode, and get their barcodes back. Search the whole catalogue or just books, narrow it by brand, category, model number or a word in the title, and choose whether every word has to appear or the closest matches will do. Each result is the same full product record a barcode lookup returns, prices and pictures included. Worth knowing: searching is limited more tightly than looking a barcode up on UPCitemdb's free plan, so a search-heavy workflow is the first reason to add a key. **Inputs** - Search for (`keywords`, text, required): What to search for: a product name, a brand, a model number, or any words from the title. - Look in (`item_type`, text): Which part of the catalogue to search. One of: `product` (Products), `book` (Books). Default: `product`. - Matching (`match`, text): How closely a product has to match. Requiring every word finds fewer but better matches; the other setting always finds something. One of: `all_words` (Every word must appear), `best_matches` (Closest matches, even if some words are missing). Default: `all_words`. - Brand (`brand`, text): Only products from this brand. - Category (`category`, text): Only products in a category matching this word, e.g. 'phones' or 'kitchen'. - Title contains (`title_contains`, text): Only products whose title contains this, for narrowing a broad search to one variant, e.g. '64gb'. - Model number (`model`, text): Only products with this manufacturer's model number. - How many products (`limit`, number): How many products to bring back, up to 50. Asking for more takes longer and uses more of your daily allowance. From 1 to 50. Default: `10`. **Outputs** - `allowance_resets_at` (text): When that allowance comes back, as a date and time (UTC). - `count` (number): How many products came back. - `keywords` (text): What was searched for. - `more_available` (true/false): Whether there are more beyond the ones returned. Ask for more with 'How many products'. - `products` (list): The products found, best match first. - `requests_left_today` (number): How many more requests UPCitemdb will answer today. Without an API key the allowance is 100 a day and is shared with everyone else using UPCitemdb from Lodol without one, so it is worth checking before a step that looks up a long list. - `total_matches` (number): How many products UPCitemdb says match altogether, which is usually far more than were asked for. **Example output** ```json { "allowance_resets_at": "2026-09-15T00:00:00+00:00", "count": 1, "keywords": "wusthof paring knife", "more_available": true, "products": [ { "asin": "B0000DJYE3", "barcode": "4002293401102", "best_offer": { "condition": "New", "currency": "USD", "domain": "chefscatalog.com", "in_stock": true, "link": "https://www.upcitemdb.com/norob/alink/?id=u2o243z2w203b454s2", "list_price": 26.0, "merchant": "Chefs Catalog", "price": 15.95, "shipping": "Free Shipping", "shipping_cost": 0.0, "title": "Wusthof Gourmet 3-in. Serrated Paring Knife", "updated": "2015-12-01T16:47:55+00:00" }, "brand": "Wusthof", "category": "Home & Garden > Kitchen & Dining > Kitchen Tools & Utensils", "color": "Multi", "currency": "USD", "description": "Wusthof Gourmet 3-in. Serrated Paring Knife", "dimension": "8 X 1 X 1 inches", "ean": "4002293401102", "found": true, "gtin": "", "highest_recorded_price": 32.94, "image_url": "https://www.chefscatalog.com/img/products/500x500/99528_500.jpg", "images": [ "https://www.chefscatalog.com/img/products/500x500/99528_500.jpg" ], "in_stock_offer_count": 1, "lowest_recorded_price": 12.99, "message": "", "model": "4011-7", "offer_count": 1, "offers": [ { "condition": "New", "currency": "USD", "domain": "chefscatalog.com", "in_stock": true, "link": "https://www.upcitemdb.com/norob/alink/?id=u2o243z2w203b454s2", "list_price": 26.0, "merchant": "Chefs Catalog", "price": 15.95, "shipping": "Free Shipping", "shipping_cost": 0.0, "title": "Wusthof Gourmet 3-in. Serrated Paring Knife", "updated": "2015-12-01T16:47:55+00:00" } ], "product_url": "https://www.upcitemdb.com/upc/4002293401102", "size": "", "title": "Wusthof Gourmet 3-Inch Serrated Paring Knife", "upc": "", "weight": "0.1 Pounds" } ], "requests_left_today": 87, "total_matches": 366 } ```