# Alien Probe VIN Lookup

> Alien Probe VIN Lookup is a paid API for AI agents from lookups.alienprobe.ai, paid per call via x402, $0.005/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-14).

Decodes a 17-character VIN into manufacturer, make, vehicle type, country, model year candidates, and check-digit validity using a pinned NHTSA vPIC WMI snapshot.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://lookups.alienprobe.ai/v1/lookup/vin/1M8GDM9AXKP042788
- Price: $0.005/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-14
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/alien-probe-vin-lookup-38b38c14
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_J412i6bH-MoYF7JIJHjRm

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability alien-probe-vin-lookup-38b38c14
```

Example prompt: Can you decode VIN 1M8GDM9AXKP042788 and tell me the manufacturer, vehicle type, country of origin, and whether the check digit is valid?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need a fast, cheap ($0.005 USDC), structurally correct VIN decode against a pinned NHTSA WMI snapshot — especially for check-digit validation, manufacturer/make/country identification, and model year estimation. It is NOT suitable when you need engine specs, trim level, body style, restraint systems, plant codes, or confirmation that a vehicle is registered or exists. Prefer this over a full NHTSA API call when cost, latency, or snapshot reproducibility matter and structural metadata is sufficient.

## Known failure modes

- VIN fails check digit validation — returned as invalid with computed vs carried values
- VIN contains disallowed characters (I, O, Q) — rejected as malformed
- WMI not found in bundled snapshot — partial decode with unknown manufacturer fields
- Model year ambiguous for non-passenger-car vehicle types — two candidate years returned
- VIN is fewer or more than 17 characters — rejected as malformed
- Legally exempt VINs (49 CFR 565.2(a)(1)) may be incorrectly rejected as malformed

## How this service works

Paid single-fact lookups, answered from bundled digest-pinned snapshots of public reference data.

## Output

A JSON object containing the decoded VIN, the WMI breakdown (manufacturer, make, vehicle type, country, key length), model year code and candidate year(s) with disambiguation basis, and check digit verdict (position, carried value, computed value, validity). Source metadata includes the NHTSA vPIC snapshot vintage and coverage notes.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "required": [
  "input",
  "output"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method",
    "pathParams"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "pathParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "vin"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "vin": {
       "type": "string",
       "pattern": "^[A-HJ-NPR-Z0-9]{17}$",
       "description": "the 17-character vehicle identification number to decode, ISO 3779 alphabet with no I, O or Q"
      }
     },
     "additionalProperties": false
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "example"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "json"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "schema_version",
      "subject",
      "answer",
      "source",
      "delivered_at"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "answer": {
       "type": "object",
       "required": [
        "vin",
        "check_digit",
        "wmi",
        "model_year"
       ],
       "properties": {
        "vin": {
         "type": "string",
         "pattern": "^[A-HJ-NPR-Z0-9]{17}$",
         "description": "the 17-character vehicle identification number to decode, ISO 3779 alphabet with no I, O or Q"
        },
        "wmi": {
         "type": "object",
         "required": [
          "key",
          "key_length",
          "manufacturer",
          "make",
          "vehicle_type",
          "country"
         ],
         "properties": {
          "key": {
           "type": "string",
           "pattern": "^[A-HJ-NPR-Z0-9]{3}(?:[A-HJ-NPR-Z0-9]{3})?$"
          },
          "make": {
           "type": "string",
           "minLength": 1
          },
          "country": {
           "type": "string",
           "minLength": 1
          },
          "key_length": {
           "enum": [
            3,
            6
           ],
           "type": "integer"
          },
          "manufacturer": {
           "type": "string",
           "minLength": 1
          },
          "vehicle_type": {
           "type": "string",
           "minLength": 1
          }
         },
         "additionalProperties": false
        },
        "model_year": {
         "type": "object",
         "required": [
          "code",
          "candidates",
  
… (truncated)
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "answer": {
   "vin": "1M8GDM9AXKP042788",
   "wmi": {
    "key": "1M8",
    "make": "Motor Coach Industries",
    "country": "UNITED STATES (USA)",
    "key_length": 3,
    "manufacturer": "MOTOR COACH INDUSTRIES, INC.",
    "vehicle_type": "Bus"
   },
   "model_year": {
    "code": "K",
    "basis": "cycle_ambiguous",
    "candidates": [
     1989,
     2019
    ]
   },
   "check_digit": {
    "valid": true,
    "carried": "X",
    "computed": "X",
    "position": 9
   }
  },
  "source": {
   "name": "NHTSA vPIC World Manufacturer Identifier register, lite 2026_08 publication",
   "vintage": "2026_08",
   "coverage": "Structural decode only, from a bundled snapshot of the NHTSA vPIC World Manufacturer Identifier table (10,659 WMI records, cut in ascending WMI key order from the 12,971 candidates in the lite 2026_08 publication; 2,312 further candidates were refused by the bundle sanitizer and counted) plus the closed-form rules of 49 CFR 565.15 (Subpart B) and 49 CFR 565.25 (Subpart C). Answers: the position-9 check digit verdict, the WMI's recorded manufacturer, make, vehicle type and registered country, and the position-10 model-year code as a candidate set from 49 CFR 565.15(d)(1) Table VII and 49 CFR 565.25(d)(1) Table XIII, narrowed to a single year only for passenger cars, the one class whose disambiguation rule does not depend on a gross vehicle weight rating this snapshot does not carry. The check digit refuses MOST transcription errors, not all: 49 CFR 565.15(c) Table III assigns several letters the same value, so substitutions and some transpositions within a value class are undetectable. Does NOT answer engine, body, series, trim, restraints, plant, weight class, or any per-manufacturer VIN pattern — those are not bundled. Does NOT assert that a vehicle exists, is registered, or is on the road. A VIN lawfully exempt from 49 CFR 565.15 under 49 CFR 565.2(a)(1) may be refused as malformed when it is not. Rows carrying characters this bundle cannot represent, and rows for which vPIC records no country at all, were refused and counted rather than repaired, which drops non-US manufacturers disproportionately, so both a refusal and an absent country skew non-US. A WMI the register maps to more than one make is refused rather than carried as a derived, comma-joined value, which is 511 of those refusals. Where one WMI carries more than one vehicle type — none in this vintage — the reported vehicle type is the first r
… (truncated)
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/alien-probe-vin-lookup-38b38c14/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from lookups.alienprobe.ai](https://www.zero.xyz/host/lookups.alienprobe.ai/llms.txt)