LinkedIn Sales Navigator API: Access, Limits and the Alternative for Developers

Last verified: 13 October 2026.

Key point: SNAP has no endpoint that runs a people search with filters, and no export of saved searches or lead lists. Even an approved partner could not rebuild a Sales Navigator search feature on SNAP alone. If search results are what your product needs, SNAP was never the right tool.

Run a people search with filters

Set api to sales_navigator and category to people (or companies), then combine the filters you need. keywords is free text, tenure takes a list of ranges in years, profile_language a list of language codes, and company takes include and exclude lists of company IDs. An industry filter with an include list works the same way. The limit query parameter sets the page size, up to 100 results for Sales Navigator.

curl --request POST \
  --url "https://{YOUR_DSN}/api/v1/linkedin/search?account_id={ACCOUNT_ID}&limit=50" \
  --header "X-API-KEY: {YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
  --header "accept: application/json" \
  --header "content-type: application/json" \
  --data '{
    "api": "sales_navigator",
    "category": "people",
    "keywords": "head of sales",
    "tenure": [{ "min": 3 }],
    "profile_language": ["en"],
    "company": { "include": [1441], "exclude": [1035] }
  }'

Reuse a saved search or lead list URL

Many users build their search in Sales Navigator first. Instead of rebuilding every filter in your interface, accept the URL they copy from their browser: a search results page, a saved search or a list of leads. Send it in the url field and the search runs with the filters already encoded in that link.

{
  "url": "https://www.linkedin.com/sales/search/people?query=(...)"
}

Resolve filter IDs

Filters such as locations, companies or industries expect LinkedIn IDs, not names. Look them up first with the search parameters endpoint, then reuse the returned id values in your search body. The type parameter selects what you are looking up, here a location.

curl --request GET \
  --url "https://{YOUR_DSN}/api/v1/linkedin/search/parameters?account_id={ACCOUNT_ID}&type=LOCATION&keywords=los%20angeles&limit=100" \
  --header "X-API-KEY: {YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN}" \
  --header "accept: application/json"

# Response: { "object": "LinkedinSearchParametersList", "items": [{ "title": "...", "id": "..." }] }

Paginate with the cursor

Each response carries a cursor. Pass it as the cursor query parameter of the next request, and stop when you reach paging.total_count, the per-search cap described below, or the number of results your feature actually needs.

const BASE = "https://{YOUR_DSN}/api/v1/linkedin/search";
const headers = {
  "X-API-KEY": process.env.UNIPILE_API_KEY,
  "accept": "application/json",
  "content-type": "application/json",
};

export async function searchSalesNavigator(accountId, body, maxResults = 500) {
  const results = [];
  let cursor = null;

  do {
    const params = new URLSearchParams({ account_id: accountId, limit: "100" });
    if (cursor) params.set("cursor", cursor);

    const res = await fetch(`${BASE}?${params}`, {
      method: "POST",
      headers,
      body: JSON.stringify(body),
    });
    if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Search failed: ${res.status}`);

    const page = await res.json();
    results.push(...page.items);
    cursor = page.cursor;

    const target = Math.min(page.paging.total_count, maxResults);
    if (results.length >= target) break;
  } while (cursor);

  return results;
}

// Example: the first 500 matches of a search the user built in your app
const leads = await searchSalesNavigator("{ACCOUNT_ID}", {
  api: "sales_navigator",
  category: "people",
  keywords: "head of sales",
});

Daily volume: for Sales Navigator people searches, the recommendation is to stay around 2,500 profiles per day for each linked account. A search that matches more than 2,500 people needs narrower filters, not more pages: split it by location, industry or tenure.

Last verified: 13 October 2026, against the provider limits and restrictions documentation.

Example: your app serves 20 sales reps who each link a Sales Navigator Core account. Their seats stay on their own LinkedIn subscriptions. On your side, the API bill is 20 connected accounts at $5.50, so $110 per month, with no fee per search or per message. See every volume tier on the Unipile API pricing page.

Last verified: 26 October 2026, against LinkedIn's Sales Navigator plans page. LinkedIn prices exclude taxes and can vary by region.

In practice: if you are not already a SNAP partner, the choice is made for you. And if you are one, SNAP still does not give you search results as data: products that need them use the user-side model alongside their partnership features.

Lead list to CRM

JDJane Doe, VP SalesMatched

AKAlex Kim, Head of GrowthNew

MLMaria Lopez, CRONew

CRM enrichment from a lead list

A sales rep pastes a Sales Navigator lead list URL into your CRM. Your app runs it on their behalf, matches results to existing contacts and creates the missing records, each with a link back to the LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn API for CRM software

Sourcing search

"api": "sales_navigator"Sales

"api": "recruiter"Hiring

SRSam Reed, Backend EngineerShortlist

ATS and recruiting platforms

Recruiters often hold a Sales Navigator or a Recruiter seat. The same endpoint switches between the two with the api field, so an ATS can offer sourcing searches from whichever seat the recruiter has linked.

LinkedIn API for ATS platforms

Multichannel sequence

Day 1: LinkedIn messageStep 1

Day 3: follow-up emailStep 2

Day 6: reply detectedStop

Multichannel engagement platforms

Sequencing tools combine LinkedIn with email. A search builds the audience on the user's seat, then messages go out through LinkedIn and through Gmail, Outlook or IMAP with the Email API, on behalf of the same user.

LinkedIn API for engagement platforms

Building for AI agents instead? The Sales Navigator MCP server gives coding agents the same searches, with the same per-user model.