> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nextlevelmca.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Check a deal’s business in DataMerch > Looks the business up in DataMerch with the workspace’s own credentials and stores the result on the deal. Searches by the EIN on file, or by legal name when there is no EIN (name hits are possible matches, not confirmed; compare city and state). An identical check from the last 24 hours is returned with `cached: true` unless `force` is set. Fails with `datamerch_not_connected` when the workspace has not connected DataMerch in Settings → Integrations. A vendor outage or rejected credentials come back as a check with `error` set, not as an HTTP error. ## OpenAPI ````yaml /openapi/public-v1.json post /v1/deals/{id}/datamerch/check openapi: 3.0.0 info: title: NextLevel MCA Public API description: >- REST API for the NextLevel MCA deal platform. Objects flow Businesses → People → Deals → Submissions → Offers → Advances. **Authentication.** Send `Authorization: Bearer ` with an API key (`nlmca_live_…`, created in Settings → Developers) or an OAuth access token. Keys are scoped to one location. **Conventions.** JSON only. Cursor pagination (`limit` ≤ 100, `cursor` from `meta.next_cursor`). Every success is `{ data, meta }`; every error is `{ error: { type, message, code, param, request_id } }`. POST endpoints accept `Idempotency-Key` (24h replay). Rate limit 300 requests/min per credential (`X-RateLimit-*` headers). **Scopes.** Keys with no scopes have all of them. Otherwise: - `businesses:read` — Read businesses and their notes, tasks and activity - `businesses:write` — Create and update businesses, notes and tasks - `people:read` — Read people (contacts and owners) - `people:write` — Create and update people - `deals:read` — Read deals, submissions and the pipeline - `deals:write` — Create and update deals, move stages - `documents:read` — Read documents and statement analysis - `documents:write` — Upload documents and request documents from merchants - `lenders:read` — Read lenders, criteria and lender matches - `lenders:write` — Create and update lenders and criteria - `submissions:write` — Submit deals to lenders and withdraw submissions - `offers:read` — Read offers - `offers:write` — Log and update offers, set the primary offer - `advances:read` — Read funded advances and renewal flags - `advances:write` — Update advances - `portal:send` — Generate and send merchant portal links - `webhooks:manage` — Manage webhook subscriptions version: '1.0' contact: {} servers: - url: https://api.nextlevelmca.com description: Production security: - bearer: [] tags: - name: Businesses description: Merchant businesses and their notes, tasks and activity - name: People description: Contacts and owners. Phone lookups normalise to E.164. - name: Deals description: Deals, stage moves, renewals and the pipeline - name: Documents description: Documents, presigned uploads, document requests and statement analysis - name: Lenders description: Lenders and their criteria - name: Lender matches description: Criteria-driven lender matching for a deal - name: Submissions description: Sending deals to lenders - name: Offers description: Lender offers and the primary offer - name: Advances description: Funded advances and renewal readiness - name: Merchant portal description: Magic links for the merchant portal - name: Webhooks description: Outbound event subscriptions paths: /v1/deals/{id}/datamerch/check: post: tags: - DataMerch summary: Check a deal’s business in DataMerch description: >- Looks the business up in DataMerch with the workspace’s own credentials and stores the result on the deal. Searches by the EIN on file, or by legal name when there is no EIN (name hits are possible matches, not confirmed; compare city and state). An identical check from the last 24 hours is returned with `cached: true` unless `force` is set. Fails with `datamerch_not_connected` when the workspace has not connected DataMerch in Settings → Integrations. A vendor outage or rejected credentials come back as a check with `error` set, not as an HTTP error. operationId: data_merch_check parameters: - name: id required: true in: path description: Deal id schema: type: string requestBody: required: true content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/DataMerchCheckCreateDto' responses: '200': description: OK content: application/json: schema: type: object required: - data - meta properties: data: $ref: '#/components/schemas/DataMerchCheckDto' meta: $ref: '#/components/schemas/EmptyMetaDto' '400': description: Validation failed. `error.param` names the field. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEnvelopeDto' '401': description: Missing, invalid, expired or revoked credential. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEnvelopeDto' '403': description: Credential lacks the scope, or the role lacks the permission. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEnvelopeDto' '404': description: Resource not found in this location. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEnvelopeDto' '429': description: Rate limit exceeded. See `X-RateLimit-*` and `Retry-After`. content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorEnvelopeDto' security: - bearer: [] components: schemas: DataMerchCheckCreateDto: type: object properties: query_type: type: string enum: - ein - name description: >- What to search by. Omit to use the 9-digit EIN on file, falling back to the legal name. query: type: string description: >- Name keywords for a name search (default: the legal name on file). Ignored for an EIN search. maxLength: 120 force: type: boolean description: >- Ask DataMerch again even when an identical check ran in the last 24 hours. default: false DataMerchCheckDto: type: object properties: id: type: string description: Check id. query_type: type: string enum: - ein - name description: Whether the lookup used the EIN or name keywords. query_label: type: string description: >- Human label of what was sent, EIN masked, e.g. `EIN ••-•••1234` or `name "Acme LLC"`. matched: type: boolean description: True when DataMerch returned at least one merchant. match_count: type: number description: Merchants returned (DataMerch caps this at 5). note_count: type: number description: Notes across every merchant returned. categories: description: Distinct note categories across the matches. type: array items: type: string merchants: description: >- The merchants DataMerch returned. A name search can return look-alikes: compare city and state. type: array items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/DataMerchMerchantDto' error: type: string nullable: true description: >- Set when DataMerch could not be reached or rejected the credentials; `matched` is false then. checked_at: type: string description: ISO 8601 UTC. checked_by_name: type: string nullable: true description: Team member who ran it, or null for an automatic check. cached: type: boolean description: >- True when an identical check from the last 24 hours was returned instead of a new call. required: - id - query_type - query_label - matched - match_count - note_count - categories - merchants - error - checked_at - checked_by_name - cached EmptyMetaDto: type: object properties: {} ErrorEnvelopeDto: type: object properties: error: $ref: '#/components/schemas/PublicErrorDto' required: - error DataMerchMerchantDto: type: object properties: fein: type: string nullable: true description: EIN, masked to the last four digits. legal_name: type: string nullable: true dba: type: string nullable: true address: type: string nullable: true street1: type: string nullable: true street2: type: string nullable: true city: type: string nullable: true state: type: string nullable: true business_phone: type: string nullable: true business_startdate: type: string nullable: true description: Business start date as DataMerch reports it. industry: type: string nullable: true notes: description: Notes funders have filed on this merchant, as returned. type: array items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/DataMerchNoteDto' required: - fein - legal_name - dba - address - street1 - street2 - city - state - business_phone - business_startdate - industry - notes PublicErrorDto: type: object properties: type: type: string enum: - validation_error - authentication_error - permission_error - not_found - conflict - rate_limit_error - api_error message: type: string description: Human-readable explanation, safe to show to an operator or an agent. code: type: string description: >- Stable machine-readable code, e.g. `missing_scope`, `duplicate_business`. param: type: string description: Request field the error refers to, when applicable. request_id: type: string description: Echo of the `X-Request-Id` header. Quote it when contacting support. required: - type - message - request_id DataMerchNoteDto: type: object properties: category: type: string nullable: true description: >- Category set by the funder who added the note, e.g. "Slow Pay", "Default". note: type: string nullable: true description: Note text. created_at: type: string nullable: true description: When the note was added, as DataMerch reports it. added_by: type: string nullable: true description: Who added it, when DataMerch names the contributor. required: - category - note - created_at - added_by securitySchemes: bearer: scheme: bearer bearerFormat: API key or JWT type: http description: API key (`nlmca_live_…`) or OAuth access token ```` ## Related topics - [DataMerch status for a deal](/api-reference/datamerch/datamerch-status-for-a-deal.md) - [Changelog](/changelog/changelog.md) - [AI assistants (MCP)](/mcp/overview.md)