PostalDataPI Python SDK

Official Python client for the PostalDataPI global postal code API. Look up, validate, and search postal codes across 70+ countries with sub-10ms response times.

Installation

pip install postaldatapi

Quick Start

from postaldatapi import PostalDataPI

client = PostalDataPI(api_key="your-api-key")

# Look up a US ZIP code
result = client.lookup("90210")
print(result.city)                # Beverly Hills
print(result.state_abbreviation)  # CA

# Look up a German postal code
result = client.lookup("10115", country="DE")
print(result.city)                # Berlin

# Validate a UK postcode
result = client.validate("SW1A", country="GB")
print(result.valid)               # True

# Search by city name
results = client.search_city("Beverly Hills", state="CA")
print(results.postal_codes)       # ['90209', '90210', '90211', ...]

# Get rich metadata
meta = client.metacode("90210")
print(meta.meta["county"])        # Los Angeles County
print(meta.meta["timezone"])      # America/Los_Angeles
print(meta.latitude)              # 34.1031
print(meta.longitude)             # -118.4163

API Methods

client.lookup(postal_code, *, country="US")

Returns city and state for a postal code.

client.validate(postal_code, *, country="US")

Checks whether a postal code exists. Returns ValidateResult with .valid boolean.

client.search_city(city, *, state=None, country="US")

Finds postal codes matching a city name. State is required for US queries.

client.metacode(postal_code, *, country="US")

Returns rich metadata: coordinates, county (US), timezone (US), and all available data source fields.

(Available as of v0.3.0. The earlier name client.metazip() is preserved as a deprecated alias and emits a DeprecationWarning — both methods return identical data.)

Country Support

Pass any ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code: US, GB, DE, FR, CA, JP, AU, and 60+ more. Country defaults to US if omitted.

Error Handling

from postaldatapi import PostalDataPI, NotFoundError, AuthenticationError

client = PostalDataPI(api_key="your-api-key")

try:
    result = client.lookup("00000")
except NotFoundError:
    print("Postal code not found")
except AuthenticationError:
    print("Invalid API key")

Exception classes: AuthenticationError (401), NotFoundError (404), ValidationError (400), RateLimitError (429), InsufficientBalanceError (402), ServerError (5xx).

Configuration

# Custom base URL (for staging or self-hosted)
client = PostalDataPI(
    api_key="your-key",
    base_url="https://staging.postaldatapi.com",
    timeout=30,  # seconds
)

Account Balance

Every response includes your current account balance:

result = client.lookup("90210")
print(f"Remaining balance: ${result.balance:.2f}")

License

MIT