A simple Go command-line tool to search and retrieve professional license data from the Texas Open Data Portal. All search parameters support partial matching and are case-insensitive for maximum flexibility.

This tool queries the Texas government's public API to fetch information about various professional licenses issued in Texas. It supports flexible filtering with partial, case-insensitive matching across multiple fields including license type, business county, license subtype, business name, owner name, license number, and expiration date.

• Go 1.16 or higher
• A Texas Open Data Portal App Token (free registration required)

1. Clone or download this repository
2. Install dependencies:

   go mod init texas-license-fetcher
   go mod tidy

1. Visit data.texas.gov
2. Create a free account
3. Generate an App Token from your account settings
4. Set the token as an environment variable:

   export APP_TOKEN=your_app_token_here

go run main.go [flags]

Search for all A/C Technicians in Harris County:

go run main.go -t "a/c" -c "harris"

Find licenses for businesses with "plumbing" in the name:

go run main.go -bn "plumbing" -limit 10

Search by partial owner name:

go run main.go -on "smith" -limit 50

Find licenses expiring in 2025:

go run main.go -e "2025" -limit 20

Search for specific license numbers:

go run main.go -n "TACLA" -limit 10

Combine multiple search criteria:

go run main.go -t "plumb" -c "harris" -on "bob" -limit 25

• Partial Matching: All text searches support partial matches - searching for "plumb" will find "Plumber", "Plumbing", etc.
• Case-Insensitive: Search terms are automatically converted to match the database format - "harris" finds "HARRIS"
• Multiple Criteria: Combine any search parameters to narrow results
• Flexible Date Search: Search expiration dates by year, month/year, or full date
• License Number Search: Find licenses by partial license numbers or prefixes

The tool outputs each license record as formatted JSON, followed by a total count. Example output:

{
  "license_type": "A/C Technician",
  "license_number": "TACLA12345",
  "business_county": "HARRIS",
  "business_name": "Cool Air Solutions",
  "owner_name": "John Doe",
  "mailing_address_county": "HARRIS",
  "license_expiration_date_mmddccyy": "12/31/2024",
  "license_subtype": "REG",
  "continuing_education_flag": "Y"
}

• Pagination Support: Automatically handles large result sets by fetching data in chunks
• Graceful Shutdown: Responds to Ctrl+C (SIGINT) and SIGTERM signals
• Formatted Output: Pretty-printed, colorized JSON output for easy reading
• Flexible Search: Partial, case-insensitive matching across all text fields
• Result Limiting: Control the maximum number of records retrieved
• Configurable Timeout: Set custom HTTP request timeouts

The tool will exit with an error message if:

• The APP_TOKEN environment variable is not set
• The API returns a non-200 status code
• Network connectivity issues occur
• Invalid JSON is returned from the API

This tool queries the Texas Professional Licensing dataset available at:

• API Endpoint: https://data.texas.gov/resource/7358-krk7.json
• Dataset: Professional Licensing Data
• Update Frequency: Regular updates from Texas state agencies

• github.com/tidwall/pretty - For JSON formatting and colorization

This project is provided as-is for educational and informational purposes. Please respect the Texas Open Data Portal's terms of service and rate limits.

"Didn't find required APP_TOKEN in env"

• Make sure you've set the APP_TOKEN environment variable with your Texas Open Data Portal token

"API returned a non-200 status code"

• Check your internet connection
• Verify your App Token is valid
• Ensure your search parameters are correctly formatted

No results returned

• Try broadening your search criteria - remember all searches are partial matches
• Check for typos in your search terms
• Try searching with fewer criteria to see if records exist
• For license numbers, try searching with just the prefix (e.g., "TACLA" instead of full number)