Overview
Pass any license name or identifier to retrieve its official metadata. The API checks the record and returns the full name, canonical URL, SPDX ID, legacy identifiers, and whether it is active, retired, or superseded. It also flags applicability across software, content, or data domains, with paid plans adding compatible domain details.
Live Test License Lookup Source →
Formula
One function covers the whole catalog: the first argument names the source, the rest are its inputs, and the "field" pair says which single value lands in the cell. Formulas covers the grammar that applies to all of them.
=VERVE("openlicenses", A2, "field", "domain_content")=VERVE.CALL("openlicenses", A2, "field", "domain_content")A2 holds the name you are looking up. Drag the formula down and each row resolves on its own.
With literal values
Nothing has to come from a cell — typed values work the same way.
=VERVE("openlicenses", "MIT", "field", "domain_content")=VERVE.CALL("openlicenses", "MIT", "field", "domain_content")Inputs
Required inputs are positional, in the order below. Everything else is passed as a "name", value pair after them — the same shape as SUMIFS. Premium inputs are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them.
| Input | Type | Where it goes | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
nameRequired | string | argument 2 (A2) | The name of the open source license to get information about |
What lands in your sheet
The "field" pair is what makes the formula resolve to one cell. Its value is a dot-path from the table below, so swapping it is how you pull a different value — one formula per column.
Seeing everything at once
Drop the "field" pair and the formula returns the whole response instead: two columns, field name on the left and value on the right, spilling from the cell you typed in.
=VERVE("openlicenses", A2)=VERVE.CALL("openlicenses", A2)The second row's table would land on top of the first's, and every cell after the first reads #REF! (#SPILL! in Excel). Keep one per sheet, or name a field, and leave the cells below and to the right empty.
Response fields
Paths are relative to data. Each one is exactly what the "field" pair accepts, so swapping it is how you pull a different value into a cell. On a plan without a Premium field the cell reads #PREMIUM(field) rather than a value, so a locked field never looks like a real answer.
| Use as "field" | Type | Example cell value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
domain_content | boolean | false | Whether the licence is intended for content |
domain_data | boolean | false | Whether the licence is intended for data |
domain_software | boolean | true | Whether the licence is intended for software |
legacy_ids | array | ["mit-license"] | Older identifiers this licence has been known by |
license | string | MIT | SPDX identifier of the licence |
name | string | MIT License | Full name of the licence |
license_url | string | https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT | Canonical URL of the licence text |
license_status | string | active | Whether the licence is active, retired or superseded |
isOsiApproved | boolean | true | Whether the license is OSI approved |
compatibleDomainsPremium | array | ["software"] | List of compatible domains (software, content, data) |
Filling a whole column
Both platforms make one batched call for a column rather than one request per cell, and both cost the same — 2 credits per row looked up. How you write it differs, because the two runtimes batch at different points.
=VERVE("openlicenses", A2:A100, "field", "domain_content")In Google Sheets, give the arguments ranges and the answers spill down from the cell you typed in. Custom functions there run synchronously and in isolation, so dragged cells cannot be coalesced — the range form is how a column becomes one call. The "field" pair is required here: a per-row two-column table has nowhere to spill. Use a full column per input (A2:A100, not A2) — a single-cell reference is read as row 1 only and the rest of the column comes back blank.
In Excel, type the formula once and fill down — no range form and none needed, because its runtime is asynchronous and the add-in coalesces the calls a fill produces into a single batched request. Do not hand VERVE.CALL a range: Excel flattens it into positional arguments, so A2:A100 arrives as a hundred separate arguments and the cell reads #ERR rather than filling.
Either way, column A holds your name values and the answers land beside them, one row each, blank rows skipped.
When a cell doesn't fill
A failed lookup returns readable text starting with #ERR rather than a spreadsheet error, because Excel cannot show a custom message on a real error — you would get a bare #VALUE! with no reason. The trade-off is that IFERROR() will not catch it; test with LEFT(cell, 4) = "#ERR" instead. Error handling covers the rest.
| Cell reads | What happened |
|---|---|
#ERR Not connected | No API key saved. Open the side panel and connect your account. |
#ERR Replace <name> with a cell or value | A preview formula was copied as-is. Swap the placeholder for a cell reference. |
#ERR No "x" in openlicenses | An option name this source does not take. The message lists the ones it does. |
#ERR No data point "…" | The "field" path is not in the response. Check it against the table above. |
#PREMIUM(field) | The field exists but your plan does not include it. |
#ERR Out of credits | The cycle's credits are spent. Usage resets on your billing date. |
Before the formula works
The add-in reads the API key you saved once in the side panel — the key never goes in the formula, so a shared sheet does not leak it and a collaborator without access simply sees the last calculated values.
- Install the add-in for Google Sheets or Excel.
- Open the side panel and sign in, or paste a key from your dashboard.
- Type the formula above into any cell.
Use cases
- Dependency Compliance Auditing
- CI pipelines check third-party package licenses against OSI approval and active status flags before merging pull requests.
- SBOM Metadata Enrichment
- Software asset managers match SPDX identifiers and canonical URLs to internal components when assembling software bills of materials.
- Package Registry Verification
- When developers publish a package, code repositories verify that declared license names map to active SPDX IDs.
- Dataset Ingestion Governance
- Flag datasets governed by retired licenses or terms not meant for data before ingesting them into analytics environments.
Other ways to use License Lookup
Set up License Lookup on VerveSheets, or reach the same source a different way. Your VerveSheets account and credits work on all of them — one key, one balance.
Related
More in Data Lookup: