Quickstart: LumiID in Minutes

What is LumiID?

LumiID is Nigeria's sovereign identity infrastructure — a platform that lets developers verify who someone really is, detect fraud in real time, and stay compliant with NDPR and CBN regulations, using a single REST API.

Think of it as a direct pipeline to government databases (NIN, BVN, CAC, TIN) combined with AI-powered biometrics, so you never have to piece together multiple vendors again.

Before making any API calls, you need a LumiID account. Registration is free and takes about two minutes. You'll get instant access to the sandbox environment — no credit card required.

LumiID uses Bearer Tokens for security. Secret Key (API Key) (server-side only, never exposed). Every request requires both.

# LumiID Credentials — never commit this file to version control
API Key=your-sandbox-secret-key-here
LUMIID_ENV=sandbox   # change to "production" when going live

Let's verify a Nigerian NIN (National Identification Number). This is the most common first call developers make — it confirms that a user's NIN exists and returns their official identity record from the government database.

curl --request POST \
  'https://api.lumiid.com/v1/ng/nin-basic/' \
  --header 'Authorization: your-sandbox-secret-key' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"nin": "89184072280"}'

import requests
import os

secret_key = os.getenv("LUMIID_SECRET_KEY")

url = "https://api.lumiid.com/v1/ng/nin-basic/"

headers = {
    "Authorization": secret_key,
    "Content-Type":  "application/json",
}

data = {"nin": "89184072280"}

response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=data)
print(response.json())

const axios = require('axios');

const secretKey = process.env.LUMIID_SECRET_KEY;

async function verifyNIN(nin) {
  const response = await axios.post(
    'https://api.lumiid.com/v1/ng/nin-basic/',
    { nin },
    {
      headers: {
        'Authorization': secretKey,
        'Content-Type':  'application/json',
      },
    }
  );
  return response.data;
}

verifyNIN('89184072280').then(console.log).catch(console.error);

<?php

$secretKey = getenv('LUMIID_SECRET_KEY');
$nin       = '89184072280';

$ch = curl_init("https://api.lumiid.com/v1/ng/nin-basic/");
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER     => [
        "Authorization: {$secretKey}",
        "Content-Type: application/json",
    ],
    CURLOPT_POST => true,
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode(['nin' => $nin]),
]);

$response = json_decode(curl_exec($ch), true);
curl_close($ch);

var_dump($response);

Every LumiID response follows the same predictable JSON envelope. Once you understand this structure, handling any endpoint becomes second nature.

{
  "data": {
    "nin":          "89184072280",
    "first_name":   "Adaeze",
    "last_name":    "Okonkwo",
    "middle_name":  "Chioma",
    "date_of_birth": "1992-04-15",
    "gender":       "Female",
    "phone_number": "080XXXXXXXX",
    "address":      "14 Adeola Odeku, Victoria Island, Lagos",
    "state_of_origin": "Anambra",
    "photo":        "data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4AAQ..."
  }
}

{
  "error": "NIN not found",
  "status_code": 404
}

{
  "error": "Invalid or missing API credentials",
  "status_code": 401
}

Response Fields Explained

Integration Options

LumiID meets you wherever you are in your technical stack. Pick the path that fits your team and timeline.

What Can You Build?

LumiID powers secure onboarding and fraud prevention across industries in Nigeria and beyond.

What's Next?

You've made your first LumiID API call. Here's where to go from here: