> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://devhub.autotek.my/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://devhub.autotek.my/vehicle-search/vehicle-searching-basics.md).

# Vehicle Searching Basics

Vehicle discovery is the starting place for almost all functions on the AutoTek API.

The Vehicle Search API set allows you to find matching vehicles within our database. This API requires [authentication](/authentication/basic-key-based-authentication.md) and an appropriate license attached to it. 

<table data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th><th data-hidden data-card-cover data-type="files"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><p><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/cMx06HGBikfmspYjKjTB/blobs/k94C0VWMj39RFXREKN53/texts.png" alt="" data-size="original"></p><h3><strong>Text Search</strong></h3><p>Use this search mechanism if you have a vehicle description or title as a text string and want to resolve to an vehicle ID.</p></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/vehicle-search/plain-text-search.md">Plain-text Search</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><p><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/cMx06HGBikfmspYjKjTB/blobs/MyR2QPSE6bEI7TsK00rm/vin.png" alt="" data-size="original"></p><h3><strong>VIN Search</strong></h3><p>Use this search mechanism if you have a VIN and want summary data to resolve to an vehicle ID.</p></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/vehicle-search/vin-search.md">VIN Search</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><p><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/cMx06HGBikfmspYjKjTB/blobs/5sAEUYmsgRLwxD0UP50k/plate.png" alt="" data-size="original"></p><h3><strong>Registration Plate Search</strong></h3><p>Use this search mechanism if you have a registration plate and want summary data to resolve to an vehicle ID.</p></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/vehicle-search/registration-plate-search.md">Registration Plate Search</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><p><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/cMx06HGBikfmspYjKjTB/blobs/LopQy17MlSZUu0kWDfsk/facets.png" alt="" data-size="original"></p><h3>Facet Search</h3><p>Use this search mechanism if you would like your users to interact with drop downs to resolve to a vehicle ID.</p></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/vehicle-search/facet-search.md">Facet Search</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><p><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/cMx06HGBikfmspYjKjTB/blobs/vzwPYi1lxvrCBvblmjEG/upicon.png" alt=""></p><h3>Upstream VIN &#x26; Registration Search</h3><p>Use this search mechanism if you would like to understand registration information without being given an vehicle ID.</p></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="broken://pages/lgyI8sOq9l83DJjCgE4R">Broken link</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><p><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/cMx06HGBikfmspYjKjTB/blobs/bt5kwJZUmx5hF4zaAOHK/idsearch.png" alt=""></p><h3>Vehicle ID Search</h3><p>Use this to get summary data on a vehicle if you already have its ID.</p></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/vehicle-search/vehicle-id-search.md">Vehicle ID Search</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><td><img src="https://content.gitbook.com/content/cMx06HGBikfmspYjKjTB/blobs/uL2TGYG9mP7xUa1EZLFu/mid.png" alt=""></td><td><h3>Marketplace ID</h3><p>A special use case search function for marketplace partners. </p></td><td></td><td><a href="/vehicle-search/marketplace-id-lookup.md">Marketplace ID Lookup</a></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>