about.0xacab.org

A postal code API returns structured location data for a given ZIP Code or Canadian postal code. A typical response includes the code itself, city, state or province, county, latitude/longitude, and — where available — ZIP+4 detail. More complete services add time zone, area codes, boundary geometry, and demographic fields. You send a code (or an address), and the API sends back a machine-readable record you can store, validate, or display.

This article explains what those responses contain, how requests are usually shaped, and where postal code data fits into real applications.

First, clear up the word "code"

The keyword "code" is overloaded, and that causes real confusion for developers:

• Postal code — the ZIP Code (U.S.) or postal code (Canada) that identifies a delivery area.
• API key — the credential you use to authenticate your requests. It is not postal data.
• Source code — the program you write to call the API.

When someone searches for "postal code API code," they usually want example request/response code for a postal code service. The rest of this article treats it that way.

What a postal code API actually returns

Response fields vary by provider and endpoint, but the core set is fairly consistent. A single-code lookup commonly returns:

Richer datasets add 90+ fields: boundaries, population, income, elevation, and more. You rarely need all of them — request only what your application uses.

A representative JSON response

{
  "postal_code": "90210",
  "city": "Beverly Hills",
  "state": "CA",
  "county": "Los Angeles",
  "latitude": 34.0901,
  "longitude": -118.4065,
  "timezone": "America/Los_Angeles",
  "area_codes": ["310", "424"]
}

XML responses carry the same information in tag form. Choose based on what your stack parses most easily; JSON is the common default.

Common request patterns

Most postal code APIs support four patterns. Knowing which one you need prevents wasted calls.

1. Lookup by code

You have a code and want its details. This is the simplest and fastest call.

GET /lookup?code=90210

2. Reverse lookup by address

You have a street address and want to confirm or complete the code. This is the pattern behind checkout address validation.

GET /validate?street=...&city=...&state=...

3. Radius search

You have a center point and want all codes within a distance. Useful for store locators and delivery zones.

GET /radius?code=90210&miles=10

4. Batch validation

You have a file of addresses and want them cleaned in bulk. Batch endpoints trade latency for throughput and usually have their own limits.

Handling missing and ambiguous matches

Real data is messy. Plan for these cases:

• No match — the code doesn't exist or the address is malformed. Return a clear error rather than a silent empty object.
• Multiple matches — a city name may map to several codes, or a code may span several acceptable city names. Decide whether to pick the primary or return a list.
• Partial match — the street is valid but the ZIP+4 isn't. Fall back to the 5-digit code.
• Stale data — codes are added, retired, and reassigned. Refresh your dataset on a regular schedule.

A practical rule: validate at the point of entry, store the normalized result, and never re-derive it later from raw user input.

Practical use cases

• Checkout address validation — catch typos before shipping, reduce failed deliveries.
• Shipping zone lookup — map a code to a zone, carrier route, or rate table.
• Data enrichment — append county, coordinates, or demographics to existing records.
• Store and service locators — radius search to find nearby branches or coverage areas.
• Territory and tax logic — county and boundary data drive jurisdiction rules.

Licensing and data-source considerations

Postal code data originates with national authorities — USPS in the United States and Canada Post in Canada. Providers license and repackage it, which is why accuracy, update frequency, and field coverage differ between services. Before committing:

• Confirm the data source and how often it refreshes.
• Check whether ZIP+4 and boundary data are included or sold separately.
• Review usage limits and whether batch processing is allowed.
• Read the license terms for redistribution and storage.

Pricing and plan details change, so check the provider's current documentation rather than relying on secondhand figures.

Getting started

1. Decide which request pattern you need (lookup, reverse, radius, or batch).
2. Pick the fields you'll actually store.
3. Write a small test call and inspect the raw response.
4. Add error handling for no-match and ambiguous cases.
5. Cache results where the same codes repeat.

A postal code API is ultimately a translation layer: you give it a code or an address, and it gives back structured location facts. Understand the fields, match them to your use case, and handle the messy edges — that's most of the work.

A new user on 0xacab can create or fork only one repository. This is a deliberate limit, not a bug or a temporary glitch. If you need more than one repository, you have to ask the operators to lift the restriction — either by opening a support ticket in their issue tracker or by contacting the collective directly.

Why the limit exists

The 0xacab FAQ states the reason plainly: the one-repository cap for new users is "on purpose to stop spammers and uncontrolled growth." In other words, it is an anti-abuse measure. A single-repo ceiling makes it expensive for a spam account to mass-create repositories, while still letting a genuine newcomer try the service.

This matters if you are evaluating 0xacab as a home for a project: the restriction applies to new users, and it covers both creating a fresh repository and forking an existing one. So you cannot work around it by forking instead of creating.

What to do if you need more repositories

The path to more repos runs through the operators, not through a settings toggle. The FAQ gives two routes:

• Open a support ticket in the 0xacab issue tracker. The FAQ's own guidance for support requests is: "Please leave it at our issue tracker."
• Contact the collective if you would rather talk first. The published contact channels are email at collective at riseup.net and IRC at #riseup on irc.indymedia.org.

The FAQ also invites project owners directly: when asked "Hey, we have a project and it needs hosting," the answer is "Let's talk!" — so a hosting conversation is an expected use of these contact routes, not an imposition.

Quick reference

Practical notes before you ask

• Plan your first repository. Since you get exactly one, use it for the thing you most need hosted rather than a throwaway test repo.
• Say what you need and why. When you file the ticket or make contact, stating the project and the number of repositories required gives the operators what they need to decide.
• Expect a human decision. The limit is a policy choice, so more repositories are granted by the people running the service, not automatically.

If you only need a single repository, you can proceed without contacting anyone. If your project spans multiple repositories, treat the support ticket as a required first step rather than an optional one.

Submit support requests through the project's issue tracker. If you need to reach the collective directly, use the email collective at riseup.net or the IRC channel #riseup on irc.indymedia.org. These are the support channels listed on the site; there is no separate help desk or ticket portal.

Where to send a support ticket

The site's FAQ answers "I have a support ticket!" with a single instruction: leave it at the issue tracker. That means the issue tracker is the intended place for support requests, not a private inbox or a web form.

• Issue tracker — first stop for support tickets and bug reports.
• Email — collective at riseup.net, for reaching the collective directly.
• IRC — #riseup on irc.indymedia.org, for real-time conversation.

When to use each channel

A common support case: repository limits

One of the most likely reasons to contact support is the new-user repository limit. According to the FAQ, new users are allowed to create or fork only one repository. The site states this is intentional, to stop spammers and uncontrolled growth. If you need more, the FAQ says to contact the collective or file a support ticket.

So if you hit a wall creating a second repo, that is expected behavior, not a bug — and the fix is a support request rather than a retry.

Browsing and hosting questions

Two other FAQ entries point to useful destinations:

• Looking for public projects? The FAQ confirms there is a list at https://0xacab.org/explore.
• Want your project hosted? The FAQ's answer to "Hey, we have a project and it needs hosting" is simply "Let's talk!" — which routes back to the email or IRC channels above.

Practical notes

• The site also lists its onion address and GPG key fingerprints (ed25519 and rsa) for verification purposes, alongside the clearnet URL https://0xacab.org.
• The site's tagline is "code hosting for friendly people," and the header reads "we build our dreams by hand."
• No pricing or payment details appear in the available site information, so nothing here should be read as a statement about cost or account requirements.

If you are unsure which channel fits, start with the issue tracker: it is the one place the site names explicitly for support tickets.

0xacab is a code hosting service for Git repositories, described on its own site as "code hosting for friendly people." It is run by a collective, offers a public project browser, and is reachable both on the regular web and through a Tor onion address. It is aimed at people and projects looking for a small, community-oriented place to host code rather than a large commercial platform.

What 0xacab provides

• Git repository hosting. The core service is hosting code repositories, including the ability to create and fork repos.
• A public project directory. A browsable list of public projects is available at https://0xacab.org/explore.
• Dual access routes. The site is available at https://0xacab.org and at its onion address: http://wmj5kiic7b6kjplpbvwadnht2nh2qnkbnqtcv3dyvpqtz7ssbssftxid.onion.
• Published SSH host key fingerprints. The site lists its ed25519 and RSA key fingerprints so users can verify they are connecting to the right host.

Who runs it and how to reach them

0xacab is operated by a collective, not a company. The contact details published on the site are:

Support requests are directed to the project's issue tracker rather than handled by email alone.

Access and account limits

New users can create or fork only one repository. The site states this is intentional, to limit spam and uncontrolled growth. If you need more than one repository, the documented path is to contact the collective or open a support ticket.

Verifying the host

If you connect over SSH, the site publishes fingerprints you can compare against:

• ed25519 — MD5 e0:42:d2:20:b5:29:b8:f8:2c:f0:97:a2:c9:e9:c3:6b, SHA256 2D8lksRpOJ8ypmQE5I4Qq3JqYRHIvnlg6tJaFJv5Nbg
• rsa — MD5 ec:f1:8f:6c:c3:2e:21:b6:a6:3d:6b:38:69:31:ae:28, SHA256 4oOr4sH8tA6lu6kzggkZo8Ockmenu7mlmojXnkUyLts

Matching these against what your SSH client reports is the way to confirm you are talking to the intended server.

When 0xacab fits — and when it may not

Choose it if you want a small collective-run host, value Tor access, and only need one repository to start. Look elsewhere if you need many repositories immediately, want a large commercial platform with extensive integrations, or need documented pricing and service-level terms — the site does not publish pricing information, so cost and plan details are not established by the available material.

The public project list on 0xacab lives at https://0xacab.org/explore. That single page is the intended way to see what other people are hosting before you sign up or request hosting for your own project.

What the explore page is for

0xacab describes itself as "code hosting for friendly people." The explore page is the discovery surface for that hosting: instead of guessing at repository URLs, you start from the list and browse outward. It is the answer the site itself gives to the question "Is there a list of public projects?" — yes, check https://0xacab.org/explore.

Use it when you want to:

• See what kinds of projects are already hosted before registering.
• Find a project by browsing rather than searching a specific name.
• Get a sense of whether the platform fits your project's community or scope.

How to get there

1. Open a browser and go to https://0xacab.org/explore.
2. Browse the listed projects. Each entry links to that project's page on 0xacab.
3. Open a project to view its repository, activity, and files.

Expected result: you land on a browsable index of public projects and can click through to any of them. No account is required to view the list itself, since it is a public page.

If you prefer not to use the clearnet address, the site also publishes an onion service: http://wmj5kiic7b6kjplpbvwadnht2nh2qnkbnqtcv3dyvpqtz7ssbssftxid.onion. The same explore path applies there.

Before you register: the one-repo limit

A detail worth knowing if browsing turns into wanting your own space: new users on 0xacab are allowed to create or fork only one repository. The site states this is deliberate, to stop spammers and uncontrolled growth. If you need more than one, you have to contact the collective or file a support ticket.

So if you are evaluating the platform from the explore page, plan for a single repo as a new user, and treat additional repos as something you request rather than something you get by default.

Getting help or requesting hosting

• Support tickets go to the project's issue tracker, not to a general inbox.
• Contact: the collective can be reached by email at collective at riseup.net, or on IRC at #riseup on irc.indymedia.org.
• Have a project that needs hosting? The site's own answer is "Let's talk!" — reach out through the contacts above.

Quick reference

Start at the explore page; everything else — registering, requesting more repos, or asking about hosting — follows from what you find there.