GET lookup/id/{id}

ensembl.org:ensembl-rest-api

Summary: Find gene by Ensembl ID
Operation ID: lookupById
Auth: none

Convert an Ensembl stable ID (like ENSG00000139618) into detailed gene metadata. Returns the gene's location, strand, biotype, description, and canonical transcript. This is your go-to endpoint when you have an Ensembl ID and need to know what gene it represents, where it sits on the genome, or what its function is. Works for genes, transcripts, proteins, and regulatory features.

Original spec description

Find the species and database for a single identifier (e.g., gene, transcript, protein stable ID).

Usage Tips

- IDs are case-sensitive: ENSG (gene), ENST (transcript), ENSP (protein) - The species is inferred from the ID prefix, but the response includes the full species name - Use the `expand=1` parameter to also get all transcripts for this gene - The `canonical_transcript` field points to the representative transcript for this gene

Parameters (3)

db_type (string, query, optional)

Filter by database type

expand (boolean, query, optional, default: False)

Expands the search to include any connected features (e.g., get transcripts for a gene)

id (string, path, required)

Ensembl stable ID (e.g., ENSG00000139618 for human BRCA2 gene)

Examples (1)

TitleTypeURLAction
Lookup gene by Ensembl ID openapi-spec https://rest.ensembl.org/lookup/id/ENSG00000139618

Probe History

Latency

Status Codes

TimeStatusLatencySize
2026-03-23 09:25:38.517314 200 177ms