# How do I find a WeChat Official Account's biz or original ID (gh_)?

> Look up a WeChat Official Account's original ID (gh_…), WeChat ID and __biz from its name, by API or by hand, and which ID each tool expects.

Canonical page: https://okdata.online/answers/find-wechat-official-account-id/

**Short answer: **Search the account name with Official Account search: each result carries the original ID (gh_…), the WeChat ID, and with view=full the __biz value. It is charged per account returned, $0.058 each and never more than $0.58 a call. For one or two accounts you can also read both IDs from an article page's source for free.

You have a list of 60 Official Account names from a media plan and every tool you want to feed them into asks for an ID instead. [Official Account search](/apis/wechat_mp/accounts/search/) turns a name into the IDs: send the name, get back matching accounts, each with its original ID (gh_…), its WeChat ID when it has one, its display name, avatar and a profile link that contains the `__biz` value.

## Which ID is which

| ID | Looks like | Where it shows up | Who asks for it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original ID | `gh_363b924965e9` | `id` in search results | [Article history](/apis/wechat_mp/accounts/articles/list/) on okdata, many monitoring tools |
| WeChat ID | a short handle, e.g. `brand_news` | `username` | Article history also accepts it; people share it |
| biz | `MzA5NTI3MjIwMA==` | in the profile `url`, and `ext.biz` with `view=full` | Profile links, older scrapers, some data exports |

The original ID never changes for an account. The display name can change, and two accounts can look alike, so store the gh_ ID, not the name.

## Look up a batch

```bash
curl -G "https://api.okdata.online/v1/wechat_mp/accounts/search" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OKDATA_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "query=36氪" \
  --data-urlencode "view=full" \
  --data-urlencode "fields=id,name,username,url,ext.biz,ext.last_published_at"
```

Check the `name` of each match before you keep its ID. A search for a common word returns several accounts, and the right one is not always first; `ext.last_published_at` helps you skip abandoned lookalikes.

## Cost

Search is the one WeChat endpoint priced per result: $0.058 for each account returned, at most $0.58 per call. The full name of an account usually returns one or a few matches, so it costs little; a vague keyword can return a full page of 10.

| Batch | Searches | Cost, worst case |
|---|---|---|
| 1 account | 1 | $0.58 |
| 60 accounts from a media plan | 60 | $34.80 |

The worst case assumes every search fills a page. Exact names land well below it.

## Doing it by hand

For one account, open any of its articles in a desktop browser, view the page source and search for `__biz` and `gh_`. Both IDs are in there. The account's profile page in WeChat also shows its WeChat ID. That is free and fine for a handful of accounts; it gets tedious past ten.

## Good to know

- Search finds accounts, not articles. To go from an ID to its articles, use [article history](/apis/wechat_mp/accounts/articles/list/), which takes the gh_ ID or WeChat ID (not the biz).
- An account that went through WeChat's account migration has a new original ID; search again.
- While a search runs, its maximum cost ($0.58) is held from your balance and the unused part is released right after. A key needs at least that balance to search.
- The follower number in results is an estimate from a third-party database, labelled as such in `ext.followers_note`. More on that in the [competitor monitoring](/solutions/competitor-monitoring/) guide.

## Endpoints used

- [Official Account search](https://okdata.online/apis/wechat_mp/accounts/search/) `wechat_mp.accounts.search`: $0.058 per account · at most $0.58 per call
- [Official Account article history](https://okdata.online/apis/wechat_mp/accounts/articles/list/) `wechat_mp.accounts.articles.list`: $0.04 per call · about 10 articles per page

Updated 2026-11-12