Lever Postings API vs USAJOBS API for AI agents
Lever Postings API is Lever's REST API for a company's published job postings, designed to help that company build a job site. USAJOBS API is the official REST API for searching public U.S. federal government job announcements on USAJOBS.
The short answer
- Lever Postings API: Reading a known company's live openings, with direct apply links, from its own Lever account.
- USAJOBS API: Authoritative, reusable data on U.S. federal government job openings.
Side by side
| Lever Postings API | USAJOBS API | |
|---|---|---|
| Searches | One company's Lever postings per call (by site name); employer-direct; global and EU endpoints. | Public job announcements posted on USAJOBS (status/internal jobs need extra steps); a single employer-side source, not an aggregator. |
| Returns | JSON (or iframe/HTML) postings with id, text, categories, country, workplaceType, description, descriptionPlain, lists, salaryRange (optional), hostedUrl and applyUrl. | JSON SearchResult items with PositionTitle, PositionURI, ApplyURI, OrganizationName, PositionLocation (with lat/long) and PositionRemuneration. |
| Before the first call | Nothing to read postings: no key, only the company’s board name. Sending applications needs the company’s key. | An API key requested through an application form (name, email, phone, organization, intended use); calls send Host, User-Agent (your email) and Authorization-Key headers. |
| Free | No key needed, and its pages state no price | Not stated on its pages |
| Acting on a result | applyUrl is Lever's hosted application form for the employer's job. | PositionURI/ApplyURI point to the announcement on usajobs.gov. |
| Limits on keeping or showing results | Not stated on its pages | Public Data may be copied, stored, republished and used commercially; attribution to USAJOBS is encouraged, not required; don't present modified data as official. Max 10,000 rows per query, 500 per page. |
| Coverage | Wherever the employer hires (EU-hosted accounts use api.eu.lever.co). | United States federal government jobs (in the U.S. and abroad). |
| MCP server | No official server listed | No official server listed |
Where Openpath fits
If the agent needs a job to apply for in Austin, Texas, or a remote one, Openpath returns the listings themselves, free and with no key. See Openpath vs Lever Postings API and Openpath vs USAJOBS API.
Questions people ask
What do I need before I can use Lever Postings API?
Nothing to read postings: no key, only the company’s board name. Sending applications needs the company’s key.
Is Lever Postings API free?
No key needed, and its pages state no price.
What do I need before I can use USAJOBS API?
An API key requested through an application form (name, email, phone, organization, intended use); calls send Host, User-Agent (your email) and Authorization-Key headers.
Is USAJOBS API free?
Its pages listed no free use when we read them on October 15, 2026.
Sources
Every line about another company comes from its own pages. Prices and terms change, so check the source before you rely on one.
Lever Postings API, read on October 15, 2026:
- github.com/lever/postings-api: “This API is designed to help you create a job site.”
- github.com/lever/postings-api: “A URL which points to Lever's hosted application form to apply to the job posting.”
- github.com/lever/postings-api: “To use the POST API, you need an API key.”
USAJOBS API, read on October 15, 2026:
- developer.usajobs.gov/guides/authentication: “To request an API Key, please go the the API Request page and fill out an application.”
- developer.usajobs.gov/apirequest: “Only public job information is available through this site.”
- developer.usajobs.gov/guides/rate-limiting: “Maximum of 10,000 rows per query”
- developer.usajobs.gov/guides/terms-of-service: “Public Data may be copied, stored, reformatted, adapted, analyzed, published, redistributed, and used for lawful commercial”
- developer.usajobs.gov/guides/terms-of-service: “OPM encourages users to identify USAJOBS as the source, link to the current official job announcement”
- developer.usajobs.gov/api-reference/get-api-search: “URI to apply for the job offering.”
- usajobs.gov/HiringPath/Public: “the official employment site for the federal government”