> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.invopop.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Lookup in the French directory
> Check whether a SIREN or electronic address is registered in the French Directory (Annuaire) before issuing or receiving invoices.
## Introduction
Verifying that a party is registered in the French Annuaire before issuing or receiving an invoice reduces rejections and lets you branch regulated vs. non-regulated flows correctly. This guide shows how to query the PPF Annuaire so you can:
* Verify that a SIREN is registered as a sender or receiver in the Annuaire.
* Resolve the electronic address used to route invoices to a given party.
* Branch invoice and party workflows between regulated e-invoicing and the [e-reporting flow](/guides/fr-pa-reporting).
## Prerequisites
* A live workspace (Lookup will error with `403 Forbidden` in Sandbox).
* Within Console, make sure you have connected the **France** app.
## Console support
Add the **Lookup in Directory** step to your `invoice`, `party` or `status` workflows.
In the invoice workflow, the step can be configured to lookup suppliers and customers. The job will fail if no matching entry is found, and you can handle the exception any way you want (usually routing to non-regulated flow).
When a match is found, the step writes the resolved routing details back onto the looked-up party (supplier or customer for invoices and payments, or the root party for standalone party documents):
* The `0225` electronic address is added to the party's `inboxes`, so downstream steps can route the document without repeating the lookup.
* If the SIREN was derived from the party's French VAT tax ID or SIRET rather than supplied as an explicit identity, it is also added as a SIREN identity on the party. Existing identities (including SIRET) are preserved.
If the party is already addressed or already carries a SIREN identity, the step leaves those values untouched.
## API support
### Look up by SIREN
Use this endpoint when you have the French legal identifier of a company and want to know whether it is reachable through the Annuaire.
A SIREN may have multiple entries (one per registered SIRET / suffix / routing code), so the response is always a list. An empty `results` array means the SIREN is not currently registered in the Annuaire.
The following outcomes are possible:
| Status | Result | Flow type | Action |
| ----------------------- | --------------------------- | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Party is registered | Returns one or more entries | **Regulated** | Route via Peppol; PPF expects a copy through the [PA send invoice workflow](/guides/fr-pa-invoicing#sending) |
| Party is not registered | Returns an empty list | **Non-regulated** | Route through the [e-reporting flow](/guides/fr-pa-reporting) instead of Peppol |
Parties located in the French overseas territories that sit **outside the French VAT zone** — Guyane (postal codes starting with `973`), Mayotte (`976`), New Caledonia (`NC`) and French Polynesia (`PF`) — are treated as foreign zones for the e-invoicing reform. The lookup short-circuits to an empty result for these parties before querying the Annuaire, even when they carry a French SIREN, so their transactions are always routed to [e-reporting](/guides/fr-pa-reporting). Metropolitan France and the overseas départements that share its VAT territory (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion) remain in scope for e-invoicing.
## Look up by electronic address
Use this endpoint when you already have the electronic address (the value used to route invoices in France, typically in `scheme:value` form) and want to confirm it resolves to a registered entry. This is useful when a counterparty supplies their routing identifier directly rather than just a SIREN.
The behaviour mirrors the SIREN lookup:
* **Identifier is registered**: returns the matching entry.
* **Identifier is unknown**: returns an empty list. The address cannot be used as a Peppol routing target for regulated flows.
See the [API reference for lookup by electronic address](/api-ref/apps/gov-fr/lookup-identifier) for the full request and response shape.
## Using lookups in workflows
The typical pattern is to call the lookup endpoint from your own systems **before** triggering an invoice workflow, and then choose which workflow to fire:
* **Both parties registered** → run the [PA send invoice workflow](/guides/fr-pa-invoicing#sending), which transmits over Peppol and forwards the F1 copy to the PPF.
* **One or both parties unregistered** → run the [e-reporting recording workflow](/guides/fr-pa-reporting#recording) so the transaction is reported to the PPF on the next periodic submission.
This keeps the **Record Invoice** step in the send workflow from rejecting non-regulated traffic.
***
| | |
| ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Compliance | [Invoicing compliance in France](/compliance/france)
[Compliance timeline](/timelines/france) |
| Apps | [France](/apps/france)
[Peppol](/apps/peppol)
[ChorusPro France](/apps/choruspro-france) |
| Guides | [ChorusPro Guide](/guides/fr-chorus-pro)
[PA Guide](/guides/fr-pa) — [Registration](/guides/fr-pa-registration) · [Invoicing](/guides/fr-pa-invoicing) · [Status](/guides/fr-pa-status) · [Reporting](/guides/fr-pa-reporting) |
| FAQ | [France FAQ](/faq/france) |
| GOBL | [France Tax Regime](https://docs.gobl.org/regimes/fr)
[Chorus Pro Addon](https://docs.gobl.org/addons/fr-choruspro-v1)
[French Factur-X Addon](https://docs.gobl.org/addons/fr-facturx-v1) |
| GitHub | [gobl.xinvoice](https://github.com/invopop/gobl.xinvoice) |
Find answers to frequently asked questions about invoicing in France →
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