Search used cars in the UK on Auto Trader.

curl -s https://wield.run/api/v1/recipes/autotrader.co.uk/search-cars | shasum -a 256
# bbd6115518449dbed3731ab9946b86ab85bebaa787b080bc69d7af825d98bf52

{
  "description": "Searches Auto Trader, the UK's largest car marketplace, like its search results: make and model, version, price in GBP with Auto Trader's price rating, mileage, year, location and distance from a postcode, trade or private seller, a photo and the link. Filters by price, year, mileage, fuel, gearbox and distance; sort by relevance, price, newest, nearest, mileage or age. Promoted listings are dropped by default.",
  "effect": "read",
  "id": "autotrader.co.uk/search-cars",
  "keywords": [
    "auto trader",
    "autotrader",
    "used cars",
    "car for sale",
    "second hand car",
    "buy a car",
    "car search",
    "uk",
    "london",
    "dealer",
    "private seller",
    "price rating"
  ],
  "output": {
    "schema": {
      "properties": {
        "cars": {
          "items": {
            "properties": {
              "distance_miles": {
                "type": [
                  "number",
                  "null"
                ]
              },
              "highlight": {
                "description": "The seller's short attention line",
                "type": [
                  "string",
                  "null"
                ]
              },
              "id": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "image": {
                "type": [
                  "string",
                  "null"
                ]
              },
              "location": {
                "type": [
                  "string",
                  "null"
                ]
              },
              "make_model": {
                "type": [
                  "string",
                  "null"
                ]
              },
              "mileage": {
                "type": [
                  "integer",
                  "null"
                ]
              },
              "price_gbp": {
                "type": [
                  "number",
                  "null"
                ]
              },
              "price_rating": {
                "description": "Auto Trader's rating, e.g. 'Great price', 'Good price', 'Fair price'",
                "type": [
                  "string",
                  "null"
                ]
              },
              "seller_type": {
                "enum": [
                  "trade",
                  "private"
                ],
                "type": "string"
              },
              "sponsored": {
                "type": "boolean"
              },
              "title": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "url": {
                "type": "string"
              },
              "version": {
                "type": [
                  "string",
                  "null"
                ]
              },
              "year": {
                "type": [
                  "integer",
                  "null"
                ]
              }
            },
            "type": "object"
          },
          "type": "array"
        },
        "page": {
          "type": "integer"
        },
        "pages": {
          "type": [
            "integer",
            "null"
          ]
        },
        "total": {
          "type": [
            "integer",
            "null"
          ]
        }
      },
      "required": [
        "total",
        "cars"
      ],
      "type": "object"
    },
    "value": "let $ads = params.include_ads == `true`, $r = steps.search[0] in {total: $r.total || `0`, pages: $r.pages || `null`, page: params.page || `1`, cars: map(&(let $c = @ in let $b = $c.badges || `[]` in let $mi = ($b[?type == 'MILEAGE'] | [0].displayText), $yr = ($b[?type == 'REGISTERED_YEAR'] | [0].displayText), $loc = $c.vehicleLocation || '' in {id: $c.advertId, title: join(' ', [$c.title || '', $c.subTitle || '']), make_model: $c.title || `null`, version: $c.subTitle || `null`, price_gbp: $c.price && to_number(replace(replace($c.price, '£', ''), ',', '')) || `null`, price_rating: ($b[?starts_with(type, 'PI_')] | [0].displayText) || `null`, mileage: $mi && to_number(replace(split($mi, ' ')[0], ',', '')) || `null`, year: $yr && to_number(split($yr, ' ')[0]) || `null`, location: $loc != '' && split($loc, ' (')[0] || `null`, distance_miles: contains($loc, ' mile') && to_number(split(split($loc, '(')[-1], ' ')[0]) || `null`, seller_type: ($c.sellerType == 'PRIVATE' && 'private') || 'trade', highlight: $c.attentionGrabber || `null`, sponsored: $c.type != 'NATURAL_LISTING', image: $c.images[0] && replace($c.images[0], '{resize}', 'w800') || `null`, url: join('', ['https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/', $c.advertId])}), $r.listings[?advertId] || `[]`)[?$ads || !sponsored]}"
  },
  "params": {
    "additionalProperties": false,
    "properties": {
      "distance_miles": {
        "description": "Only with postcode; leave out for national. Auto Trader's radius is approximate (it may include cars a mile further)",
        "enum": [
          1,
          5,
          10,
          15,
          20,
          25,
          30,
          35,
          40,
          45,
          50,
          55,
          60,
          70,
          80,
          90,
          100,
          200
        ],
        "type": "integer"
      },
      "fuel": {
        "enum": [
          "Petrol",
          "Diesel",
          "Electric",
          "Hybrid – Petrol/Electric",
          "Hybrid – Petrol/Electric Plug-in",
          "Hybrid – Diesel/Electric"
        ],
        "type": "string"
      },
      "include_ads": {
        "default": false,
        "description": "Keep promoted and featured listings, marked sponsored",
        "type": "boolean"
      },
      "make": {
        "description": "As Auto Trader names it, e.g. 'Volkswagen', 'Ford', 'BMW', 'Mercedes-Benz'",
        "maxLength": 40,
        "minLength": 2,
        "type": "string"
      },
      "max_mileage": {
        "minimum": 1,
        "type": "integer"
      },
      "max_price": {
        "description": "GBP",
        "minimum": 0,
        "type": "integer"
      },
      "min_price": {
        "minimum": 0,
        "type": "integer"
      },
      "model": {
        "description": "e.g. 'Golf', 'Fiesta', '3 Series'",
        "maxLength": 40,
        "type": "string"
      },
      "page": {
        "default": 1,
        "maximum": 50,
        "minimum": 1,
        "type": "integer"
      },
      "postcode": {
        "description": "UK postcode, e.g. 'SW1A 1AA' (Auto Trader needs one for price filters and distances; with no distance_miles the search is national)",
        "pattern": "^[A-Za-z]{1,2}[0-9][A-Za-z0-9]? ?[0-9][A-Za-z]{2}$",
        "type": "string"
      },
      "sort": {
        "default": "relevance",
        "description": "nearest needs a postcode",
        "enum": [
          "relevance",
          "price_low",
          "price_high",
          "newest",
          "nearest",
          "mileage",
          "year_new"
        ],
        "type": "string"
      },
      "transmission": {
        "enum": [
          "Manual",
          "Automatic"
        ],
        "type": "string"
      },
      "year_from": {
        "maximum": 2030,
        "minimum": 1950,
        "type": "integer"
      }
    },
    "required": [
      "make",
      "postcode"
    ],
    "type": "object"
  },
  "provenance": {
    "method": "browser-inspect",
    "notes": "autotrader.co.uk/car-search is a client-rendered app (/search-results-app). Its bundle sends GraphQL to /at-gateway?opname=<operation> with x-sauron-app-name sauron-search-results-app (from window.AT_SPA_JS_CONFIG; the version header is optional). SearchResultsListingsGridQuery takes filters [{filter, selected}] built from the URL (make, model, postcode, distance, min_price/max_price, min_year_manufactured, max_mileage, fuel_type, transmission, price_search_type total), channel cars, page, sortBy (relevance, price_asc, price_desc, most_recent, distance, mileage, year_dsc) and a searchId string. Listings: type (NATURAL_LISTING; promoted/featured types are paid), advertId, title, subTitle, price text, vehicleLocation 'Place (N miles)', sellerType, badges (PI_* price rating, MILEAGE, REGISTERED_YEAR), images with a {resize} token; page.results.count is the total. robots.txt has no rules for Claude-User or anthropic agents; it disallows search URLs with ?postcode=, ?sort= and similar query parameters for crawlers, which this recipe does not request (it posts to the gateway). A price filter without a postcode answers BAD_REQUEST ('A required filter of type Postcode was not present'), so postcode is required, as on the site. Answers servers. v2 (2026-11-07 22:53): keywords only (bmw, volkswagen, ford removed: they steered unrelated searches here, C1 ranking note).",
    "recorded_at": "2026-11-07T22:31:00+01:00",
    "recorded_by": "C4"
  },
  "requires_login": false,
  "schema": "https://wield.run/schema/recipe/v1.json",
  "site": {
    "country": "GB",
    "id": "autotrader.co.uk",
    "language": "en",
    "name": "Auto Trader UK",
    "origin": "https://www.autotrader.co.uk",
    "origins": [
      "https://www.autotrader.co.uk"
    ]
  },
  "steps": [
    {
      "description": "Read-only POST: Auto Trader's own GraphQL gateway (/at-gateway?opname=SearchResultsListingsGridQuery), the search query the results page sends, with a smaller field selection. The one-item foreach turns the params into the page's filter list (sorted by name, as the page sends it) and sort.",
      "expect": {
        "assert": "body.data.searchResults != `null`",
        "content_type": "json",
        "status": [
          200
        ]
      },
      "extract": {
        "json": {
          "listings": "data.searchResults.listings",
          "pages": "data.searchResults.page.count",
          "total": "data.searchResults.page.results.count"
        }
      },
      "foreach": {
        "as": "f",
        "in": "[{filters: sort_by([{filter: 'make', selected: [params.make]}, params.model && {filter: 'model', selected: [params.model]}, params.postcode && {filter: 'postcode', selected: [upper(trim(params.postcode))]}, params.postcode && params.distance_miles && {filter: 'distance', selected: [to_string(params.distance_miles)]}, params.min_price && {filter: 'min_price', selected: [to_string(params.min_price)]}, params.max_price && {filter: 'max_price', selected: [to_string(params.max_price)]}, params.year_from && {filter: 'min_year_manufactured', selected: [to_string(params.year_from)]}, params.max_mileage && {filter: 'max_mileage', selected: [to_string(params.max_mileage)]}, params.fuel && {filter: 'fuel_type', selected: [params.fuel]}, params.transmission && {filter: 'transmission', selected: [params.transmission]}, {filter: 'price_search_type', selected: ['total']}][?@], &filter), sort: (params.sort == 'price_low' && 'price_asc') || (params.sort == 'price_high' && 'price_desc') || (params.sort == 'newest' && 'most_recent') || (params.sort == 'nearest' && 'distance') || (params.sort == 'mileage' && 'mileage') || (params.sort == 'year_new' && 'year_dsc') || 'relevance'}]",
        "max": 1
      },
      "id": "search",
      "read_only_post": true,
      "request": {
        "body": {
          "type": "json",
          "value": {
            "operationName": "SearchResultsListingsGridQuery",
            "query": "query SearchResultsListingsGridQuery($filters: [FilterInput!]!, $channel: Channel!, $page: Int, $sortBy: SearchResultsSort, $listingType: [ListingType!], $searchId: String!) { searchResults(input: {facets: [], filters: $filters, channel: $channel, page: $page, sortBy: $sortBy, listingType: $listingType, searchId: $searchId}) { listings { ... on SearchListing { type advertId title subTitle attentionGrabber price vehicleLocation images sellerType badges { type displayText } } } page { number count results { count } } } }",
            "variables": {
              "channel": "cars",
              "filters": "{{f.filters}}",
              "listingType": null,
              "page": "{{params.page}}",
              "searchId": "wield",
              "sortBy": "{{f.sort}}"
            }
          }
        },
        "headers": {
          "Accept": "application/json",
          "Content-Type": "application/json",
          "x-sauron-app-name": "sauron-search-results-app"
        },
        "method": "POST",
        "query": {
          "opname": "SearchResultsListingsGridQuery"
        },
        "url": "/at-gateway"
      }
    }
  ],
  "task": "Search used cars in the UK on Auto Trader",
  "tos": {
    "notes": "robots.txt has no AI-agent rules (no Claude-User, ClaudeBot or anthropic-ai group, no Content-Signal), checked 2026-11-07. Terms not reviewed yet for automated access. One person's search: 1 read-only GraphQL request, the one the results page sends. Contacting sellers stays on autotrader.co.uk.",
    "reviewed": false
  },
  "verify": {
    "checks": [
      "length(output.cars) > `10`",
      "output.total > `20`",
      "length(output.cars[?price_gbp > `15000`]) == `0`",
      "length(output.cars[?mileage > `60000`]) == `0`",
      "length(output.cars[?distance_miles > `11`]) == `0`",
      "length(output.cars[?starts_with(url, 'https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/') && make_model == 'Volkswagen Golf']) == length(output.cars)",
      "output.cars[0].price_gbp <= output.cars[-1].price_gbp"
    ],
    "example_params": {
      "distance_miles": 10,
      "make": "Volkswagen",
      "max_mileage": 60000,
      "max_price": 15000,
      "model": "Golf",
      "postcode": "SW1A 1AA",
      "sort": "price_low"
    },
    "max_ms": 5000
  },
  "version": 2
}