LittleSis

Operator: Public Accountability Initiative, United States

Free database of connections between influential people, companies and organisations.

Companies & Business

Open website (external website)

Product

Collaboratively maintained database of networks of power and influence.

Availability and source date

Active

As of: 15 October 2026.

No functionality test has been performed.

Use in OSINT research

Helps trace documented connections between people, companies, politics and other organisations. Network views reveal roles, donations and other relationships.

Queries

Input	Result	Result type
Person name	Person profiles with documented roles, relationships and sources.	Retrieved
Company / organisation name	Organisation profiles and connections to people or other organisations.	Retrieved

Features

Searches profiles of people and organisations.
Shows roles, memberships, donations and other documented relationships.
Links information to sources such as official documents and news articles.
Displays relationships as a network map using the built-in Oligrapher tool.
Provides profiles and relationships through a JSON API and offers the full dataset.

Coverage

Geographical coverage

Focus on the USA; also international connections

Dataset

Profiles and relationships of influential people and organisations drawn from official documents, media and community contributions.

Access

Installation and deployment

Website · Self-hosted

Free web service. The open Rails source code includes a Docker setup and production guidance; self-hosting requires technical setup and a database copy.

Requirements

Read and search without an account. A free account is required for your own contributions and maps. The API is accessible without an API key.

Export

JSON through the API; full dataset through the bulk download linked on the API page.

Provider

Public Accountability Initiative

Country of establishment

United States

Interfaces

API

Available. JSON API for profiles and relationships, without an API key or sign-in; requests may be rate-limited.

Product or documentation

MCP

Not documented. No provider statement on the product and API pages reviewed.

AI agents

Not documented. No provider statement on the product and API pages reviewed.

Maintenance

Licence

GPL-3.0

Repository

Latest activity

Commit 10/2026

Stars

123 (as of 15 October 2026)

Usage note

The data is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Automated access is permitted only through the documented API.

Legal note

Limitations

Focuses on networks of power and influence in the USA; the database is not a complete company or ownership register.
Entries also come from contributors. The sources and date of each relationship must be considered.

Guides and practical reports

Official · LittleSis Help
Public Accountability Initiative · EN
Explains profiles, relationships, contributions and network maps using Oligrapher.
External · Bellingcat Toolkit: LittleSis
Katherine de Tolly · 08/2026 · EN · Independent
Demonstrates database search, profiles, relationships and maps, and explains the distinction from blog search.

Sources

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