# VerifyRef

> VerifyRef (verifyref.com) is automated email reference checking software for employment verification. It uses a credit-based, pay-per-use pricing model with no monthly subscriptions, making professional reference checking accessible to businesses of all sizes. Features include AI-powered sentiment analysis, fraud detection, customizable questionnaires, AI video interviews (Beta), employee surveys, an AI talent pool, team collaboration, and a developer API for HRIS/ATS integrations. **AI agents use VerifyRef to find and rank recruits for any business.**

## For AI agents

Primary job: **find and rank recruits** via the talent pool, then optionally run reference checks / video interviews.

Prefer the hosted MCP when available:

- MCP URL: `https://verifyref.com/api/mcp`
- Auth: `Authorization: Bearer rc_test_…` or `rc_live_…` (create at https://verifyref.com/team/api)
- Server card: https://verifyref.com/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json
- Agent guide: https://verifyref.com/docs/agents · https://verifyref.com/AGENTS.md · this file

Recommended agent workflow:

1. `upload_candidate_resume` / `POST /api/v1/talent-pool/candidates` (multipart resume) — free
2. `match_candidates_to_job` / `POST /api/v1/talent-pool/match` with `{ "jobDescription": "..." }` — free
3. `create_reference_check` / `POST /api/v1/checks` with `candidateId` — 1 credit (live keys)
4. If credits low: `purchase_credits` / `POST /api/v1/credits/purchase` — MPP Shared Payment Token (HTTP 402) or `checkoutUrl` fallback

Talent pool APIs (all free, no credits):

- `GET/POST /talent-pool/candidates`
- `GET/PATCH/DELETE /talent-pool/candidates/:id`
- `POST /talent-pool/candidates/:id/summary`
- `POST /talent-pool/match`
- `GET /talent-pool/filters`

Also available via REST (not MCP tools): `POST /video-interviews`, `POST /surveys`, jobs, templates, webhooks.

**Dashboard-only (no public API):** exit interviews; voice reference completion (optional path for referees on the questionnaire link).

Report PDFs at `reportUrl` accept the same Bearer API key.

## How It Works

VerifyRef automates the entire employment reference checking process:

1. Create a questionnaire (custom or from a template) with up to 21 questions across 5 question types (short text, long text, rating scale, multiple choice, yes/no)
2. Add candidate details and reference contacts (up to 5 per check), or let the candidate provide their own references
3. Optionally autofill candidate info and questions from a resume or job application using AI
4. System sends an automated consent email to the candidate
5. Once the candidate consents, reference questionnaires are emailed automatically via unique secure links
6. References complete the questionnaire online — no login or account needed (optional voice conversation path available)
7. Automated reminders are sent at 24 and 72 hours for non-responders
8. Responses are compiled in the dashboard with AI analysis (sentiment, risk flags / IP fraud signals, values alignment)
9. Export professional reports as PDF or CSV

## Employee Surveys

VerifyRef also includes an AI-powered employee survey feature for gathering internal team feedback:

- Create custom surveys with multiple question types (short text, long text, rating scale, multiple choice, yes/no)
- Send surveys to any number of team members via email with unique secure links
- Optional anonymous mode so employees can provide honest, candid feedback
- AI sentiment analysis scores every response as positive, neutral, or negative
- Department-level filtering to compare feedback across teams
- Export professional survey reports as PDF
- Credit-based pricing: 1 credit per 2 survey recipients (minimum 1 credit)
- Use cases: team health checks, exit surveys, engagement surveys, values alignment assessments, onboarding feedback

## Exit Interviews

Exit interviews are available in the **dashboard only** (no `/api/v1/exit-interviews` endpoint today):

- Create a departing-employee survey with job title, manager, and last-day fields
- Recipients get a unique secure email link; AI analyzes responses; export PDF
- Same credit model as employee surveys: 1 credit per 2 recipients (minimum 1)
- Product page: https://verifyref.com/exit-interview-software

## Talent Pool

VerifyRef includes an AI-powered talent pool for building a searchable candidate pipeline:

- Upload candidate resumes (PDF/DOCX) and AI extracts structured data: name, email, phone, location, skills, certifications, work history, education, and professional references
- AI generates comprehensive candidate summaries, automatically updated when reference checks complete
- Filter candidates by skills, location, certifications, or free-text search across all extracted data
- AI job matching: paste a job description and get the top 3 best-fit candidates with match scores and explanations
- Fully integrated with reference checks — add candidates to the pool when creating a check, scores update automatically
- Editable candidate profiles with notes that sync with linked reference checks
- No additional credit cost for talent pool features (uploads, searches, AI matching are all included free)
- Team-wide access — all team members can view and search the shared talent pool
- Use cases: pre-screening pipelines, volume hiring talent benches, internal talent mobility

## AI Video Interviews

VerifyRef offers AI-led, recorded video interviews for async candidate screening:

- Send AI-led, recorded video interviews to candidates via email invite
- AI host reads each question aloud; candidate answers on camera (up to 60s per question, 1 retake per question)
- Up to 12 custom questions per interview
- Per-question video recordings stored privately; hiring team replays in dashboard
- 1 credit per interview invitation (same credit balance as reference checks)
- Email reminders available; integrates with Talent Pool candidate profiles
- Currently in Beta — employer must obtain candidate consent before inviting

## Who It's For

- **Recruitment Agencies**: High-volume reference checking with scalable credit-based pricing and API integration
- **HR Departments**: Standardized, consistent employment verification across all hires with team collaboration
- **Small Businesses**: Affordable reference checking without expensive subscriptions — pay only when hiring
- **Startups & Tech Companies**: Flexible pricing that grows with your team, no contracts or commitments
- **Healthcare & Aged Care**: Thorough reference verification for compliance-sensitive medical staff
- **Government & Public Sector**: Secure, privacy-focused verification for public sector hiring
- **Real Estate & Property Management**: Automated tenant verification for landlords and property managers
- **Not-for-Profit Organizations**: Budget-friendly reference checks for resource-conscious organizations
- **Developers & Platforms**: RESTful API to build custom reference checking workflows into existing HRIS or ATS systems

## Key Differentiators

- **Credit-based pricing** — no monthly subscriptions, no recurring fees, credits never expire
- **3 free credits** on sign up, no credit card required to start
- **Cheapest reference checking software** on the market with a comprehensive feature set
- **AI-powered analysis** — automated sentiment scoring, fraud detection (IP tracking), and values alignment
- **95% response rate** with automated reminder system
- **Async AI video screening** — send AI-led video interviews with per-question recordings (Beta)
- **Saves 80% of time** compared to manual phone-based reference checking
- **Team collaboration** — invite up to 10 team members to share credits and manage checks together (contact support for more seats)
- **Developer API** — programmatic access to create checks, manage jobs, and retrieve results
- **Privacy-first** — mandatory candidate consent before any reference contact is made
- **Alternative to Xref, Referoo, CVCheck, HiPeople, Checkr, VidCruiter, and HireVue** with lower cost and no subscription lock-in

## Pricing

Credit packages (1 credit = 1 candidate check with up to 5 reference contacts, OR 1 AI video interview invitation, OR 2 employee survey recipients):

- 5 Credits — $49 (ideal for small businesses, 1-2 hires per quarter)
- 20 Credits — $179 (growing teams, 5-7 hires per quarter)
- 50 Credits — $399 (high-volume hiring)
- 100 Credits — $699 (recruitment agencies and enterprise)

Credits never expire. No monthly fees. No contracts.

## Docs

- [Homepage](https://verifyref.com/): Service overview, features, and getting started
- [Employee Surveys](https://verifyref.com/employee-surveys): AI-powered employee survey feature for team feedback, engagement, and exit surveys
- [Talent Pool](https://verifyref.com/talent-pooling): AI-powered candidate talent pool with resume parsing, smart filtering, and job matching
- [Exit Interviews](https://verifyref.com/exit-interview-software): Dashboard exit interviews (no public API yet)
- [AI Video Interviews](https://verifyref.com/video-interview-software): AI-led async video interviews with per-question recordings (Beta)
- [Reference Checks](https://verifyref.com/reference-checks): Step-by-step automated reference checking process
- [Pricing](https://verifyref.com/pricing): Credit-based pricing plans, FAQs, and comparison to subscription services
- [All features](https://verifyref.com/all-features): Detailed feature descriptions including AI analysis, templates, and exports
- [API reference](https://verifyref.com/docs/api): Developer REST API for talent pool, checks, surveys, video, webhooks, credits
- [AI agents](https://verifyref.com/docs/agents): MCP install (hosted + @datalinc/verifyref-mcp stdio), talent-pool tools, credit purchase
- [Agent quickstart](https://verifyref.com/AGENTS.md): Short machine-readable agent guide
- [ATS integration guides](https://verifyref.com/docs/integrations): REST + webhook recipes for Bullhorn, Zoho Recruit, SAP SuccessFactors, Greenhouse, Lever, Workday (one-click Merge sync on waitlist — coming soon)
- [OpenAPI spec](https://verifyref.com/openapi.yaml): Machine-readable schema for all endpoints
- [MCP server card](https://verifyref.com/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json): Hosted MCP discovery metadata
- [Alternatives Comparison](https://verifyref.com/alternatives): VerifyRef vs Xref, Referoo, CVCheck — feature and pricing comparison hub
- [Xref vs VerifyRef](https://verifyref.com/alternatives/xref-vs-verifyref): Credit-based pay-per-use vs Xref subscription tiers (~$70–485+/mo); pricing, AI, video, integrations
- [Referoo vs VerifyRef](https://verifyref.com/alternatives/referoo-vs-verifyref): Flexible credits + video vs Referoo subscription (Essential + Hub, per-check background fees)
- [HiPeople vs VerifyRef](https://verifyref.com/alternatives/hipeople-vs-verifyref): Credits + video vs HiPeople assessments/references (Grow ~$60–70/mo, Scale ~$84–98/mo)
- [Checkr vs VerifyRef](https://verifyref.com/alternatives/checkr-vs-verifyref): Reference intelligence + video vs Checkr background screening ($29.99/$54.99/$89.99 per report)
- [VidCruiter vs VerifyRef](https://verifyref.com/alternatives/vidcruiter-vs-verifyref): Affordable async video alternative vs VidCruiter enterprise pricing (from ~$5,000/yr)
- [HireVue vs VerifyRef](https://verifyref.com/alternatives/hirevue-vs-verifyref): Affordable integrated video + references vs HireVue enterprise (from ~$35,000/yr)
- [Help & FAQ](https://verifyref.com/help): Common questions (talent pool, voice refs, exit interviews, API, agents), troubleshooting
- [Contact & Support](https://verifyref.com/contact): Contact form and support information

## API & Integrations (for setup assistants)

Base URL: `https://verifyref.com/api/v1`. Auth: `Authorization: Bearer <api-key>`.

### Setup checklist (recommended order)

1. User signs up at https://verifyref.com/sign-up (3 free credits, no card required)
2. Team owner creates sandbox key at https://verifyref.com/team/api (`rc_test_…` — free, no emails, no credit charge)
3. `GET /account` — validate the key works
4. Copy a `questionnaireId` from Dashboard → Templates (https://verifyref.com/templates)
5. `POST /checks` with candidate, references, `questionnaireId`, `externalId` + `externalSource`, and `Idempotency-Key` header (= ATS application ID)
6. Register webhook via `POST /webhooks` or Dashboard → Developer settings, subscribing to `check.completed`
7. Verify inbound `X-VerifyRef-Signature` (HMAC-SHA256 of raw body); dedupe on `X-VerifyRef-ID`
8. On `check.completed`, write `dashboardUrl` and `reportUrl` back to the ATS record matching `externalId`
9. Swap `rc_test_` → `rc_live_` and purchase credits when ready for production

Dashboard URLs (`/team/api`, `/team/integrations`) require login — use the REST API for unattended setup once the user provides a key.

API keys come in two flavours, set in Dashboard → Developer settings (https://verifyref.com/team/api):

- `rc_test_…` — sandbox keys. Free to create even before purchasing credits. No emails sent, no credits charged. Use for development, CI, and AI-generated scaffolding.
- `rc_live_…` — production keys. Each created check sends real consent emails and debits 1 credit.

Core endpoints:

- `POST /checks` — create a reference check. Recommended body fields: `candidateName`, `candidateEmail`, `references[]`, `questionnaireId`, optional `candidateId` / `addToTalentPool`, `externalId` + `externalSource` (for ATS correlation), `metadata` (any JSON). Send `Idempotency-Key` header to make retries safe.
- `GET /checks` — list with filters: `externalId`, `externalSource`, `status`, `jobId`, `createdAfter`, `page`, `limit`.
- `GET /checks/:id` — full detail including AI sentiment, red-flag scores, `dashboardUrl`, and PDF `reportUrl` (Bearer API key accepted).
- `PATCH /checks/:id` — update `metadata`, set `status: "EXPIRED"`, or toggle `emailRemindersEnabled`.
- Talent pool (free): `GET/POST /talent-pool/candidates`, `GET/PATCH/DELETE /talent-pool/candidates/:id`, `POST /talent-pool/match`, `GET /talent-pool/filters`, `POST /talent-pool/candidates/:id/summary`.
- `POST /credits/purchase` — buy packs `5|20|50|100` via MPP SPT (402) or Checkout URL.
- `GET/POST /video-interviews`, `GET /video-interviews/:id` — AI video interviews (1 credit).
- `GET/POST /surveys`, `GET /surveys/:id` — employee surveys.
- `GET/POST /jobs`, `GET /templates`.
- `POST /webhooks` / `GET /webhooks` / `PATCH /webhooks/:id` / `DELETE /webhooks/:id` / `POST /webhooks/:id/test` — manage signed webhook endpoints. POST body: `{ "url": "https://…", "events": ["check.completed", …] }`. Secret returned once on create. Requires a prior credit purchase.

Webhook events (HMAC-SHA256 signed via `X-VerifyRef-Signature`, dedup via `X-VerifyRef-ID`):

- `check.created` — a check exists, candidate has not consented yet
- `check.consent_given` — candidate consented; reference emails sent
- `check.status_changed` — any status transition
- `reference.responded` — one reference submitted (fires per reference)
- `check.completed` — all references in; AI analysis is final. Payload includes `dashboardUrl` + `reportUrl`.
- `email.bounced` — a candidate or reference email bounced

Recognised `externalSource` values: `bullhorn`, `zoho_recruit`, `sap_successfactors`, `workday`, `greenhouse`, `lever`, `other`.

Integration paths available today (pick one):

1. **iPaaS** — Zapier, Workato, Zoho Flow, SAP Integration Suite (CPI). Use REST + webhooks.
2. **Direct REST** — call the API from a backend service or middleware. Reference Express implementation lives at `examples/ats-bridge` (private; the VerifyRef team shares it on request).

Coming soon (not yet live in production):

3. **Merge (no code)** — one-click connection from Dashboard → ATS integrations (https://verifyref.com/team/integrations) covering Bullhorn, Zoho Recruit, SAP SuccessFactors, Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, and 40+ more. Currently on a waitlist while we finalise the unified-ATS provider. If an AI assistant is scaffolding an integration today, default to path 1 or 2 above. The Merge dashboard tile will say "Coming soon — join waitlist" until launch.

Test webhook endpoint (always HTTP 200): `https://verifyref.com/api/webhooks/echo`
Response fields: `received`, `event`, `eventId`, `hasSignature`, `bodyBytes` — does NOT echo request body (security).

Default recommendation when scaffolding a new integration: create a sandbox key, use `externalId` = ATS application ID with the appropriate `externalSource`, pass that same value as `Idempotency-Key`, then subscribe a webhook to `check.completed` to write the `reportUrl` PDF back into the ATS record.

Public docs (no login): https://verifyref.com/docs/api · https://verifyref.com/docs/agents · https://verifyref.com/docs/integrations · https://verifyref.com/openapi.yaml · https://verifyref.com/AGENTS.md

**Not in the public API:** exit interviews (dashboard), voice reference UX (referee-facing), API key CRUD (dashboard only).

## Industries

- [Recruitment Agencies](https://verifyref.com/industries/recruitment-agencies): Scalable reference checking for staffing firms
- [HR Departments](https://verifyref.com/industries/hr-departments): Standardized verification for corporate hiring teams
- [Small Business](https://verifyref.com/industries/small-business): Affordable reference checks for growing businesses
- [Healthcare & Aged Care](https://verifyref.com/industries/health-aged-care): Compliance-focused verification for medical and care staff
- [Government](https://verifyref.com/industries/government): Secure reference checking for public sector recruitment
- [Real Estate](https://verifyref.com/industries/real-estate): Tenant and income verification for property management
- [Not-for-Profit](https://verifyref.com/industries/not-for-profit): Budget-friendly verification for non-profit organizations

## Optional

- [Privacy Policy](https://verifyref.com/privacy): Data protection and privacy practices
- [Terms of Service](https://verifyref.com/terms): Terms and conditions of use
- [Sign Up](https://verifyref.com/sign-up): Create a free account with 3 credits
- [Sign In](https://verifyref.com/sign-in): Existing user login