{"id":29520,"date":"2026-09-22T07:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T07:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bilnex.io\/en\/peppol-directory-vs-lookup\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T07:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T07:00:09","slug":"peppol-katalogas-ir-paieska","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bilnex.io\/lt\/peppol-katalogas-ir-paieska\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201ePeppol\u201c katalogas ir paie\u0161ka: kur\u012f naudoti?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you need to find out whether a customer or supplier can receive a Peppol e-invoice, the choice of tool comes down to one thing: do you already have their Peppol ID or not? The Peppol Directory, the network’s public company catalogue<\/a>, is a free, browsable search where you can look up a business by name, Peppol endpoint ID, country and document capability. That’s the right place to start when all you have is a name, a country or a registry code. The Peppol Lookup service, publicly available since 19 March 2026<\/a>, answers a narrower question: is this specific Peppol ID published on the network right now? Neither tool sends an invoice, and neither one proves your invoice arrived.<\/p>\n

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Key facts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Fact<\/th>\nValue<\/th>\nValid from<\/th>\nSource<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Peppol Lookup service publicly available<\/td>\nOpenPeppol announced the new Peppol Lookup service; this first version is aimed at service providers and developers<\/td>\n2026-03-19<\/td>\npeppol.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
What a Lookup result actually tells you<\/td>\nIt shows whether a participant is currently published on the network \u2014 it is not confirmation that an invoice was delivered<\/td>\nas of 2026-09<\/td>\npeppol.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Peppol Directory search fields<\/td>\nCompany name, Peppol endpoint ID, country, Peppol document capability; where available also additional identifiers, contact details, registration date, website, free text<\/td>\nas of 2026-09<\/td>\npeppol.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Updating the Directory is not mandatory<\/td>\nUploading data to the Directory is the responsibility of the SMP service provider and is not currently mandatory \u2014 so not every registered Peppol receiver appears in the Directory<\/td>\nas of 2026-09<\/td>\npeppol.org<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Peppol Directory specification<\/td>\nv1.1.1, valid from 10.12.2021<\/td>\n2021-12-10<\/td>\ndocs.peppol.eu<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Peppol SMP specification<\/td>\nv1.4.0, valid from 01.11.2025<\/td>\n2025-11-01<\/td>\ndocs.peppol.eu<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

In short: the Directory finds, the Lookup confirms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Your situation<\/th>\nUse<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
You only know the customer’s name or country<\/td>\nPeppol Directory<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
You want to see whether the customer has declared a capability to receive invoices<\/td>\nPeppol Directory<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
You have the Peppol ID and the question is whether it’s published right now<\/td>\nLookup service<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
You just registered as a receiver and want to check the record is live<\/td>\nLookup service<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
You switched operators and invoices aren’t arriving<\/td>\nLookup service, then your operator<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
You want a guarantee that this one invoice gets delivered<\/td>\nNeither; see below<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Are these two different invoice channels?<\/h2>\n

No, and that misunderstanding is worth clearing up straight away. Neither the Directory nor the Lookup is an invoice channel. They don’t send anything. They only answer questions.<\/p>\n

What does the Directory actually collect?<\/h3>\n

The Directory is an aggregated view. The Peppol Directory specification v1.1.1<\/a> describes it as a collector of the Business Cards already held in existing SMPs, not as a replacement for any part of the network. An SMP, or Service Metadata Publisher, is the register where your operator keeps your company’s network record. The Directory pulls that data together so a human can search it in a browser.<\/p>\n

What does the Lookup check?<\/h3>\n

The Lookup looks at one narrow thing: is the participant currently published on the network? OpenPeppol says plainly that the service exists because the Directory is asynchronous. Directory updates don’t propagate instantly<\/a>, which creates situations where it isn’t clear whether publishing a participant actually succeeded.<\/p>\n

When to start with the Directory<\/h2>\n

If you only have the customer’s name, start in the Directory. It’s a free, browsable open-source service, and you can search by company name, Peppol endpoint ID, country and Peppol document capability<\/a>, one criterion at a time or several combined. Where the data exists, you’ll also see additional identifiers, contact details, the registration date, a website and free text.<\/p>\n

In practice you’re doing two jobs at once here. You find the customer’s likely Peppol identifier, which you can then save on their customer card in your accounting software. And you check what document capability is listed. Is the receiver published for invoices at all, or only for something else, such as orders?<\/p>\n

One caution: how old a Directory record is, and whether it’s correct, are two different questions. If the customer changed operators last year, the Directory may still show the old details. At that point the next step is the Lookup, not guesswork.<\/p>\n

Does an empty search result mean the customer can’t receive e-invoices?<\/h2>\n

No, and this is the most expensive mistake a Baltic small business can make here. Absence from the Directory does not mean the customer can’t receive an e-invoice.<\/p>\n

OpenPeppol states it directly: uploading data to the Directory is the responsibility of the Peppol SMP service provider and is not currently mandatory<\/a>, which is why you won’t find every registered Peppol receiver there. Publishing is a voluntary step taken by the operator, not by the network itself.<\/p>\n

Picture an invoice of \u20ac1,200 to an Estonian client. You search their name in the Directory, get no results, and email a PDF instead. The client replies that they only accept machine-readable e-invoices, and the invoice comes back to you. Technically the channel was fine the whole time; the only thing missing was the Directory record. That’s a week off your payment terms with no actual failure anywhere.<\/p>\n

So never treat an empty search result as the final answer. Ask the customer, or have your operator run the query.<\/p>\n

When does the new Lookup service actually help?<\/h2>\n

The Lookup service has been available since 19 March 2026<\/a>, and its purpose is to give you a simple way to check whether a participant is published on the network right now. OpenPeppol calls it a first version, built to solve a daily practical worry for service providers and developers. The tool itself is public, at lookup.peppol.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Three situations where it earns its keep<\/h3>\n