Italy records (Antenati)

Antenati is Italy’s public portal for digitized civil registers. Atto builds ready-to-open search-registry links from your Inbox note — you browse in your own browser. Atto does not scrape Antenati, does not log in for you, and does not download records in the background.

The loop on your desktop kit

Write what you know in Inbox — name, rough year, comune or region.
On Research, click Build find plan.
Click an Antenati link. It opens in your normal browser with località, tipologia, and anno pre-filled when Atto has them.
When you find a match, save a note or screenshot back to Inbox on your computer.
Anything that becomes a tree fact still goes through Approve — only you can add it.

Mac is the primary polished SKU. Windows closed beta and Linux builds are on the download page; the same find-plan loop applies wherever the desktop kit runs.

Search-registry deep links

Atto prefers Antenati’s search-registry URL — the form at antenati.cultura.gov.it/search-registry/ — over a blank home page. Typical parameters:

località — the comune (see località).
tipologia — Nati, Matrimoni, or Morti.
anno — birth, marriage, or death year when known; try ±1–2 years if empty.
lang — often it on the form; you can switch the site to English after it opens.

Example shape (values filled by Atto from your note):

https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/search-registry/?localita=Sellia&tipologia=Nati&anno=1892&lang=it

If the comune is missing, Atto may fall back to a broader search pointer. Tighten your Inbox note with the town name and rebuild the plan.

National vs regional archives

Antenati (national) aggregates scans from many state archives (Archivi di Stato) and some civil series. Coverage is uneven by province and year — some comuni appear for the 1800s, others stop earlier or never landed online.

Regional portals (Lombardia, Toscana, Veneto, and others) sometimes hold different batches or better indexes for their area. Atto’s find plan may include regional pointers when your note mentions that region; you still open and search them yourself.

When Antenati has no scan, you are not stuck — you may need a letter to the comune or an on-site archive visit. Atto tracks requests in the citizenship checklist; it does not mail forms for you.

Research scan ≠ copia integrale

An Antenati image is a research scan — invaluable for proving lineage and reading names — but it is not the filing-grade copia integrale stamped by the comune. Consulates and comuni often want freshly issued civil copies, sometimes with translations and apostilles on related US records.

Use Antenati to identify the act, year, and register details, then order the official copy from the competent office. Atto’s checklist helps you track Identified → Ordered → Received; it is not legal advice and never files for you.

Vocabulary: Italian words.

Practical tips

Start with Nati when chasing a birth year; widen the year before you change comune spelling.
Handwriting varies — compare given names across siblings’ acts in the same register.
A frazione on the manifest is not the search name; use the parent comune.
Pair Antenati with US hometown records to pin dates before you order Italian copies.

Video walkthrough

Video walkthrough coming soon.