ForHosting KIT · Developer Utilities

Most probable number (MPN)

The most probable number method estimates viable microbial density when organisms are counted by presence or absence in replicate tubes across a dilution series rather than as colonies on a plate.

● BetaFree · in your browser

Run — free How it works & API

Use it from WebAPIEmailTelegramApp soon

Water laboratories, food microbiologists, and environmental analysts still rely on MPN codes and tables for coliforms, enterococci, and other indicator organisms. This calculator accepts each level of your series as inoculum volume in millilitres, tube count, and number of positive tubes, then solves the Poisson maximum-likelihood equation for density per millilitre of original sample. You can rescale the result to MPN per 100 mL or any other report volume, compare against the classic Thomas approximation, and read an approximate Fisher-information confidence interval. All-sterile series return zero density; all-positive series are rejected as unbounded until you add a higher dilution with negatives. The same pure module powers the free browser widget and the API path so lab notebooks and automation never disagree on a published MPN estimate.

How to use it

Enter your values in the form above. The tool checks them before calculating and shows the result on the same page.

Check your inputs

Use the labels and units shown next to each field. If something is missing or outside the allowed range, the page points to the field to fix.

Use it again or automate it

Use the browser tool for individual checks and the API when you need the same capability in an automated workflow.

What you can do with it

Get an answer now

Enter one set of values and see the result without building a spreadsheet or script.

Compare scenarios

Change one value at a time and rerun the calculation to understand what affects the result.

Automate repeated work

Use the API when the same calculation needs to run inside your product or workflow.

FAQ

How do I use this capability?

Complete the fields above and run it on this page. The form highlights anything that needs attention.

For developers — API access

Everything on this page is available programmatically. This section is for teams who want to wire it into their own systems; everyone else can just use the tool above.

API endpoint

POSThttps://api.kit.forhosting.com/bio/most-probable-number

Prefer to automate it? One authenticated POST creates the task; the result comes back by webhook or a signed link. The same capability also runs here on the web, by email and from Telegram — and soon from our app too.

Call it from your stack

curl -X POST https://api.kit.forhosting.com/bio/most-probable-number \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $KIT_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"levels":[{"volume_ml":10,"tubes":5,"positive":5},{"volume_ml":1,"tubes":5,"positive":3},{"volume_ml":0.1,"tubes":5,"positive":1}]}'

const res = await fetch("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/bio/most-probable-number", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.KIT_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "levels": [
      {
        "volume_ml": 10,
        "tubes": 5,
        "positive": 5
      },
      {
        "volume_ml": 1,
        "tubes": 5,
        "positive": 3
      },
      {
        "volume_ml": 0.1,
        "tubes": 5,
        "positive": 1
      }
    ]
  })
});
const { task_id } = await res.json();

import os, requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/bio/most-probable-number",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['KIT_KEY']}"},
    json={
    "levels": [
        {
            "volume_ml": 10,
            "tubes": 5,
            "positive": 5
        },
        {
            "volume_ml": 1,
            "tubes": 5,
            "positive": 3
        },
        {
            "volume_ml": 0.1,
            "tubes": 5,
            "positive": 1
        }
    ]
},
)
task_id = res.json()["task_id"]

<?php
$res = file_get_contents("https://api.kit.forhosting.com/bio/most-probable-number", false, stream_context_create([
  "http" => [
    "method"  => "POST",
    "header"  => "Authorization: Bearer " . getenv("KIT_KEY") . "\r\nContent-Type: application/json",
    "content" => '{"levels":[{"volume_ml":10,"tubes":5,"positive":5},{"volume_ml":1,"tubes":5,"positive":3},{"volume_ml":0.1,"tubes":5,"positive":1}]}',
  ],
]));
$task = json_decode($res, true);

body := bytes.NewBufferString(`{"levels":[{"volume_ml":10,"tubes":5,"positive":5},{"volume_ml":1,"tubes":5,"positive":3},{"volume_ml":0.1,"tubes":5,"positive":1}]}`)
req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.kit.forhosting.com/bio/most-probable-number", body)
req.Header.Set("Authorization", "Bearer "+os.Getenv("KIT_KEY"))
req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

Example request

{
  "levels": [
    {
      "volume_ml": 10,
      "tubes": 5,
      "positive": 5
    },
    {
      "volume_ml": 1,
      "tubes": 5,
      "positive": 3
    },
    {
      "volume_ml": 0.1,
      "tubes": 5,
      "positive": 1
    }
  ]
}

Example response

{
  "task_id": "tsk_a1b2c3d4e5f6a1b2c3d4e5f6",
  "type": "bio.most_probable_number",
  "status": "queued",
  "_links": {
    "result": "/tasks/tsk_…/result"
  }
}

The API is asynchronous: the call returns a task_id immediately and the result arrives by webhook. Polling is capped at 1 req/s per task.

Pricing

Per request$0.002

Published price — no tokens, no invented credits. A failed task is never charged.

Errors

HTTP	Code	Meaning
`401`	`unauthorized`	Missing or invalid API key.
`402`	`insufficient_balance`	Your balance doesn't cover the task price.
`404`	`unknown_type`	That task type doesn't exist.
`429`	`rate_limited`	Too many requests. Use the webhook instead of polling.

Read the full KIT documentation →