# ContextFetch

> The $1 / 1,000 neural search & Markdown API for AI agents. $1.00 per 1,000 searches (86% below Exa's auto/fast list price) with clean Markdown, highlights and cross-encoder-pruned context per result when you request them in contents, at no extra charge. Exa- and Tavily-compatible endpoints and a keyless MCP server.

- API base: https://api.contextfetch.dev (POST /v1/search, /v1/contents, /v1/findSimilar; the same paths without /v1 also work)
- No key needed: send no Authorization header (or Authorization: Bearer guest) for 25 free requests per IP per UTC day. With a key: Authorization: Bearer <key>.
- Every billable response carries X-Credits-Remaining: free requests left today, or credits left on a key.
- MCP (Claude Code): claude mcp add contextfetch -- npx -y @contextfetch/mcp
- MCP manifest: https://contextfetch.dev/.well-known/mcp.json
- Exa SDK: Exa(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY", base_url="https://api.contextfetch.dev")
- Tavily SDK: TavilyClient(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY", api_base_url="https://api.contextfetch.dev/tavily")

## Try it (keyless)

~~~bash
curl -si https://api.contextfetch.dev/v1/search \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "python asyncio timeout", "numResults": 3, "contents": {"text": true, "highlights": true}}'
~~~

Returns {"results": [{"url", "title", "text", "highlights", ...}], "costDollars"} and the header X-Credits-Remaining.

## When the free tier or credits run out (HTTP 402)

1. The API answers HTTP 402 (432 on /tavily/* routes) with header X-Payment-URL: https://api.contextfetch.dev/buy/instant and JSON {"error": "keyless_limit" | "insufficient_credits", "message", "pricing", "packs": [{"id", "name", "credits", "price_usd", "cost_per_1k", "recommended", "checkout_url"}], "action": {"type": "payment_link", "url": "https://api.contextfetch.dev/buy/instant", "prompt_to_user": "..."}}.
2. Show your human action.prompt_to_user and stop retrying. Every link is one click to Stripe Checkout (card, Apple Pay, Google Pay); no signup.
3. After payment the success page shows the key and copies it to the clipboard. Retry with Authorization: Bearer <key>.

## Pricing

- Instant (instant): $15 = 15,000 credits, $1.00 per 1,000. Buy: https://api.contextfetch.dev/buy/instant
- Builder (builder): $50 = 60,000 credits, $0.83 per 1,000 (most popular). Buy: https://api.contextfetch.dev/buy/builder
- Scale (scale): $150 = 200,000 credits, $0.75 per 1,000. Buy: https://api.contextfetch.dev/buy/scale
- One-time payment. Credits never expire. Full Markdown and pruning included.
- Keyless: 25 requests per IP per UTC day, free.
- Optional auto-reload: add ?auto_reload=1&threshold=1000&reload_pack=builder&monthly_max_usd=500 to a buy link to save the card and re-buy when the balance drops below the threshold, up to the monthly cap.

## Balance and auto-reload (no browser needed)

- GET https://api.contextfetch.dev/v1/balance with Authorization: Bearer <key> -> {credits, auto_reload: {enabled, threshold, pack, monthly_max_usd, spent_this_month_usd, last_error}, burn_rate_per_day}
- POST https://api.contextfetch.dev/v1/billing/auto-reload {enabled, threshold, pack, monthly_max_usd} -> same shape. Needs a saved card (else 409 with a buy link); monthly_max_usd at most 500 through the API.
- MCP tools: contextfetch_balance, contextfetch_auto_reload

## Docs

- [Full API reference](https://contextfetch.dev/llms-full.txt): every endpoint with request and response examples, errors, pricing and MCP setup

## Comparisons

- [ContextFetch vs Exa](https://contextfetch.dev/compare/exa-alternative): compatibility table, trade-offs, cost example, migration code
- [ContextFetch vs Tavily](https://contextfetch.dev/compare/tavily-alternative): compatibility table, trade-offs, cost example, migration code

## Optional

- [Pricing](https://contextfetch.dev/pricing)
- [MCP server package](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@contextfetch/mcp)