# A1Z26 and Polybius Square Number Ciphers

> A1Z26 and Polybius Square Number Ciphers is a paid API for AI agents from text-ciphers.x402tookit.com, paid per call via x402, $0.02/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-21).

Encodes text to numbers or decodes numbers to text using A1Z26 (A=1, B=2…) or Polybius square cipher, with optional keyword square and ADFGX label support.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://text-ciphers.x402tookit.com/number-ciphers?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.02/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-21
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/a1z26-and-polybius-square-number-ciphers-e4b0d459
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_FthBE8Ynq-SRTZNYwwyEq

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability a1z26-and-polybius-square-number-ciphers-e4b0d459
```

Example prompt: Encode the message 'HELLO WORLD' using the A1Z26 cipher so each letter becomes its number position, and show me the result.

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need to encode or decode text using classical number-substitution ciphers specifically — A1Z26 (letter-to-number mapping) or Polybius square (coordinate-based substitution). Ideal for puzzle solving, educational demonstrations, escape room design, or historical cryptography exploration. Prefer this over Caesar/ROT endpoints when the cipher output is numbers rather than shifted letters, and over Playfair when you need a simpler number-based scheme.

## Known failure modes

- Text exceeds 1000 character limit — request will fail or be truncated
- Invalid cipher parameter value (not 'a1z26' or 'polybius') — returns error
- Decode mode given non-numeric or malformed input for A1Z26
- Polybius keyword contains non-alphabetic characters — may cause unexpected square layout
- Missing required 'text' query parameter — returns validation error
- Numbers out of range for A1Z26 (e.g. 0 or 27+) during decode — may produce empty or error output

## How this service works

A1Z26 (A=1) and Polybius square number ciphers, both ways, with optional keyword square and ADFGX labels.

## Output

Returns the encoded number string or decoded plaintext, the cipher mode and type used, the Polybius square grid (when applicable), the keyword used, a summary of the operation, and metadata fields like source and asOf timestamp.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "text"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "key": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Polybius keyword for the square (default none: A-Z with I=J)"
      },
      "mode": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "encode (default) or decode"
      },
      "text": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Text to encode, or numbers to decode (up to 1000 characters)"
      },
      "cipher": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "a1z26 (default) or polybius"
      },
      "labels": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Polybius row/column labels: 12345 (default) or ADFGX"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object",
     "properties": {
      "asOf": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "mode": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "input": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "cipher": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "labels": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "output": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "secure": {
       "type": [
        "boolean",
        "null"
       ]
      },
      "source": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "square": {
       "type": [
        "array",
        "null"
       ],
       "items": {
        "type": "string"
       }
      },
      "keyword": {},
      "reasons": {
       "type": [
        "array",
        "null"
       ],
       "items": {
        "type": "string"
       }
      },
      "summary": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "verdict": {
       "type": [
        "null",
        "string"
       ]
      },
      "degraded
… (truncated)
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/a1z26-and-polybius-square-number-ciphers-e4b0d459/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from text-ciphers.x402tookit.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/text-ciphers.x402tookit.com/llms.txt)