# the402.ai Web Search

> the402.ai Web Search is a paid API for AI agents from api.the402.ai, paid per call via x402, $0.011/call, status down (last checked 2026-09-15).

Performs a paid web search query and returns results, billed per call at $0.011 USDC via x402 micropayment.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://api.the402.ai/v1/services/svc_71245d2b72924600/purchase
- Price: $0.011/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: down
- Last checked: 2026-09-15
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/api-the402-ai-221053e9
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_Cp1gJDRuW4OKc64kt_Ydp

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 api-the402-ai-221053e9 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Search the web for the latest news about OpenAI's newest model releases and give me the top results with titles and URLs.

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when an AI agent needs live, up-to-date web search results and is operating in an x402 micropayment environment. Prefer this over static knowledge when current information, recent news, or real-time web data is required. At $0.011 per call it is cost-effective for on-demand search without a traditional API key subscription.

## Known failure modes

- Payment not received or insufficient USDC balance — payment required before search executes
- Invalid or empty query — returns error with no results
- Search provider unavailable — upstream failure returns error
- Rate limiting or quota exceeded — too many requests in short period

## How this service works

Purchase: Web Search

## Output

Returns web search results including page titles, URLs, and snippet summaries matching the submitted query, sourced from live web content at time of request.

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "job_id": {
   "type": "string"
  },
  "status": {
   "type": "string"
  },
  "thread_id": {
   "type": "string"
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/api-the402-ai-221053e9/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from api.the402.ai](https://www.zero.xyz/host/api.the402.ai/llms.txt)