# Fathom Macroeconomic Data API — Browse Categories

> Fathom Macroeconomic Data API — Browse Categories is a paid API for AI agents from fredfathom.vercel.app, paid per call via x402, $0.04/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-12).

Returns the list of FRED economic data categories (or subcategories) to help navigate 816,000+ macroeconomic time series

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://fredfathom.vercel.app/api/categories?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.04/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-12
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/fathom-macroeconomic-data-api-browse-categories-27537e30
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_22GPTDpZ8ZEuQKlZjfGrq

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 fathom-macroeconomic-data-api-browse-categories-27537e30 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Can you show me the top-level FRED economic data categories so I can figure out which category covers inflation and price indexes?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need to discover or navigate the FRED category hierarchy before fetching specific economic time series. It is the right choice when you don't know the exact series ID and want to browse by topic (e.g. GDP, inflation, unemployment). Prefer this over direct series search when building category-aware navigation, dashboards, or when helping a user explore what macroeconomic data is available.

## Known failure modes

- Invalid or non-existent categoryId returns empty categories array or error
- Network timeout on Vercel deployment under high load
- Category ID for a leaf node with no children returns empty subcategory list
- Missing categoryId defaults to 0 (top-level) which may not be what caller intended

## How this service works

Free macroeconomic data API powered by FRED. 816,000+ economic time series. GDP, inflation, unemployment, interest rates, and more.

## Output

Returns a JSON object containing the source (FRED), the requested category_id, and an array of category objects each with metadata such as category name, ID, and parent category — enabling navigation of the full FRED taxonomy.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "categoryId": {
   "type": "string",
   "description": "Category ID (default: 0 for top-level)"
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "required": [
  "source"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "source": {
   "type": "string"
  },
  "categories": {
   "type": "array",
   "items": {
    "type": "object"
   }
  },
  "category_id": {
   "type": "string"
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/fathom-macroeconomic-data-api-browse-categories-27537e30/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from fredfathom.vercel.app](https://www.zero.xyz/host/fredfathom.vercel.app/llms.txt)