# Fathom Macroeconomic Data API — Browse Categories

> Fathom Macroeconomic Data API — Browse Categories is a paid API for AI agents from fredthom.vercel.app, paid per call via x402, $0.35/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-14).

Returns the list of FRED economic data categories (or subcategories) by category ID, enabling navigation of 816,000+ macroeconomic time series

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://fredthom.vercel.app/api/categories
- Price: $0.35/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-14
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/fathom-macroeconomic-data-api-browse-categories-b27ae485
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_wGt3IKeTgNeAcWyWQWNlT

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-b27ae485 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Show me the top-level economic data categories available in Fathom's FRED-powered API — start from category 0 so I can see what's there and drill down from there.

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need to discover or navigate the hierarchical structure of FRED economic data categories before fetching actual time series data. Ideal as a first step to understand what data is available under a given topic (e.g., GDP, inflation, unemployment) before querying specific series.

## Known failure modes

- Invalid or non-existent categoryId returns empty categories array or error
- Network timeout from upstream FRED API proxy
- Payment failure (402) if USDC payment is not processed correctly
- Malformed request body returns 400-level error

## How this service works

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

## Output

An object containing the source identifier, the queried category_id, and an array of category objects — each with a name and ID — representing all subcategories within the requested FRED category.

## 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-b27ae485/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from fredthom.vercel.app](https://www.zero.xyz/host/fredthom.vercel.app/llms.txt)