# Fathom Macroeconomic Data API — Categories

> Fathom Macroeconomic Data API — Categories is a paid API for AI agents from fathoms.vercel.app, paid per call via x402, $0.04/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-15).

Retrieves the list of economic data categories (or subcategories) from the FRED-powered Fathom API, enabling navigation of 816,000+ macroeconomic time series

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://fathoms.vercel.app/api/categories
- Price: $0.04/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-15
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/fathom-macroeconomic-data-api-categories-637ba2ab
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_woWBgKrGh36vATNMUSuWh

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-categories-637ba2ab -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Can you show me all the top-level categories of macroeconomic data available through Fathom's FRED-powered API so I can figure out which category to drill into for GDP data?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need to discover or browse the hierarchical taxonomy of FRED economic data categories before fetching actual time series data. It is the right first step when you don't know the series ID and need to navigate the category tree. Prefer this over direct series search when exploring unfamiliar domains of macroeconomic data or building navigation UIs.

## Known failure modes

- Invalid categoryId returns empty categories array or error
- Non-existent categoryId returns no results
- Network timeout from Vercel deployment under high load
- Rate limiting or payment failure (x402) if USDC balance is insufficient
- Category ID that has no children returns empty array

## 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 data source identifier ('FRED'), the requested category_id, and an array of category objects — each with a category name, ID, and parent ID — representing either the top-level categories or the subcategories under the requested parent 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-categories-637ba2ab/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from fathoms.vercel.app](https://www.zero.xyz/host/fathoms.vercel.app/llms.txt)