# meld402 Research Brief

> meld402 Research Brief is a paid API for AI agents from meld402.vercel.app, paid per call via x402, $0.2/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-14).

Returns a structured research brief on a given topic, aggregating a Wikipedia definition, Stack Overflow questions, and Hacker News discussions into one stable response.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://meld402.vercel.app/api/research/brief
- Price: $0.2/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-14
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/meld402-research-brief-dcb79413
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_uCuZbIO6VbyqHRuNcYiPD

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 meld402-research-brief-dcb79413 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Pull together a research brief on 'zero-knowledge proofs' — include up to 8 Stack Overflow questions and 6 Hacker News discussions, with a Wikipedia definition.

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need a quick multi-source research brief on a technical or conceptual topic without calling Wikipedia, Stack Overflow, and Hacker News separately. It is ideal for agents that need to bootstrap context on a noun phrase topic — especially developer or computer science subjects — in a single paid call with a stable unified schema. Prefer it over rolling your own aggregation when you want attribution metadata and degraded-source handling built in.

## Known failure modes

- Topic too short or exceeds 160 characters — returns validation error
- Upstream Wikipedia or Stack Overflow unavailable — affected source listed in 'degraded' array but response still returns partial data
- Payment not confirmed over x402 — request rejected with 402 Payment Required
- Invalid max_questions or max_discussions value outside 0–10 range — schema validation error
- Topic is too ambiguous and Wikipedia returns a disambiguation page — is_disambiguation flag set to true in definition

## How this service works

14 paid data endpoints for autonomous agents and developers. Covers crypto intelligence (token, chain, Solana, gas), markets (FX, market pulse), location (weather), and research (news, brief). Each route aggregates multiple public sources into one stable schema with a single USDC payment over x402 on Base.

## Output

A JSON object containing a Wikipedia-sourced definition (title, extract, description, URL, last revised date), an array of Stack Overflow questions (title, score, views, answer count, tags, URL, accepted answer flag), an array of Hacker News discussions (title, author, points, comment count, post date, URL), plus metadata including sources used, as-of timestamp, and any degraded sources.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "topic": {
   "type": "string",
   "maxLength": 160,
   "minLength": 2,
   "description": "Subject to research. Works best as a noun phrase, e.g. \"zero-knowledge proof\", \"WebAssembly\", \"CRDT\"."
  },
  "max_questions": {
   "type": "integer",
   "default": 5,
   "maximum": 10,
   "minimum": 0,
   "description": "Stack Overflow questions to include. 0 skips the source."
  },
  "max_discussions": {
   "type": "integer",
   "default": 5,
   "maximum": 10,
   "minimum": 0,
   "description": "Hacker News stories to include. 0 skips the source."
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "data": {
   "topic": "zero-knowledge proof",
   "questions": [
    {
     "id": 56096065,
     "url": "https://stackoverflow.com/questions/56096065/the-security-of-zero-knowledge-proof-performance",
     "tags": [
      "security",
      "encryption",
      "proof"
     ],
     "score": 4,
     "title": "The security of Zero knowledge proof performance",
     "views": 275,
     "answers": 1,
     "asked_at": "2019-05-12T04:30:00.000Z",
     "has_accepted_answer": true
    }
   ],
   "definition": {
    "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-knowledge_proof",
    "title": "Zero-knowledge proof",
    "extract": "In cryptography, a zero-knowledge proof is a protocol in which one party can prove to another that a statement is true, without revealing any information beyond the validity of the statement.",
    "description": "Proving validity without revealing other data",
    "last_revised_at": "2026-08-13T03:53:16Z",
    "is_disambiguation": false
   },
   "discussions": [
    {
     "id": "44457390",
     "url": "https://blog.google/technology/safety-security/opening-up-zero-knowledge-proof-technology",
     "title": "Opening up 'Zero-Knowledge Proof' technology",
     "author": "doomroot13",
     "points": 341,
     "comments": 190,
     "posted_at": "2025-07-03T17:36:13Z",
     "discussion_url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44457390"
    }
   ]
  },
  "meta": {
   "as_of": "2026-08-24T00:00:00.000Z",
   "sources": [
    "wikipedia",
    "hackernews",
    "stackoverflow"
   ],
   "degraded": [],
   "attribution": [
    "Wikipedia content is CC BY-SA 4.0 (en.wikipedia.org)",
    "Stack Overflow content is CC BY-SA 4.0 (stackoverflow.com)",
    "Discussion metadata by Hacker News via Algolia"
   ]
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/meld402-research-brief-dcb79413/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from meld402.vercel.app](https://www.zero.xyz/host/meld402.vercel.app/llms.txt)