# NovaPath Public Web Research

> NovaPath Public Web Research is a paid API for AI agents from instructional-decision-engine-x402.vercel.app, paid per call via x402, $0.03/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-11-01).

Answers one public-web research question by combining a live bounded web search, a concise AI-generated answer with citations, and direct source reads with exact excerpts and content hashes.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://instructional-decision-engine-x402.vercel.app/agent/research?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.03/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-11-01
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/novapath-public-web-research-65ddbc14
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_FngbFC2dVVz2uj3yrsSZE

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 novapath-public-web-research-65ddbc14 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Search the public web for the current federal minimum wage in the US, give me a cited AI answer, and read at least one of the sources to pull exact excerpts confirming the figure — only look at sites like dol.gov.

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need a grounded, citation-backed AI answer to a single factual or research question sourced from the live public web, with verifiable excerpts pulled directly from the cited pages. It is ideal when you need auditability (content hashes), domain-restricted research, or evidence that the AI answer is supported by real source text. Prefer it over generic LLM answers when source provenance matters, and over raw search APIs when you want synthesis plus verification in one atomic, pay-per-result call.

## Known failure modes

- Query too vague or under 8 characters — rejected at input validation
- Requested domains not publicly accessible or blocked — source read fails, no payment charged
- Web search returns no usable results — call fails without settlement
- Source pages return non-HTML or protected content — excerpt extraction fails
- publicDataConfirmed not set to true — request rejected
- Query exceeds 500-character limit — rejected at input validation
- Network or provider outage — call fails without payment settlement

## How this service works

Ask one public-web research question. One request combines a bounded live web search, a concise AI answer with clickable citations, and independent reads of up to two cited sources with exact excerpts and hashes. At least one source read is required. Optional domain allowlist. One payment only after a recoverable result is saved; unavailable search or evidence never settles. Not exhaustive research or independent fact-checking.

## Output

Returns a concise AI-generated answer to the research query, a set of clickable citations from live web search results, and direct reads of up to two cited source pages including exact text excerpts and content hashes for auditability. Payment is only charged after a recoverable result is saved; if search or evidence retrieval fails, no charge occurs.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "query": {
   "type": "string",
   "maxLength": 500,
   "minLength": 8
  },
  "allowedDomains": {
   "type": "array",
   "items": {
    "type": "string",
    "pattern": "^(?:[a-z0-9](?:[a-z0-9-]{0,61}[a-z0-9])?\\.)+[a-z]{2,63}$",
    "maxLength": 253,
    "minLength": 1
   },
   "maxItems": 5,
   "minItems": 0
  },
  "publicDataConfirmed": {
   "type": "boolean",
   "const": true
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/novapath-public-web-research-65ddbc14/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from instructional-decision-engine-x402.vercel.app](https://www.zero.xyz/host/instructional-decision-engine-x402.vercel.app/llms.txt)