# Shovels API — Building Permit Search by Zipcode

> Shovels API — Building Permit Search by Zipcode is a paid API for AI agents from stable-shovels.dev, paid per call via x402, $0.5/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-15).

Search US building permits by zipcode, date range, and contractor via a pay-per-call API using x402 micropayments

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://stable-shovels.dev/api/zipcodes/search
- Price: $0.5/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-15
- Activations on Zero: 1
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/shovels-api-building-permit-search-by-zipcode-dffaada7
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_Rc8IrXtrGo_VaweJsq3LO

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 shovels-api-building-permit-search-by-zipcode-dffaada7 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Search Shovels for all building permits filed in zipcode 90210 between January 1 2024 and June 30 2024, and filter for permits associated with the contractor 'Acme Construction'.

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need to search US building permit data by geographic area (zipcode), date, or contractor without a long-term subscription — ideal for one-off property research, contractor vetting, or construction trend analysis where pay-per-call economics are preferred over a monthly plan.

## Known failure modes

- Invalid or non-US zipcode returns empty results or an error
- Malformed date range causes a 400 bad request error
- Insufficient USDC balance or x402 payment failure prevents the request from completing
- No permits found for the given filters returns an empty result set
- Rate limiting or server errors return 5xx responses

## How this service works

Pay-per-call access to the Shovels building-permits search API over x402 and MPP. Search US building permits by date, location, and contractor — no accounts, no subscriptions, pay per request.

## Output

Returns a list of US building permit records matching the search criteria, including permit details such as dates, locations, contractor names, permit types, and related metadata for the specified zipcode and filters.

## Example request

```json
{
 "q": "90210",
 "size": 10
}
```

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "q": {
   "type": "string",
   "minLength": 1,
   "description": "The term to search for."
  },
  "size": {
   "type": "integer",
   "maximum": 100,
   "minimum": 1,
   "description": "Records to return per page (1–100, default 50). Determines the price — each record returned costs one credit."
  },
  "cursor": {
   "type": "string",
   "description": "Pagination cursor — pass the `next_cursor` from a prior page."
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/shovels-api-building-permit-search-by-zipcode-dffaada7/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from stable-shovels.dev](https://www.zero.xyz/host/stable-shovels.dev/llms.txt)