# Shovels API — Building Permit Tag Search

> Shovels API — Building Permit Tag Search 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 and retrieve tags/categories for US building permits via pay-per-call x402 micropayment, no subscription required

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://stable-shovels.dev/api/tags
- Price: $0.5/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-15
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/shovels-api-building-permit-tag-search-49250eb2
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_fWI5D_B5ii58LbsLcUC-4

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-tag-search-49250eb2 -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Search the Shovels building permits database for all permit tags filed in Austin, Texas between January 2024 and June 2024 — I want to see what categories of construction work are most common there.

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need one-off or low-volume access to US building permit tag/category data without committing to a subscription. Ideal for agents that need to pay per query using USDC micropayments via x402 protocol. Best for real estate intelligence, construction market research, or contractor activity analysis without upfront account setup.

## Known failure modes

- Insufficient USDC balance or payment failure via x402 — returns 402 Payment Required
- Invalid or missing search parameters — returns 400 Bad Request
- No permits found matching the criteria — returns empty results or 404
- Rate limiting or server overload — returns 429 or 503
- Malformed POST body — returns 400 with validation error

## 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 permit tags/categories matching the search criteria, including tag names and associated permit metadata for US building permits filtered by the specified location, date range, and/or contractor.

## Example request

```json
{
 "q": "residential construction",
 "size": 10
}
```

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "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-tag-search-49250eb2/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)