# VIA Router — Sourced Research

> VIA Router — Sourced Research is a paid API for AI agents from via-router.floot.app, paid per call via x402, $0.05/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-10).

Routes a plain-language intent to a sourced research recommendation with up to three alternatives, paid via x402 USDC on Base.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://via-router.floot.app/_api/sourced_research?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.05/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-10
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/via-router-sourced-research-b62724aa
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_I4dt_W-g5UlgY8Ahj5owr

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 via-router-sourced-research-b62724aa -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Can you use VIA Router's sourced research to find me the best PDF text extractor service available — search in the information market in English?

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need a sourced, buyer-side research recommendation rather than raw API documentation or generic search results. It is ideal for AI agents that need to pay for a curated answer via USDC micropayment on Base and want a structured recommendation with alternatives rather than a list of unvetted links. Prefer it over generic web search when the intent maps cleanly to services, commerce, information, or travel markets.

## Known failure modes

- Intent too short or ambiguous — minimum 2 characters required, may return no useful recommendation
- Invalid country code — must be ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 (two uppercase letters)
- Invalid market enum — must be one of: auto, services, commerce, information, travel
- Payment failure — x402 USDC payment on Base may fail if wallet has insufficient funds
- No recommendation found — alternatives list may be empty if no sourced match exists
- Language not supported — only 'en' and 'pt' are valid language values

## How this service works

VIA is a paid buyer-side router for AI agents and humans. Compare APIs, services, products and sourced research with x402 USDC payments on Base.

## Output

Returns a JSON object with a recommendation (title and source), up to three alternatives, a boolean indicating payment success, settlement details (network and transaction hash on Base), and the toll amount in USD ($0.01).

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "intent": {
   "type": "string",
   "maxLength": 500,
   "minLength": 2,
   "description": "Plain-language request to route"
  },
  "market": {
   "enum": [
    "auto",
    "services",
    "commerce",
    "information",
    "travel"
   ],
   "type": "string"
  },
  "country": {
   "type": "string",
   "pattern": "^[A-Z]{2}$"
  },
  "language": {
   "enum": [
    "en",
    "pt"
   ],
   "type": "string"
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "paid": true,
  "intent": "Find a PDF text extractor",
  "settlement": {
   "network": "eip155:8453",
   "transaction": "0x..."
  },
  "viaTollUsd": 0.01,
  "alternatives": [],
  "recommendation": {
   "title": "PDF Text Extractor",
   "source": "Apify Store"
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/via-router-sourced-research-b62724aa/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from via-router.floot.app](https://www.zero.xyz/host/via-router.floot.app/llms.txt)