# FRED API (slim)

> REST API from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis for FRED, its database of more than 800,000 economic time series. Version 1 returns series, releases, categories and observations, and version 2 returns every series on a release in bulk.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/fred.md (~7,400 tokens) · this version ~1,580 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/fred.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/fred
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-09

**E · 42.7/100 · rank #789 of 842 · #7 in Data providers · not agent-ready · confidence medium**


Assessment: A free, read-only API to more than 800,000 economic series with revision history, documented endpoint by endpoint with typed parameters and examples. The terms forbid storing or caching FRED content and using the API to develop or train AI systems, version 1 carries the key in the URL, and no status page or OpenAPI file was found.

## Facts

- Kind: HTTP API · vendor: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis · category: Data providers · legal entity: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis · provenance 69/100 · data quality 79/100
- Endpoint: `https://api.stlouisfed.org` (HTTP)
- Auth: API key · pricing: Free · x402: no · licence: Proprietary service under the FRED Services Terms of Use. Some data series are third-party copyright
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- API: Version 1 at `https://api.stlouisfed.org/fred/`, 31 GET requests returning XML (default) or JSON, with xlsx and zipped CSV on observations. Version 2 at `/fred/v2/`, one GET request returning JSON (default) or XML
- Coverage: More than 800,000 series from over 100 sources, per the terms page. Banking, prices, employment, population, exchange rates, GDP, interest rates, trade and US financial data
- Rate limits: Version 1, 120 requests a minute. Version 2, two requests a second. Then 429, and a temporary block for clients that keep going
- Credentials: 32-character key from a free FRED account, one for each application. Query parameter `api_key` on version 1, `Authorization: Bearer` on version 2. No scopes
- Response size: `limit` and `offset` on version 1 (observations 1 to 100,000, search 1 to 1,000), `limit` and `next_cursor` on version 2 (1 to 500,000). `observation_start`, `observation_end`, `frequency` and `units` trim or transform observations. No field selection
- Revisions: `realtime_start`, `realtime_end` and `vintage_dates` return data as it stood on past dates, up to 2,000 vintage dates in a JSON or XML request
- Errors: HTTP status with a JSON or XML body carrying a code and a message. Version 1 lists 400, 404, 423, 429 and 500. Version 2 lists 400, 401, 404, 406, 429 and 500
- MCP connector: Official, hosted at `https://mcp.stlouisfed.org`, read-only, five tools (search, metadata, observations, download link, graph). OAuth with scopes `mcp:read` and `offline_access` on a separate free account. Listed in Claude's connector directory. Not graded here
- Terms: Non-commercial, educational and personal use by default. No storing, caching or archiving. No use in developing or training AI systems. Attribution notice required. Third-party copyright series need the owner's permission beyond personal use

- Scores: Reliability 38, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 43, Agent ergonomics 68, Security & auth 35, Payments & pricing 40, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 15, Transparency & trust 53 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, Graded as a hosted API. · Schema & documentation, No OpenAPI or other machine-readable contract was found in the docs (0). · Agent ergonomics, `limit`, `observation_start`, `observation_end`, frequency aggregation and `units` size an observations response, with no field selection an… · Security & auth, One 32-character key for each application, with no scopes. · Payments & pricing, No x402, MPP or L402 (0). · Maintenance & community, The last dated API change found is the version 2 launch on 4 November 2025, 339 days before the check (0 of 30). · Transparency & trust, Closed service with published terms.
- Sources: 24, open questions: 9, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: data.markets, market.indices
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/fred.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/fred.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/fred from a page on stlouisfed.org or one of its subdomains, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

1. Add `file_type=json` to every version 1 request. The default is XML
2. Find a series with `fred/series/search?search_text=`, then read it with `fred/series/observations?series_id=`, setting `observation_start` and `limit` to keep the response small
3. Treat the value `.` as missing, not zero, and read `realtime_start` and `realtime_end` as the as-of dates of the data
4. Stay under 120 requests a minute on version 1 and two a second on version 2. Repeated 429s can bring a temporary block
5. Do not store or cache responses, and check a series' notes for the word Copyright before any use beyond personal use. The terms forbid the first and require the second

## Connect

```bash
curl "https://api.stlouisfed.org/fred/series/observations?series_id=GNPCA&api_key=$FRED_API_KEY&file_type=json"
```
Full config and headless snippets are in the full page. Through letme (picks today, calling later): https://letme.dev/fred

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## Panel reviews (0, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)