[BUG]

[volumevigilante]

🐛 Bug Description

The public site/docs say the API requires no API key, no authentication, and is free to use, but the live /api/search endpoint is returning 402 Payment Required with x402 payment instructions. This appears to be a documentation/runtime mismatch.

📋 Steps to Reproduce

1. Call endpoint '/api/search'
2. With parameters 'q=MINA crypto&limit=5&from=2026-04-07T00:00:00Z'
3. See error '402 Payment Required'

🔍 Example Request

✅ Expected Behavior

Based on the public website and docs, I expected /api/search to work without an API key or payment requirement and return JSON search results.

❌ Actual Behavior

The endpoint returned 402 Payment Required and included x402 payment metadata instead of search results.

📸 Screenshots/Response

If applicable, add screenshots or the actual API response.

// {
  "x402Version": 2,
  "error": "Payment Required",
  "accepts": [
    {
      "scheme": "exact",
      "network": "eip155:42161",
      "amount": "1000",
      "asset": "0xaf88d065e77c8cC2239327C5EDb3A432268e5831",
      "payTo": "0x4027FdaC1a5216e264A00a5928b8366aE59cE888",
      "maxTimeoutSeconds": 60,
      "extra": {
        "name": "USD Coin",
        "version": "2"
      },
      "outputSchema": {
        "input": {
          "method": "GET",
          "type": "http",
          "url": "https://cryptocurrency.cv/api/search",
          "parameters": {
            "semantic": {
              "type": "string",
              "description": "Enable semantic search"
            }
          }
        },
        "output": {
          "type": "object",
          "properties": {
            "success": {
              "type": "boolean"
            },
            "data": {
              "type": "object"
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "resource": {
    "url": "https://cryptocurrency.cv/api/search",
    "description": "Full-text search across news, articles, and data",
    "mimeType": "application/json"
  }
}

🌍 Environment

• API Endpoint: /api/search
• Method: GET
• Client: browser / curl
• Self-hosted? No

📝 Additional Context

The public site currently states things like “No API Key Required”, “Auth: None required”, and “The API is completely free to use”, so this behavior is confusing from an integration standpoint.

If /api/search is now paywalled or gated, the docs, API playground, and README should probably be updated to reflect that. If it is supposed to be free, then the live deployment may be misconfigured.

[lui62233]

Hey @volumevigilante ??this is a solid bug report, thanks for including the full x402 response. The mismatch between the public docs ("no API key required", "completely free") and the live 402 is pretty clear, but let me break down what's actually happening and what the path forward looks like.

What the x402 Response is Telling You

The 402 with the full x402 JSON payload means the server IS intentionally enforcing payment ??it's not a bug in the traditional sense, it's a deploy-time configuration mismatch:

• Docs say: Free, no auth
• Live response: 402 Payment Required + x402 payment metadata
• The /docs and /openapi.json still load because those are served at the root level (likely without the payment middleware wrapped around them)

The x402 response structure you got is actually a well-formed payment prompt ??it's telling you exactly how to pay (ERC-20 USDC on Arbitrum), how much (1000 units = $0.001 if it's in micro-USDC or similar), and where to send it.

Quick Verification

Before you assume it's a docs-vs-deploy mismatch, a couple of things worth checking:

1. Is there an environment variable that controls payment enforcement? Look at the deployment ??if x402_ENABLED=false or PAYMENT_DISABLED=true was supposed to be set in production but isn't, that would explain the sudden change.

2. Did this work before recently? If it worked last week and started returning 402 this week, someone likely pushed a config change or deployed a new version.

3. Check if there's a rate limit tier that is free vs paid ??some APIs gate by request volume, not by outright access.

What You Can Do Right Now

If you just need the API to work for testing:

• The x402 spec is open ??you can send USDC on Arbitrum to the payTo address with the right network parameter
• Or look for a X402-SKIP header some implementations support for testing

If you want to report this as a documentation bug:

• The real issue is that the docs and the live deployment are out of sync
• The best fix is either: (a) the docs get updated to say "paid endpoint" or (b) the production deployment gets x402_ENABLED=false or an equivalent env flag flipped
• Opening an issue on the repo with the exact x402 payload you received is the right move ??you already have the evidence

For the Maintainers

If you're looking at this from the other side: check your deployment configuration for X402_PAYMENT_REQUIRED, X402_ENABLED, or similar env vars. The docs saying "free" while the code enforces payment is an easy one to slip through during rapid development. The x402 middleware is likely being applied selectively (e.g., only to /api/search routes) which is why /docs still loads without the paywall.

Good catch on the 402 + x402 mismatch ??that's exactly the kind of thing that confuses API consumers and kills trust in documentation.

[volumevigilante]

Thanks @lui62233, that makes sense.

A bit more context from my side: this was working like a charm about a week ago, which does make it feel like something changed recently in deployment/config rather than this being just a misunderstanding on my end.

I also tested a few more live endpoints to sanity-check whether this was only /api/search:

• /api/search returns 402 Payment Required
• /api/news returns {"error":"offline","message":"You are currently offline. Please check your connection.","cached":false}
• /api/bitcoin returns the same offline response
• the documented GitHub Pages fallback URL also appears unavailable

So from an integrator point of view, it looks broader than just search docs being out of sync. It may be exactly what you’re suggesting: a recent config/deploy change, selective middleware on some routes, or a production flag that changed.

I haven’t seen evidence yet that this is just a free-vs-paid rate tier issue, because even the simpler feed endpoints seem unavailable right now.

If you have a recommended public route to use for testing in the meantime, or if there’s a known temporary issue/config change, I’m happy to try that. Otherwise I’m also fine waiting to hear back once you’ve had a chance to check the deployment side.