> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cs2cap.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# CS2Cap API: Base URL, Auth, and Rate Limits

> Base URL, Bearer authentication, per-tier rate limits, response envelope conventions, and error handling for the CS2Cap market-data API.

The CS2Cap API gives you programmatic access to CS2 market prices, buy orders, recent sales, and item catalog data. All endpoints are served from a single base URL, secured with a Bearer token, and return JSON (or NDJSON for streaming endpoints). This page covers everything you need to start making requests: authentication, rate limits, response conventions, and error handling.

## Base URL

```
https://api.cs2c.app/v1
```

## Authentication

Every market-data endpoint requires your API key in the `Authorization` header:

```http theme={"theme":"github-dark-default"}
Authorization: Bearer <your_api_key>
```

### Getting an API key

<Steps>
  <Step title="Sign up with OAuth">Create a CS2Cap account using OAuth.</Step>
  <Step title="Verify your email">Add and verify an email address on the account. Verification is required before a key is issued or reissued.</Step>
  <Step title="Save your API key">Copy your initial API key from the account dashboard, or reissue a new one at any time from the account flow.</Step>
  <Step title="Send the key with requests">Include `Authorization: Bearer {api_key}` in every request to a market-data endpoint.</Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  You can have at most one active API key per account. Reissuing a key immediately invalidates the previous one.
</Note>

## Rate limits

Rate limits are enforced per API key based on your subscription tier:

| Tier      | Requests/Minute | Requests/Month |
| --------- | --------------- | -------------- |
| `free`    | 20              | 1,000          |
| `starter` | 40              | 50,000         |
| `pro`     | 100             | 500,000        |
| `quant`   | 300             | 1,000,000      |

### Rate limit response headers

When you hit a rate limit you receive a `429` response. The following headers tell you when you can retry and how much quota remains:

```http theme={"theme":"github-dark-default"}
Retry-After: 12345
X-RateLimit-Limit: 500000
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 0
X-RateLimit-Reset: 12345
X-RateLimit-Tier: pro
```

| Header                  | Description                               |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| `Retry-After`           | Seconds to wait before retrying.          |
| `X-RateLimit-Limit`     | Your monthly request quota.               |
| `X-RateLimit-Remaining` | Requests remaining in the current period. |
| `X-RateLimit-Reset`     | Unix timestamp when the quota resets.     |
| `X-RateLimit-Tier`      | Your current subscription tier.           |

<Note>
  Monthly quota applies only to public core market-data endpoints. Account, billing, verification, recovery, and alert routes are still rate-limited, but they do not consume your advertised monthly quota.
</Note>

## Response conventions

* Most list endpoints return an `items` array, plus `meta` and `pagination` objects when relevant.
* [`GET /items`](/api-reference/catalog#get-/items-—-list-items) returns all matches in a single response when you omit the `limit` parameter.
* Cursor-paginated endpoints always return `pagination.total = -1`. Use `has_next` and `next_cursor` to paginate.
* Price fields—`lowest_ask`, `highest_bid`, and `price`—are always returned in **minor units** of the response currency. For example, `531143` in USD means \$5,311.43. Divide by 100 for display.
* `providers`, `providers_buy`, and `providers_sell` are **repeatable** query parameters. Pass them multiple times to include more than one provider: `providers=steam&providers=buff163`.
* `provider` (singular) always accepts a single provider key.

## Error handling

Every error response includes a stable machine-readable `code` and a human-readable `detail` string.

```json theme={"theme":"github-dark-default"}
{
  "code": "AUTH_INVALID_API_KEY",
  "detail": "Invalid API key"
}
```

### Status codes

| Status | Meaning                                             |
| ------ | --------------------------------------------------- |
| `400`  | Bad request                                         |
| `401`  | Missing or invalid API key                          |
| `403`  | Valid credentials but insufficient permissions      |
| `404`  | Resource not found                                  |
| `409`  | Conflict with the current account or resource state |
| `422`  | Validation error                                    |
| `429`  | Rate limit exceeded                                 |
| `500`  | Internal server error                               |
| `503`  | Service temporarily unavailable                     |

### Common error codes

| Code                                | Description                                                  |
| ----------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `AUTH_INVALID_API_KEY`              | The API key is missing or does not exist.                    |
| `AUTH_API_KEY_REVOKED`              | The API key has been revoked.                                |
| `AUTH_ACCOUNT_DISABLED`             | The account associated with this key is disabled.            |
| `RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED`               | You have exceeded the per-minute request limit.              |
| `RATE_LIMIT_MONTHLY_QUOTA_EXCEEDED` | You have exhausted your monthly request quota.               |
| `PRICES_INDEX_UNAVAILABLE`          | The live price index is temporarily unavailable.             |
| `BIDS_INDEX_UNAVAILABLE`            | The live bids index is temporarily unavailable.              |
| `PORTFOLIO_NOT_FOUND`               | The requested portfolio does not exist.                      |
| `PORTFOLIO_LIMIT_REACHED`           | You have reached the maximum number of portfolios.           |
| `PORTFOLIO_ITEM_LIMIT_REACHED`      | You have reached the maximum number of items in a portfolio. |
| `VALIDATION_ERROR`                  | One or more request parameters failed validation.            |

## Explore the API

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Prices" icon="tag" href="/api-reference/prices">
    Current lowest asks, historical records, OHLCV candles, and full-catalog streaming.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Bids" icon="arrow-up" href="/api-reference/bids">
    Highest buy orders across CS2 marketplaces, with streaming and batch lookup.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Sales" icon="receipt" href="/api-reference/sales">
    Recent transaction history with float, stickers, charms, and inspect links.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Catalog" icon="book" href="/api-reference/catalog">
    Item search, provider metadata, and FX rates.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Market Analytics" icon="chart-line" href="/api-reference/market-analytics">
    Aggregated market signals and trend data.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Portfolio" icon="briefcase" href="/api-reference/portfolio">
    Track and value your CS2 inventory across marketplaces.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>