> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.exorde.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Quickstart > From zero to a live signal in five minutes. Mint a trial, pull what's trending, read the narrative, and catch the next alert. In the next five minutes you'll go from nothing to a live structured view of the global conversation: the top terms driving it, the editorial summary of the dominant storyline, and the most recent volume-spike alert. Same key, three calls, no setup. By the end of this page you will have: * a working trial API key (free, 7 days, no credit card), * a Python script that prints what's trending on `global` right now, * a second script that pulls the latest narrative and the loudest recent alert, * enough understanding of the response shapes to build something real. If you'd rather skim before you type, the [home page](/) shows live response samples, and [Use cases](/use-cases) has five ready-made recipes. *** ## What you'll be calling Three endpoints, all Watch-tier, all available on a free trial key, all keyed on the `global` curated topic: | Endpoint | Returns | Why you care | | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `GET /v1/topics/global/trending` | Top terms by rolling z-score | The signal: which terms are spiking right now | | `GET /v1/topics/global/narrative` | Editorial summary + sub-narrative weights | The story: what is actually being said | | `GET /v1/topics/global/alerts` | LLM-validated volume spikes with severity, spread, IOCs | The push-shaped event signal — see [Alerts](/alerts) for the full envelope | Curated topics are the named, stable slices Exorde maintains: `global`, `cyber`, `finance`, `disinfo`. Trial keys are scoped to `global` only — paid tiers unlock the other three. See [Topics and watchlists](/topics-and-watchlists) and [Tiers](/tiers). *** ## Step 1 — Mint a trial key One unauthenticated POST. Idempotent per email: call it twice with the same address inside the 7-day window and you get the same key back with `reused: true`. No duplicate keys. ```bash curl theme={null} curl -X POST https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/keys/trial \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"email": "you@example.com"}' ``` ```python Python theme={null} import httpx r = httpx.post( "https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/keys/trial", json={"email": "you@example.com"}, timeout=10, ) r.raise_for_status() api_key = r.json()["api_key"] print(api_key) ``` ```javascript Node theme={null} const r = await fetch("https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/keys/trial", { method: "POST", headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" }, body: JSON.stringify({ email: "you@example.com" }), }); const data = await r.json(); console.log(data.api_key); ``` ```powershell PowerShell theme={null} $body = @{ email = "you@example.com" } | ConvertTo-Json $r = Invoke-RestMethod ` -Method Post ` -Uri "https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/keys/trial" ` -ContentType "application/json" ` -Body $body $r.api_key ``` The response includes everything your code needs to know about the key it just got: ```json theme={null} { "api_key": "exd_trial_QLocUNNcjQ7TXxTgJZ2DWww4QxjlLBgc", "client_id": "trial_3c91be7f", "tier": "watch", "topics": ["global"], "rate_limit_rpm": 30, "monthly_call_quota": 5000, "expires_at": "2026-05-26T13:00:00Z", "reused": false } ``` **Watch-tier**, **30 RPM**, **`global` only**, **expires in 7 days**. Full lifecycle (rotate, revoke, re-mint) is in [Authentication](/authentication). *** ## Step 2 — Save it once, use it everywhere Every authenticated request carries `X-API-Key`. Export the key as an environment variable so the snippets below work as-is. ```bash bash / zsh theme={null} export EXORDE_API_KEY="exd_trial_..." ``` ```powershell PowerShell (session) theme={null} $env:EXORDE_API_KEY = "exd_trial_..." ``` ```powershell PowerShell (persistent) theme={null} [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("EXORDE_API_KEY", "exd_trial_...", "User") ``` Treat keys like passwords. Never commit them, never embed them in a public SPA bundle, never email in plaintext. If a key leaks, [rotate it](/authentication#rotating-a-key) — atomic, free, instantaneous. *** ## Step 3 — What's trending on `global` right now The `trending` endpoint returns the top terms ranked by rolling z-score over the latest snapshot, deduped, with 24-hour delta. ```bash curl theme={null} curl https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/topics/global/trending \ -H "X-API-Key: $EXORDE_API_KEY" ``` ```python Python theme={null} import os, httpx r = httpx.get( "https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/topics/global/trending", headers={"X-API-Key": os.environ["EXORDE_API_KEY"]}, timeout=10, ) r.raise_for_status() for t in r.json()["terms"][:10]: print(f"{t['rank']:>2}. {t['term']:<25} z={t['score']:>7.1f} Δ24h={t['delta_24h']:+.1f}") ``` ```javascript Node theme={null} const r = await fetch( "https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/topics/global/trending", { headers: { "X-API-Key": process.env.EXORDE_API_KEY } } ); const data = await r.json(); data.terms.slice(0, 10).forEach(t => console.log(`${t.rank}. ${t.term} z=${t.score.toFixed(1)} Δ24h=${t.delta_24h}`) ); ``` ```powershell PowerShell theme={null} $r = Invoke-RestMethod ` -Uri "https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/topics/global/trending" ` -Headers @{ "X-API-Key" = $env:EXORDE_API_KEY } $r.terms | Select-Object -First 10 rank, term, score, delta_24h | Format-Table ``` A real response looks like this: ```json theme={null} { "topic": "global", "snapshot_id": "2026-05-19T13:00:00Z", "terms": [ { "term": "Iran", "score": 847.2, "rank": 1, "delta_24h": 6.6 }, { "term": "Eurovision", "score": 412.0, "rank": 2, "delta_24h": 1.8 }, { "term": "ECB", "score": 289.4, "rank": 3, "delta_24h": 0.9 } ], "data_freshness": { "snapshot_age_seconds": 312, "level": "ok" } } ``` `snapshot_id` pins the response to a specific pipeline run — useful for reproducibility. `data_freshness` tells you how old the underlying data is and whether the pipeline is healthy. Snapshots refresh every few minutes. *** ## Step 4 — What's the dominant storyline `trending` gives you words. `narrative` gives you the story they form, written by the editorial-grade summarisation pipeline. ```bash curl theme={null} curl https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/topics/global/narrative \ -H "X-API-Key: $EXORDE_API_KEY" ``` ```python Python theme={null} import os, httpx r = httpx.get( "https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/topics/global/narrative", headers={"X-API-Key": os.environ["EXORDE_API_KEY"]}, timeout=10, ).json() print(r["summary"]) print() for sub in r.get("sub_narratives", [])[:3]: print(f" - {sub['weight']:>5.1%} {sub['title']}") ``` The response is structured for both a one-line tile and a deeper drilldown: ```json theme={null} { "topic": "global", "snapshot_id": "2026-05-19T13:00:00Z", "summary": "Regional escalation between Iran and Israel dominates global conversation, with overlapping ECB rate signal and Eurovision aftermath as secondary threads.", "sub_narratives": [ { "title": "Iran-Israel exchange", "weight": 0.61 }, { "title": "ECB June pivot rumours", "weight": 0.22 }, { "title": "Eurovision aftermath", "weight": 0.17 } ], "data_freshness": { "snapshot_age_seconds": 312, "level": "ok" } } ``` Drop `summary` straight into a Slack tile, a dashboard header, or an email digest — it's editorial-grade English, not a keyword bag. *** ## Step 5 — Catch the next event with `alerts` Trending and narrative are the **state** of the conversation. Alerts are **events**: keywords whose volume just crossed five sigma above their 14-day baseline, validated by an LLM gate, with severity and spread metadata you can route on. ```bash curl theme={null} curl "https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/topics/global/alerts?hours=24&limit=10" \ -H "X-API-Key: $EXORDE_API_KEY" ``` ```python Python theme={null} import os, httpx r = httpx.get( "https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/topics/global/alerts", params={"hours": 24, "limit": 10, "llm_validated": True}, headers={"X-API-Key": os.environ["EXORDE_API_KEY"]}, timeout=10, ).json() if not r["alerts"]: print("Quiet last 24h on global — try hours=168.") for a in r["alerts"]: sev = a["severity"] print(f"σ={sev['deviation_sigma']:.2f} {a['keyword']:<25} " f"{a['spread']['domain_count']}d × {a['spread']['language_count']}l") print(f" {a['description']}\n") ``` A real alert (cyber topic, paid tier — same envelope on `global`): ```json theme={null} { "alert_id": "c80fcfed-6818-44ed-a0b9-0eda91d1401c", "detected_at": "2026-05-18T04:00:30.148Z", "topic": "cyber", "signal_type": "volume_spike", "keyword": "dark web", "severity": { "deviation_sigma": 6.67, "current_value": 24.0, "baseline_value": 3.29 }, "spread": { "domain_count": 14, "language_count": 8 }, "llm_validated": true, "description": "Multiple credible data breach disclosures (Turkish breach, FoxIT software, gaming accounts) surfacing on dark web with fact-checker verification..." } ``` The default `hours=168` returns the last week — useful because low-volume topics may emit zero alerts in a 24-hour window. Full envelope, signal types, IOC schema, webhook delivery: [Alerts](/alerts). *** ## What you've actually built Three calls, three different shapes of intelligence, one API key: | Call | Question it answers | Shape | | ------------ | ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | | `/trending` | "What words are spiking?" | Ranked list with z-scores | | `/narrative` | "What's the story?" | Editorial summary + sub-narrative weights | | `/alerts` | "What just happened?" | Discrete events with severity + spread | That's the full **awareness layer** — Watch-tier, available on any trial. The next layer adds investigation (clusters, entities, search, watchlists) and intelligence (editorial reports, custom topics). See [Tiers](/tiers). *** ## Handling the two errors you'll actually hit Every non-2xx response is a typed envelope. **Match on the `error` code, never on the prose `message`.** A 16-hex `trace_id` rides on every response (header `X-Exorde-Trace-Id`); quote it in support tickets and we resolve in one round trip. ```json theme={null} { "error": "upgrade_required", "message": "This endpoint requires the 'see' tier", "feature": "clusters", "current_tier": "watch", "required_tier": "see", "upgrade": true, "trace_id": "8b3a47ce91d04f17" } ``` The two you'll hit on a trial: | `error` | When | Fix | | ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | `upgrade_required` | You called a See/Know endpoint (clusters, entities, reports, search…) | Stay on Watch endpoints or upgrade | | `rate_limited` | More than 30 requests in 60 seconds | Sleep `Retry-After` seconds, then retry | Backoff pattern with header preference: ```python theme={null} import time, httpx def call(url, headers, attempts=5): delay = 1 for _ in range(attempts): r = httpx.get(url, headers=headers, timeout=10) if r.status_code != 429: return r wait = int(r.headers.get("Retry-After", delay)) time.sleep(wait) delay = min(delay * 2, 30) return r ``` Full code list and patterns: [Errors](/errors) and [Rate limits](/rate-limits). *** ## Rotate or revoke if anything leaks If a key escapes — committed to git, pasted in Slack, screenshotted — kill it immediately. Rotation preserves your tier, topics, expiry; revocation is permanent. ```bash Rotate theme={null} curl -X POST https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/keys/rotate \ -H "X-API-Key: $EXORDE_API_KEY" ``` ```bash Revoke theme={null} curl -X DELETE https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/keys/current \ -H "X-API-Key: $EXORDE_API_KEY" ``` Full lifecycle, replay protection, expiry semantics: [Authentication](/authentication). *** ## Where to go next The full alert envelope — signal types, severity math, IOCs, matched clusters, webhooks, dedup. Five copy-paste recipes: newsroom, brand, threat-intel, disinfo, executive dashboard. Curated topics out of the box; custom watchlists for anything else. Same analytics surface. Watch / See / Know — what each unlocks, history depth caps, result-size caps. Mint, rotate, revoke, identity, the typed error envelope. Every endpoint, live try-it, generated from the OpenAPI spec. *** ## If you get stuck * **Status** — live per-stream freshness at [intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/status](https://intel-v1.exorde.io/v1/status). Check this first when something looks slow or empty. * **Support** — [intel@exorde.io](mailto:intel@exorde.io). Include the `trace_id` from the error envelope; we triage faster with it than without. * **Changelog** — [/changelog](/changelog). What changed, what broke, what's stable. Last reviewed: 2026-05-19. API version 1.2.8.