> ## 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.

# Tiers and quotas

> What you get on Watch, See, and Know — capabilities, limits, rate limits, and history depth — pulled directly from the live config.

The Exorde Intel API has three customer tiers. Two non-customer tiers (`test`, `demo`) exist for QA and the public demo at `intel.exorde.io`; they are not sold and never appear in upgrade flows.

## At a glance

| Capability                       | Watch                             | See                             | Know                       |
| -------------------------------- | --------------------------------- | ------------------------------- | -------------------------- |
| **Intent**                       | Awareness — "what's happening"    | Investigation — "why and where" | Intelligence — "act on it" |
| **Topic scope per key**          | 1 (`global` on trial)             | up to 4                         | all 4                      |
| **Rate limit (rpm)**             | 30                                | 120                             | 600                        |
| **Burst**                        | 5                                 | 20                              | 60                         |
| **Active webhook subscriptions** | -                                 | 20                              | 50                         |
| **Custom watchlists**            | —                                 | 4                               | 20                         |
| **Monthly call quota**           | 5,000                             | 250,000                         | 2,000,000                  |
| **Terms per watchlist**          | —                                 | 10                              | 50                         |
| **Trial available**              | ✅ 7-day, free, scoped to `global` | on request                      | on request                 |

Trial keys are minted via [`POST /v1/keys/trial`](/authentication#minting-a-trial-key). Paid tiers are issued after Stripe checkout.

## Endpoint access by tier

| Endpoint family                                                                                  | Watch    | See | Know |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------- | --- | ---- |
| `/v1/health`, `/v1/version`, `/v1/status`, `/v1/topics`, `/v1/docs`                              | ✅ public | ✅   | ✅    |
| `/v1/keys/trial`, `/v1/keys/current`, `/v1/keys/rotate`, `/v1/me`, `/v1/usage`                   | ✅        | ✅   | ✅    |
| `/v1/topics/{topic}/trending`                                                                    | ✅        | ✅   | ✅    |
| `/v1/topics/{topic}/volume`, `/volume/keywords`                                                  | ✅        | ✅   | ✅    |
| `/v1/topics/{topic}/narrative` (latest summary)                                                  | ✅        | ✅   | ✅    |
| `/v1/topics/{topic}/alerts`                                                                      | ✅        | ✅   | ✅    |
| `/v1/subscriptions` (webhook delivery)                                                           | ✅        | ✅   | ✅    |
| `/v1/topics/{topic}/clusters`, `/clusters/lifecycle`, `/clusters/posts`                          | ❌        | ✅   | ✅    |
| `/v1/topics/{topic}/entities`, `/entities/cooccurrence`, `/entities/timeline`, `/entities/posts` | ❌        | ✅   | ✅    |
| `/v1/topics/{topic}/narratives/history`, `/narratives/posts`                                     | ❌        | ✅   | ✅    |
| `/v1/topics/{topic}/platforms`                                                                   | ❌        | ✅   | ✅    |
| `/v1/topics/{topic}/search`                                                                      | ❌        | ✅   | ✅    |
| `/v1/watchlists` (CRUD + analytics surface)                                                      | ❌        | ✅   | ✅    |
| `/v1/watchlists/{id}/clusters`                                                                   | ❌        | ❌   | ✅    |
| `/v1/topics/{topic}/reports/latest`, `/reports/archive`                                          | ❌        | ❌   | ✅    |

A 403 `upgrade_required` response always carries `current_tier`, `required_tier`, `feature`, and `upgrade: true` so client UIs can render an upgrade CTA without parsing strings.

## History depth caps

The API enforces per-tier caps on how far back you can query each surface. Requests above the cap are silently clamped (no error) — the response will indicate the effective window.

| Surface                       | Watch | See | Know |
| ----------------------------- | ----- | --- | ---- |
| `alerts` (`hours`)            | 24    | 72  | 168  |
| `trending` (`hours`)          | 24    | 72  | 168  |
| `volume` (`hours`)            | 24    | 168 | 720  |
| `narratives/history` (`days`) | —     | 30  | 90   |
| `entities/timeline` (`days`)  | —     | 30  | 365  |
| `reports` (`days`)            | —     | 90  | 365  |
| Evidence `posts` (`days`)     | 1     | 3   | 7    |

## Result-size caps

Hard ceilings on `limit` parameters across endpoints.

| Endpoint           | Watch | See | Know |
| ------------------ | ----- | --- | ---- |
| `clusters`         | 20    | 100 | 500  |
| `entities`         | 20    | 100 | 500  |
| `search`           | 20    | 50  | 200  |
| `platforms`        | 20    | 100 | 500  |
| `watchlists/posts` | —     | 100 | 500  |

Requesting `limit=10000` on a Watch key returns at most 20 items. Use pagination cursors where supported.

## What happens at quota limits

| Limit                    | Response                                                          | Recovery                        |
| ------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- |
| Per-minute RPM exceeded  | `429 rate_limited` with `Retry-After` and `X-RateLimit-*` headers | See [Rate limits](/rate-limits) |
| Webhook subscription cap | `429 subscription_limit_reached` with `current`, `limit`, `tier`  | Delete one or upgrade           |
| Watchlist cap            | `429 watchlist_limit_reached` with `current`, `limit`, `tier`     | Delete one or upgrade           |
| Watchlist terms cap      | `422 watchlist_term_limit_reached`                                | Reduce terms or upgrade         |

## Topic catalog

The four customer-facing curated topics:

| Topic     | Tracks                                             |
| --------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| `global`  | Top storylines across the global conversation      |
| `cyber`   | Cybersecurity incidents, threat actors, breaches   |
| `finance` | Markets, central banks, crypto, earnings           |
| `disinfo` | Coordinated narrative ops, bot activity, deepfakes |

Additional curated slices (defense, energy, geopolitics, MENA, etc.) are available to enterprise Know customers on request — contact [intel@exorde.io](mailto:intel@exorde.io).

## Test and demo tiers

`exd_test_*` keys serve fixture data for deterministic plumbing tests. They do not cost quota and are not issued to customers. Production data requires a paid key. The public demo at `intel.exorde.io` runs on a shared `demo` tier key with elevated rate limits.