> ## 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.


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