generated: '2026-07-22'
method: derived
source: openapi/cryptocompare-*-openapi.yml + live probes of min-api/data-api + developer portal
authentication:
  style: api-key
  header: 'Authorization: Apikey {key}'
  query_parameter: api_key
  note: Same key works on both min-api and data-api; see authentication/cryptocompare-authentication.yml.
  artifact: authentication/cryptocompare-authentication.yml
idempotency:
  supported: false
  note: >-
    Read-only market-data API — every captured operation is an HTTP GET and
    therefore naturally idempotent, but the provider documents no Idempotency-Key
    header or replay-safety contract (none is needed for a read-only surface).
pagination:
  style: cursor-by-timestamp
  parameters:
  - name: limit
    description: Number of data points / articles to return.
  - name: to_ts
    description: >-
      Unix timestamp upper bound on data-api historical endpoints — page backwards
      through history by passing the earliest TIMESTAMP of the previous response.
  - name: toTs
    description: Legacy min-api equivalent of to_ts on histoday/histohour/histominute.
  response_fields:
  - TimeFrom / TimeTo (legacy historical envelopes)
  - TIMESTAMP (per data-api record)
field_expansion:
  supported: false
  note: No expand/sparse-field mechanism; data-api endpoints select instruments via market + instruments parameters and groups selectors.
metadata:
  supported: false
request_tracing:
  header: x-request-id
  direction: response
  note: Observed x-request-id on mcp.coindesk.com responses; the REST APIs do not document a client-supplied trace header.
versioning:
  style: uri-path
  artifact: lifecycle/cryptocompare-lifecycle.yml
error_envelope:
  shape: '{"Data": {...}, "Err": {...}}'
  fields:
  - name: Err.type
    description: Numeric error type (e.g. 2 = API key required).
  - name: Err.message
    description: Human-readable error message.
  - name: Err.http_status_code
    description: HTTP status mirrored inside the envelope.
  - name: Err.frontend
    description: Nested display-oriented copy of type + message.
  evidence: >-
    Live unauthenticated GETs to min-api.cryptocompare.com/data/price and
    data-api.cryptocompare.com/spot/v1/latest/tick both returned HTTP 401 with
    {"Data":{},"Err":{"type":2,"message":"API key required...","http_status_code":401,...}}
    (probed 2026-07-22).
  artifact: errors/cryptocompare-problem-types.yml
rate_limits:
  signaling: >-
    Metered by monthly call credits with per-second/minute/hour/day ceilings;
    the legacy min-api exposes /stats/rate/limit for live quota telemetry and the
    WebSocket streamer reports per-account limits in its Welcome (type 20) envelope
    and emits a 429 RateLimit envelope when exceeded.
  artifact: rate-limits/cryptocompare-rate-limits.yml