generated: '2026-09-01'
method: searched
source: https://thecarapi.com/changelog
docs:
  - https://thecarapi.com/changelog
  - https://thecarapi.com/status
  - https://thecarapi.com/docs/ops
versioning:
  scheme: dated-contract-version
  current_version: '2026-08-19'
  format: YYYY-MM-DD
  in_url: false
  note: >-
    There is no version segment in the URL and no version header to send. The contract version is
    a property of the deployment, returned on every response body that carries envelope metadata
    as `contract_version` and by GET /api/contract as `version`. A client does not pin a version;
    it reads the one it is served.
  discovery_endpoint:
    operationId: get_api_contract
    path: /api/contract
    returns:
      - version
      - schemas (required/optional keys per response shape)
      - pagination.max_limit
      - pagination.max_offset
      - live_prices {enabled, sites, ttl_seconds}
    guidance: >-
      The provider's stated rule is to read /api/contract once at startup and gate on the declared
      schema keys rather than comparing version strings.
  compatibility_signal: >-
    Each changelog entry states explicitly whether the contract moved. Entries are labelled
    feature / improvement / fix / breaking, and additive releases say in the first line that an
    integration written against the previous contract runs unmodified.
deprecation_policy:
  published: false
  sunset_header: false
  deprecation_header: false
  rfc8594: false
  note: >-
    No dedicated deprecation policy page, no Sunset or Deprecation response headers, and no
    documented notice window. Breaking changes are announced in the changelog only, retroactively.
    The one breaking release found (2026-08-18, price fields retyped from strings to JSON numbers)
    carries no advance-notice or migration-window statement. A single non-additive removal is
    recorded in the 2026-08-27 entry (GET /load-models stopped merging the four contract-metadata
    keys into its body).
  deprecated_operations_in_spec: 0
  spec_source: openapi/thecarapi-openapi.json
undocumented_surface_warning: >-
  The provider warns that the `ops` scope also reaches internal routes that are not part of the
  contract — "unversioned, undocumented and may change or disappear without a changelog entry".
  Only the endpoints in the published reference should be treated as the contract.
status_page:
  url: https://thecarapi.com/status
  status: 200
  type: first-party-page
  third_party_provider: null
  machine_readable_feed: false
  published_metrics:
    uptime: 99.99%
    p50_latency: <100ms
    data_freshness: <= 12 h
    per_source_indexing:
      auto1: 100%
      openlane: 100%
      schadeautos: 100%
      copart: 100%
      ecarstrade: 100%
      encar: 100%
      japanauction: 100%
      european_classifieds: 99%
  note: >-
    A static first-party status page with headline figures and per-source indexing coverage — not
    an incident-history feed and not a hosted status service. The page itself tells automated
    monitors to read the API's own health endpoints instead.
  machine_readable_alternatives:
    - operationId: get_api_health_live
      path: /api/health/live
      auth: none
      note: Process liveness. Always 200 while the process is up.
    - operationId: get_api_health_ready
      path: /api/health/ready
      auth: none
      note: 200 {"status":"ready"} once the data layer is reachable; 503 {"status":"not_ready"} until then.
    - operationId: get_api_health
      path: /api/health
      auth: 'api key, scope: ops'
      note: >-
        Service, data-feed and schema health. A degraded service still answers 200 with the reason
        under schema_findings — alert on the status field, not the HTTP code.
sla:
  published: false
  note: >-
    No SLA document is published. The pricing page offers SLAs only under the custom/enterprise
    track ("Bulk exports, dedicated infrastructure, custom corridors, SLAs, or on-premise
    delivery — tell us what you need"). The 99.99% uptime figure on the status page and in the
    site header is a stated metric, not a contractual commitment.
support:
  email: api@thecarapi.com
  page: https://thecarapi.com/contact
  channels:
    - email
    - telegram
    - viber
    - whatsapp
    - phone
  note: Priority email support is listed as a feature of the paid plan.
changelog_artifact: changelog/thecarapi-changelog.yml
live_verification:
  checked: '2026-09-02'
  method: probed
  note: >-
    The declared contract version was verified against the running service rather than taken from
    the changelog alone. The unauthenticated liveness endpoint echoes it, and it matches the
    version in the published OpenAPI document (info.version 2026-08-19) exactly.
  probes:
    - url: https://api.thecarapi.com/api/health/live
      status: 200
      body: '{"contract_version":"2026-08-19","service":"car-details-api","status":"ok"}'
    - url: https://api.thecarapi.com/api/health/ready
      status: 200
      body: '{"service":"car-details-api","status":"ready"}'
    - url: https://api.thecarapi.com/api/contract
      status: 401
      note: >-
        The authoritative runtime schema surface is key-gated. An unauthenticated agent can learn
        the contract VERSION from /api/health/live but cannot read the per-shape required/optional
        key lists without a key, so the machine-readable schema this API points clients at is not
        anonymously discoverable.
  spec_version_match: true