{"uid":"cap_dcLXBabTOlVpFkM98EtwA","slug":"via-router-research-brief-fe2ec633","name":"VIA Router — Research Brief","description":"VIA is a paid buyer-side router for AI agents and humans. Compare APIs, services, products and sourced research with x402 USDC payments on Base.","url":"https://via-router.floot.app/_api/research_brief?utm_source=zero.xyz","method":"POST","headers":{},"bodySchema":{"type":"object","properties":{"intent":{"type":"string","maxLength":500,"minLength":2,"description":"Plain-language request to route"},"market":{"enum":["auto","services","commerce","information","travel"],"type":"string"},"country":{"type":"string","pattern":"^[A-Z]{2}$"},"language":{"enum":["en","pt"],"type":"string"}}},"responseSchema":{"type":"json","example":{"paid":true,"intent":"Find a PDF text extractor","settlement":{"network":"eip155:8453","transaction":"0x..."},"viaTollUsd":0.001,"alternatives":[],"recommendation":{"title":"PDF Text Extractor","source":"Apify Store"}}},"example":null,"exampleRequest":null,"tags":["x402"],"displayCostAmount":"0.05","displayCostAsset":"USDC","priceDynamic":false,"priceHint":null,"priceStatus":"priced","priceSource":"probe","requiresHandshake":false,"reviewCount":0,"rating":{"score":"0.00","successRate":"0.00","reviews":0,"stars":null,"state":"unrated"},"availabilityStatus":"unknown","priceObserved":null,"sessionDeposit":null,"pricing":{"kind":"static","summary":"$0.05/call","primary":{"kind":"static","protocol":"x402","network":"base","amountUsd":"0.05","per":"call","confidence":"exact"},"accepted":[{"kind":"static","protocol":"x402","network":"base","amountUsd":"0.05","per":"call","confidence":"exact"}]},"paymentMethods":[{"uid":"pm_nDjaPlPrTD6qwovIGJCBT","protocol":"x402","methodType":"crypto","chain":"base","mode":"charge","costAmount":"0.05","costPer":"request","priority":0,"asset":"0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913","unit":"request","depositMicros":null,"planRef":null}],"brandName":null,"brandSlug":null,"brandBaseUrl":null,"brandDocsUrl":null,"whatItDoes":"Routes a plain-language intent to the best-matching API, service, product, or research source, returning a recommendation and alternatives paid via x402 USDC on Base.","exampleAgentPrompt":"Can you use VIA Router to find me the best PDF text extractor service — search the 'information' market in English and tell me what you'd recommend along with any alternatives?","exampleUseCases":[{"title":"Finding the right web scraping API","prompt":"I need to pick a web scraping service for my agent — can you route my intent through VIA and compare what's available in the information market so I can see the top recommendation and alternatives?"},{"title":"Sourcing a commerce product search tool","prompt":"Help me find the best product search API for an e-commerce agent I'm building — use VIA Router to look in the commerce market and return the recommendation with sources."},{"title":"Discovering travel booking services","prompt":"My agent needs to book flights — can you query VIA in the travel market to find and compare the best booking services available, paying with USDC on Base?"}],"resultDescription":"Returns a JSON object confirming payment, the original intent, settlement details (network and transaction hash on Base), the toll amount in USD, a recommendation object with a title and source, and a list of alternative services or APIs.","failureModes":["Insufficient USDC balance for x402 payment — payment fails before routing occurs","Intent string too vague or too short (minLength:2) — returns validation error","Unsupported market enum value — request rejected with schema error","Invalid country code format (must be exactly 2 uppercase letters) — validation failure","No matching services found for the given intent — alternatives list may be empty"],"whenToPreferThis":"Choose VIA Router when your agent needs to dynamically discover and compare APIs, services, or research sources at runtime rather than having a hardcoded provider. Ideal when the best tool for a task is unknown or when you want a curated recommendation with alternatives. Particularly suited for agents operating across multiple domains (services, commerce, information, travel) that need a neutral buyer-side intermediary routing layer with micropayment settlement via x402 on Base.","instructions":null,"reviewSummary":null,"reviewSummaryHighlights":null,"reviewSummaryConcerns":null,"reviewSummaryGeneratedAt":null,"activationCount":0,"lastUsedAt":null,"lastSuccessfullyRanAt":null,"lastHealthCheckAt":"2026-10-10T12:39:55.737Z","isFirstParty":false,"canonicalSlug":"via-router-research-brief-fe2ec633"}