commodities.sh vs commodities-api.com
How commodities.sh differs from commodities-api.com on payment, provenance, and agent discovery.
Why prefer per-observation provenance?
Agents that cite a number need to know which agency series produced it and how fresh that print is. A single payload timestamp across blended symbols cannot answer that. commodities.sh returns as_of, observed_at, source, and quality on every observation.
How do payment models differ?
commodities.sh uses x402 USDC on Base per call with free discovery. commodities-api.com sells monthly subscription tiers with overage penalties and no x402/crypto payment flow in its documented product.
What does commodities.sh refuse to claim?
Phase 1 does not sell real-time exchange futures and does not treat Pink Sheet metals as exchange-like daily prints. quality and freshness_class make those limits machine-readable.
Side-by-side
| Dimension | commodities.sh | commodities-api.com |
|---|---|---|
| Payment | x402 USDC per call on Base | Monthly subscription + overage |
| Provenance | Per observation: agency + series_id + quality | One timestamp for multi-symbol rates |
| Discovery | llms.txt, SKILL.md, agent.json, OpenAPI, MCP | Docs + subscription MCP label |
| Commodities depth | Inventories, COT, WASDE, USGS, structure | Broad symbol rates catalog |