Quickstart

Create an API key and make your first FocusAlpha Data API request in under five minutes.

This guide takes you from zero to your first successful API call. You’ll create a key, look up a company, and check your credit usage.

Prerequisites

• A FocusAlpha account — sign in at app.focusalpha.ai
• A terminal with curl, or any HTTP client

Every new account starts on the Free plan with 100 credits — enough to explore the entire Free-tier surface. Credits don’t expire.

Get started

1. Create an API key

   In the dashboard, open Settings → API keys and create a key. Give it a name that identifies where it will be used.

   The full key — fa_live_ followed by 40 hex characters — is shown exactly once at creation. Store it somewhere safe; only a hash is kept on our side, so it can never be displayed again. You can hold up to 5 active keys and revoke any of them at any time.

   export FOCUSALPHA_API_KEY="fa_live_..."
   
2. Look up a company

   Search the company registry by ticker:

   curl "https://api.focusalpha.ai/v1/companies?ticker=NVDA" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOCUSALPHA_API_KEY"
   

   {
     "data": [
       {
         "company_id": "cmp_...",
         "company_name": "NVIDIA Corporation",
         "country": "US",
         "cik": "0001045810",
         "primary_ticker": "NVDA",
         "primary_exchange": "NASDAQ",
         "sector": "Technology",
         "...": "..."
       }
     ],
     "next_cursor": null,
     "coverage": {
       "update_frequency": "weekly",
       "history_status": "current_snapshot"
     }
   }
   

   The company_id is the canonical identifier — but on company-scoped routes you can keep using the ticker, CIK, or ISIN directly. See Company identifiers.

   This call cost 1 credit.

3. Check your usage

   The usage endpoint is free to call and defaults to the current month:

   curl "https://api.focusalpha.ai/v1/usage" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOCUSALPHA_API_KEY"
   

   {
     "period": { "from": "2026-08-01T00:00:00.000Z", "to": "2026-08-27T14:30:00.000Z" },
     "totals": { "requests": 1, "chunksReturned": 0 },
     "byKey": [{ "prefix": "fa_live_7Fb3", "requests": 1 }]
   }
   

   Your remaining credit balance is always visible in the dashboard.

Next steps

Browse the API reference

Filings, financials, ownership, events, news, and international datasets.

Understand plans & credits

What’s metered, what’s free, and what each plan unlocks.

Connect via MCP

Use FocusAlpha from Claude or Cursor with the same key.

Errors

Status codes, error envelopes, and request IDs.

Stuck? Email [e-mail] and include the requestId from the error response — it lets us trace your exact request.