---
title: "Search the FRED catalog - by text, by series ID, by release, or list a release's series"
method: GET
path: "/api/v1/fred/search"
tags: ["Central Banks & Monetary"]
---

# Search the FRED catalog - by text, by series ID, by release, or list a release's series

`GET /api/v1/fred/search`

Discovery primitive over the full FRED catalog (~800k series). Full-text search (search_type=full_text, default), series-ID search (search_type=series_id), the list of all FRED releases (search_type=release, no release_id), or every series in one release (release_id=<id>). Returns lightweight series/release metadata - the starting point for the release-table and curve endpoints.

## Query parameters

- `query` string, nullable — Search text. Required for search_type full_text or series_id.
- `search_type` 'full_text' | 'series_id' | 'release' — full_text (default), series_id, or release. Auto-treated as a release listing when release_id is set.
- `release_id` integer, nullable — A specific FRED release ID. When set, returns every series in that release.
- `limit` integer, nullable — Max results to return (1-1000).
- `offset` integer — Result offset (ignored for release listings).
- `order_by` 'search_rank' | 'series_id' | 'title' | 'units' | 'frequency' | 'seasonal_adjustment' | 'realtime_start' | 'realtime_end' | 'last_updated' | 'observation_start' | 'observation_end' | 'popularity' | 'group_popularity', nullable — Attribute to order results by. Left unset, a search orders by search_rank (relevance, and FRED's own default for search) and a release listing orders by observation_end, unchanged. Ordering a broad match set by a data attribute makes FRED sort the entire set: measured on 'unemployment rate', order_by=observation_end took 63s and failed, while search_rank returned in 2.2s for the same query and limit.
- `sort_order` 'asc' | 'desc' — Sort direction.
- `filter_variable` 'frequency' | 'units' | 'seasonal_adjustment', nullable — Optional attribute to filter on.
- `filter_value` string, nullable — Value for filter_variable.
- `tag_names` string, nullable — Semicolon-delimited tags series must match all of.
- `exclude_tag_names` string, nullable — Semicolon-delimited tags series must match none of (requires tag_names).

## Response `200`

List of FRED series or release records. operation_id auto-generated as `fred_search` by main._clean_operation_id.

- EnvelopeFredSearchData
  - `data` FredSearchData, required
    - `search_type` string, nullable
    - `release_id` unknown
    - `count` union
      - integer
      - number
    - `results` FredSearchFredResult[], nullable
      - `id` union
        - string
        - integer
      - `realtime_start` string, nullable
      - `realtime_end` string, nullable
      - `title` string, nullable
      - `observation_start` string, nullable
      - `observation_end` string, nullable
      - `frequency` string, nullable
      - `frequency_short` string, nullable
      - `units` string, nullable
      - `units_short` string, nullable
      - `seasonal_adjustment` string, nullable
      - `seasonal_adjustment_short` string, nullable
      - `last_updated` string, nullable
      - `popularity` union
        - integer
        - number
      - `group_popularity` union
        - integer
        - number
      - `notes` string, nullable
      - `name` string, nullable
      - `press_release` boolean, nullable
      - `link` string, nullable
  - `meta` SugraMeta, required — Metadata attached to every /api/v1/* response envelope.
    - `endpoint` string, required — Requested endpoint path.
    - `data_time` string, required — ISO 8601 UTC timestamp of the source data, not of the request.
    - `response_time` string, required — ISO 8601 UTC timestamp when this response was produced.
    - `provider` string, required — API name and version.
    - `source` string, nullable — Identifier of the primary upstream source used for this response.
    - `attribution` string, nullable — Human-readable attribution mandated by an upstream source (e.g. a securities regulator or self-regulatory organization). Present only on responses whose source requires the owner and source to be clearly identified. Do not remove or alter it when using the response.
    - `fallback_used` boolean, nullable — True when the primary source failed and a fallback produced the data.
    - `fallback_chain` string[], nullable — Ordered list of sources attempted, in the order they were tried.
    - `cached` boolean, nullable — True when this response was served from the internal cache.
    - `stale` boolean, nullable — True when the cached response was returned after the upstream rate-limited or errored. Clients can use this to detect degraded data.

## Other responses

- `401` — Missing or invalid `x-api-key` header. JSON body with a stable `code` distinguishing `missing_api_key` (no header sent) from `invalid_api_key` (header sent, key not accepted); any other 401 source carries the generic `unauthorized` with its detail as `reason`. Plus `hint`. `plan` is always null on 401 - an unauthenticated request has no plan; quota exhaustion is 429, not 401.
- `422` — Validation Error
- `429` — Daily rate limit exceeded. Check `X-RateLimit-Reset` for the next window.
- `503` — Upstream source is temporarily unavailable. Retry after a short delay.

---

[API](https://skmtc.net/sugra/apis/sugra-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.net/sugra/apis/sugra-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc-service-staging.skmtc.workers.dev/v1/apis/sugra/sugra-api/revisions/914af3d38c7c/schema)