Frontera Signal Nearby API

openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  title: Frontera Signal Nearby API
  version: 1.8.0
  description: 'Market data for the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, paid per call. Construction: weekly permits, building-input prices, housing supply and labor for Hidalgo and Cameron counties; commercial projects, projects near an address, company track records with trade licenses, monthly housing permits and filed cost per square foot for Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr and Willacy; Hidalgo County parcel records; shelf prices for common building materials. Border and trade: bridge wait times now and by hour of week at the 11 Valley crossings, monthly crossings by port, the peso and Gulf Coast diesel. Local business: city sales tax by month, new business outlets by city and industry, bar and restaurant alcohol sales by location, home health agencies with star ratings, and a snapshot per industry. Ask the Valley answers one plain question in English or Spanish from all of it. Every value carries as_of, age_days, cadence and stale (weekly measures go stale after 14 days, monthly measures after 90). dark = the source published nothing that week; no_reading = we have no reading for it. Ranges are {low, high, unit}; approx marks a rounded reading. Not a quote, bid or appraisal. Terms: https://fronterasignal.com/terms/'
  termsOfService: https://fronterasignal.com/terms/
  contact:
    name: Frontera Signal
    email: hello@fronterasignal.com
    url: https://fronterasignal.com/contact/
  license:
    name: Frontera Signal terms of use
    url: https://fronterasignal.com/terms/
  x-guidance: 'Frontera Signal sells Rio Grande Valley (South Texas) market data per call over x402: construction, border crossings and bridge waits, peso and diesel, city sales tax, new businesses, alcohol sales and home health. USDC on Base, no account, no API key.

    1. Read the free catalog first: GET https://fronterasignal.com/api/v1 lists every paid endpoint, its price, what it returns, its parameters and a free sample.

    2. Free samples: https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/<endpoint>.json is one real answer per paid endpoint. https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/index.json carries the latest 4 weeks of each weekly series.

    3. Call a paid endpoint without payment: it answers 402 with a JSON body (price, returns, sample, docs, how_to_pay) and a PAYMENT-REQUIRED header (base64 JSON, x402 v2). Sign and retry with a PAYMENT-SIGNATURE header; a 200 carries PAYMENT-RESPONSE with the settlement.

    4. Bad or unknown parameters get a free 400 and a valid query with nothing to return gets a free 404, before any payment, as {ok, error, message, docs, allowed}. allowed lists every parameter and its valid values. A payment is never settled on a 4xx or 5xx. nearby and parcel look the address up after the payment is verified, so an address they cannot place is a 404 that is not settled; GET /api/v1/parcel/match checks a parcel address for free first.

    Border and local business: bridge waits now -> /api/v1/bridge-wait; typical wait by hour of week -> /api/v1/bridge-hourly; monthly trucks, cars and pedestrians by port -> /api/v1/crossings; pesos per dollar -> /api/v1/peso; Gulf Coast diesel -> /api/v1/diesel; city sales tax -> /api/v1/sales-tax; new businesses by city and industry -> /api/v1/new-outlets; bar and restaurant alcohol sales -> /api/v1/alcohol-sales; home health agencies and ratings -> /api/v1/home-health; one industry in one call -> /api/v1/industry.

    Which endpoint: one city or the whole Valley this week -> /api/v1/snapshot. New commercial projects with owner, cost and dates -> /api/v1/projects. Projects within a radius of an address -> /api/v1/nearby. A company track record and its trade licenses -> /api/v1/companies. The Hidalgo County parcel record for an address -> /api/v1/parcel. Filed cost per square foot by county and type of work -> /api/v1/cost-per-sqft. Shelf prices for building materials -> /api/v1/materials. Monthly housing permits by structure type -> /api/v1/series/permits-monthly. Weekly history of permits, input prices, housing supply, labor or forecast grades -> /api/v1/series/<name>. The written weekly issue -> /api/v1/issue.

    A question in plain English or Spanish -> /api/v1/ask?q=...&lang=en|es ($0.25): one call reads the right endpoints and answers with the numbers used (data), the endpoints read (sources) and the newest date (as_of). A question outside the data is answered with in_scope false and the closest endpoint.

    Every value carries as_of, age_days, cadence and stale. dark and no_reading rows say a week has no reading; nothing is filled with guesses.

    MCP clients: https://fronterasignal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP) serves the catalog, the free samples, the paid URL and price for your parameters and the free series as free, read-only tools.

    A2A clients: https://fronterasignal.com/a2a (JSON-RPC, A2A-Version 1.0) answers a message that names an endpoint or a Valley city with the paid URL and price. Free and read-only.'
  x-mcp:
    url: https://fronterasignal.com/mcp
    transport: streamable-http
    price: free
    tools:
    - list_endpoints
    - get_sample
    - how_to_pay
    - get_free_series
    about: 'Free and read-only: the paid endpoints and prices, a real sample per endpoint, the exact paid URL for your parameters and the free latest-4-weeks series. Payment stays on the HTTP API.'
  x-a2a:
    url: https://fronterasignal.com/a2a
    protocol_binding: JSONRPC
    protocol_version: '1.0'
    price: free
    agent_card: https://fronterasignal.com/.well-known/agent-card.json
    about: 'Free and read-only: send a message that names an endpoint or a Valley city and get the exact paid URL and price back. Send the header A2A-Version: 1.0.'
servers:
- url: https://fronterasignal.com
tags:
- name: Nearby
paths:
  /api/v1/nearby:
    get:
      operationId: nearby
      summary: Projects near an address
      description: 'Use to size competing or neighboring construction around one Rio Grande Valley address before you buy, lend, lease or build there: count, summed filed cost and each commercial project within radius_mi (default 1, max 5), nearest first. Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr and Willacy counties; about 68% of filings have a map point. An address we cannot place is a free 404. Example: "How many commercial projects were filed within two miles of 1201 E Capote Central Ave, Pharr, and what are they worth?"


        Returns: Filed commercial projects within a radius of a Valley street address: how many, their summed and largest filed cost, a split by type of work, and each project with its distance and map point, nearest first.


        Free sample (a real answer to /api/v1/nearby?address=1201+E+Capote+Central+Ave&city=Pharr&radius_mi=2): https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/nearby.json'
      externalDocs:
        description: 'Free sample: a real answer to /api/v1/nearby?address=1201+E+Capote+Central+Ave&city=Pharr&radius_mi=2'
        url: https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/nearby.json
      x-payment-info:
        protocols:
        - x402: {}
        price:
          mode: fixed
          currency: USD
          amount: '0.03'
        network: eip155:8453
        asset: USDC
      security: []
      parameters:
      - name: address
        in: query
        required: true
        description: Street address with house number, e.g. 800 S 10th St. A suite or unit is ignored.
        schema:
          type: string
          minLength: 5
          maxLength: 120
          example: 800 S 10th St
      - name: city
        in: query
        required: true
        description: The city or town on the address, e.g. McAllen, Brownsville, Rio Grande City.
        schema:
          type: string
          minLength: 2
          maxLength: 40
          example: McAllen
      - name: radius_mi
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Radius in miles, 0.1 to 5. Default 1.
        schema:
          type: number
          minimum: 0.1
          maximum: 5
          default: 1
          example: 1
      responses:
        '200':
          description: 'Filed commercial projects within a radius of a Valley street address: how many, their summed and largest filed cost, a split by type of work, and each project with its distance and map point, nearest first.'
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: object
                properties:
                  publisher:
                    type: string
                  dataset:
                    type: string
                  query:
                    type: object
                    properties:
                      address:
                        type: string
                      city:
                        type: string
                      radius_mi:
                        type: integer
                    required:
                    - address
                    - city
                    - radius_mi
                  location:
                    type: object
                    properties:
                      matched_address:
                        type: string
                      lat:
                        type: number
                      lon:
                        type: number
                      county:
                        type: string
                      placed_by:
                        type: string
                    required:
                    - matched_address
                    - lat
                    - lon
                    - county
                    - placed_by
                  radius_mi:
                    type: integer
                  source:
                    type: string
                  as_of:
                    type: string
                  cadence:
                    type: string
                  coverage:
                    type: object
                    properties:
                      counties:
                        type: array
                        items:
                          type: string
                      registered_since:
                        type: string
                      filings:
                        type: integer
                      located:
                        type: integer
                      located_pct:
                        type: number
                      note:
                        type: string
                    required:
                    - counties
                    - registered_since
                    - filings
                    - located
                    - located_pct
                    - note
                  count:
                    type: integer
                  total_estimated_cost_usd:
                    type: integer
                  projects_with_cost:
                    type: integer
                  largest_project_cost_usd:
                    type: integer
                  newest_registration:
                    type: string
                  by_type_of_work:
                    type: array
                    items:
                      type: object
                      properties:
                        type_of_work:
                          type: string
                        count:
                          type: integer
                        total_estimated_cost_usd:
                          type: integer
                      required:
                      - type_of_work
                      - count
                      - total_estimated_cost_usd
                  returned:
                    type: integer
                  projects:
                    type: array
                    items:
                      type: object
                      properties:
                        distance_mi:
                          type: number
                        id:
                          type: string
                        name:
                          type: string
                        facility:
                          type: string
                        address:
                          type: string
                        city:
                          type: string
                        county:
                          type: string
                        zip:
                          type: string
                        owner:
                          type: string
                        design_firm:
                          type:
                          - 'null'
                          - string
                        estimated_cost_usd:
                          type: integer
                        square_feet:
                          type: integer
                        estimated_start:
                          type: string
                        estimated_end:
                          type: string
                        status:
                          type: string
                        type_of_work:
                          type: string
                        scope_of_work:
                          type: string
                        funding:
                          type: string
                        registered:
                          type: string
                        source:
                          type: string
                        lat:
                          type: number
                        lon:
                          type: number
                        geo_precision:
                          type: string
                      required:
                      - distance_mi
                      - id
                      - name
                      - facility
                      - address
                      - city
                      - county
                      - zip
                      - owner
                      - design_firm
                      - estimated_cost_usd
                      - square_feet
                      - estimated_start
                      - estimated_end
                      - status
                      - type_of_work
                      - scope_of_work
                      - funding
                      - registered
                      - source
                      - lat
                      - lon
                      - geo_precision
                  note:
                    type: string
                  disclaimer:
                    type: string
                required:
                - publisher
                - dataset
                - query
                - location
                - radius_mi
                - source
                - as_of
                - cadence
                - coverage
                - count
                - total_estimated_cost_usd
                - projects_with_cost
                - largest_project_cost_usd
                - newest_registration
                - by_type_of_work
                - returned
                - projects
                - note
                - disclaimer
              example:
                publisher: Frontera Signal
                dataset: nearby
                query:
                  address: 1201 E Capote Central Ave
                  city: Pharr
                  radius_mi: 2
                location:
                  matched_address: 1201 E CAPOTE CENTRAL AVE, PHARR TX
                  lat: 26.089523
                  lon: -98.189325
                  county: Hidalgo County, Texas
                  placed_by: parcel_centroid
                radius_mi: 2
                source: public state construction filing
                as_of: '2026-11-08'
                cadence: daily
                coverage:
                  counties:
                  - Cameron
                  - Hidalgo
                  - Starr
                  - Willacy
                  registered_since: '2024-10-01'
                  filings: 1527
                  located: 999
                  located_pct: 65.4
                  note: 65.4% of the filings we hold have a map point. The rest (intersections, addresses with no house number, addresses not on the map yet) cannot be counted by distance, so treat count as a floor.
                count: 11
                total_estimated_cost_usd: 44131468
                projects_with_cost: 11
                largest_project_cost_usd: 12156468
                newest_registration: '2026-09-14'
                by_type_of_work:
                - type_of_work: Additions to Existing Building
                  count: 4
                  total_estimated_cost_usd: 13750000
                - type_of_work: New Construction
                  count: 4
                  total_estimated_cost_usd: 29356468
                - type_of_work: Renovation/Alteration
                  count: 3
                  total_estimated_cost_usd: 1025000
                returned: 11
                projects:
                - distance_mi: 0
                  id: FSP-83c0e15113
                  name: Building "H"
                  facility: Building "H"
                  address: 1201 E Capote Central Ave ste 400 bldg H
                  city: Pharr
                  county: Hidalgo
                  zip: '78577'
                  owner: OCP Capote 2023 LP
                  design_firm: null
                  estimated_cost_usd: 100000
                  square_feet: 3300
                  estimated_start: '2026-09-21'
                  estimated_end: '2026-12-23'
                  status: Review Complete
                  type_of_work: Renovation/Alteration
                  scope_of_work: Renovation / Alteration to existing building
                  funding: private
                  registered: '2026-09-14'
                  source: public state construction filing
                  lat: 26.08952
                  lon: -98.18932
                  geo_precision: parcel_centroid
                - distance_mi: 0
                  id: FSP-4e6d8fe1b5
                  name: Capote Building H - Suite 200
                  facility: Capote Building H
                  address: 1201 E Capote Central
                  city: Pharr
                  county: Hidalgo
                  zip: '78577'
                  owner: OCP Capote 2023 LP
                  design_firm: null
                  estimated_cost_usd: 250000
                  square_feet: 59448
                  estimated_start: '2026-04-01'
                  estimated_end: '2026-05-29'
                  status: Inspection Complete
                  type_of_work: Additions to Existing Building
                  scope_of_work: Architectural Services.
                  funding: private
                  registered: '2026-04-28'
                  source: public state construction filing
                  lat: 26.08952
                  lon: -98.18932
                  geo_precision: parcel_centroid
                - distance_mi: 0.7
                  id: FSP-c246e5d9b4
                  name: FARMER'S BEST PHASE II
                  facility: FARMER'S BEST
                  address: 1460 E. HI LINE RD.
                  city: Pharr
                  county: Hidalgo
                  zip: '78577'
                  owner: CEUTA PROPERTIES, INC.
                  design_firm: MEMBER CONSTRUCTION, LLC.
                  estimated_cost_usd: 7000000
                  square_feet: 40685
                  estimated_start: '2025-07-01'
                  estimated_end: '2026-01-30'
                  status: Inspection Complete
                  type_of_work: Additions to Existing Building
                  scope_of_work: ADDITIONS OF 40,685 SQ.FT. COLD STORAGE TO AN EXISTING COLD STORAGE WAREHOUSE.
                  funding: private
                  registered: '2025-06-25'
                  source: public state construction filing
                  lat: 26.09891
                  lon: -98.1849
                  geo_precision: parcel_centroid
                note: 'Nearest first, up to 100 projects; count and the totals cover every project in the radius. Distance is straight-line miles from the address to the project point: the filed street address (street_address) or the center of its parcel (parcel_centroid). Costs are the estimates owners filed with the state, summed as filed.'
                disclaimer: 'Every value carries as_of, age_days, cadence and stale (weekly measures go stale after 14 days, monthly measures after 90). dark = the source published nothing that week; no_reading = we have no reading for it. Ranges are {low, high, unit}; approx marks a rounded reading. Not a quote, bid or appraisal. Terms: https://fronterasignal.com/terms/'
        '400':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/BadRequest'
        '402':
          description: Payment required. Free of charge to receive. The PAYMENT-REQUIRED header (base64 JSON, x402 v2) lists price, network, asset and payTo; retry with a PAYMENT-SIGNATURE header.
          headers:
            PAYMENT-REQUIRED:
              description: Base64 JSON payment requirements (x402 v2).
              schema:
                type: string
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/PaymentRequired'
              example:
                error: payment_required
                price: $0.03
                returns: 'Filed commercial projects within a radius of a Valley street address: how many, their summed and largest filed cost, a split by type of work, and each project with its distance and map point, nearest first.'
                sample: https://fronterasignal.com/data/v1/samples/nearby.json
                docs: https://fronterasignal.com/openapi.json
                how_to_pay: x402 v2, USDC on Base; retry with PAYMENT-SIGNATURE
        '404':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/NotFound'
        '503':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/ServiceUnavailable'
      tags:
      - Nearby
components:
  responses:
    BadRequest:
      description: 'Bad or unknown parameters. Free, before any payment; allowed lists the valid ones.

        unknown_param (400): A query parameter this endpoint does not take. allowed lists the ones it does.

        repeated_param (400): The same parameter was sent twice.

        missing_param (400): A required parameter is missing.

        bad_param (400): A value in the wrong format (date, ISO week, number, length). The message names the parameter.

        unknown_value (400): A value outside the list we cover (city, county, item, store, type of work, language). allowed lists the valid ones.

        unknown_week (400): No issue was published for that week in that language. allowed.week lists the ones we have.

        bad_range (400): from is after to.

        no_house_number (400): nearby and parcel need a house number and street; an intersection or a street alone has no single place.

        not_covered (400): The place is outside what the endpoint covers. parcel covers Hidalgo County only for now.'
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
          example:
            ok: false
            error: unknown_value
            message: city must be one of McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, Pharr, San Juan, Weslaco, Donna, Mercedes, Brownsville, Harlingen (got "Laredo").
            param: city
            docs: https://fronterasignal.com/openapi.json
            allowed:
              city:
                type: enum
                description: A Valley city. Omit for the whole Valley.
    ServiceUnavailable:
      description: 'The payment service is starting (retry after the Retry-After header), payments are off, or a live public-records lookup did not answer in time. Never settled.

        upstream_unavailable (503): nearby and parcel read public records at request time, and that service did not answer in time. Retry in a minute. Not settled.

        payment_service_starting (503): The payment service is starting. Retry after the Retry-After header (2 s). Never charged.

        payments_not_configured (503): Payments are not switched on for this deployment.

        ask_not_configured (503): ask: the answering service is not switched on for this deployment. Never charged.

        ask_unavailable (503): ask: the answer could not be written in time. Retry in a minute. Never settled.

        data_warming_up (503): A self-updating dataset (bridge waits, crossings, peso, diesel, sales tax, new outlets, alcohol sales, home health) has not been stored yet. Retry after the next refresh. Never settled.'
      headers:
        Retry-After:
          description: Seconds to wait before retrying.
          schema:
            type: integer
            example: 2
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
          example:
            ok: false
            error: payment_service_starting
            message: The payment service is starting. Retry in 2 seconds.
            docs: https://fronterasignal.com/openapi.json
            retry_after_seconds: 2
    NotFound:
      description: 'A valid query with nothing to return, or no such endpoint. Free: before any payment, or for nearby and parcel after the payment is verified and never settled.

        no_results (404): The query is valid but nothing matches it. Free.

        no_readings (404): Rows exist for that range but every one is dark or no_reading. Free.

        no_match (404): No owner or design firm contains that name. Free.

        too_few_projects (404): Fewer than 5 usable filings in every group, so there is no statistic to sell. Free; counts are in the body.

        not_found (404): No such endpoint or series.

        address_not_found (404): nearby and parcel: the address could not be placed on the map or matched to a parcel. Found after the payment is verified; the payment is not settled.

        ambiguous (404): nearby and parcel: the address fits several different places or parcels. Add the direction (N, S, E, W). Not settled.

        outside_coverage (404): nearby: the address is outside Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr and Willacy counties. Not settled.

        not_available (404): parcel: this record is not available from this API. Not settled.'
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
          example:
            ok: false
            error: no_results
            message: No filed projects match city=McAllen, since=2026-10-03. Widen the filters; filings go back to 2024-10-01.
            docs: https://fronterasignal.com/openapi.json
            allowed: {}
  schemas:
    Error:
      type: object
      required:
      - ok
      - error
      - message
      - docs
      description: 'One error shape for every refusal. 400 and 404 come before any payment and are free.

        unknown_param (400): A query parameter this endpoint does not take. allowed lists the ones it does.

        repeated_param (400): The same parameter was sent twice.

        missing_param (400): A required parameter is missing.

        bad_param (400): A value in the wrong format (date, ISO week, number, length). The message names the parameter.

        unknown_value (400): A value outside the list we cover (city, county, item, store, type of work, language). allowed lists the valid ones.

        unknown_week (400): No issue was published for that week in that language. allowed.week lists the ones we have.

        bad_range (400): from is after to.

        no_house_number (400): nearby and parcel need a house number and street; an intersection or a street alone has no single place.

        not_covered (400): The place is outside what the endpoint covers. parcel covers Hidalgo County only for now.

        no_results (404): The query is valid but nothing matches it. Free.

        no_readings (404): Rows exist for that range but every one is dark or no_reading. Free.

        no_match (404): No owner or design firm contains that name. Free.

        too_few_projects (404): Fewer than 5 usable filings in every group, so there is no statistic to sell. Free; counts are in the body.

        not_found (404): No such endpoint or series.

        address_not_found (404): nearby and parcel: the address could not be placed on the map or matched to a parcel. Found after the payment is verified; the payment is not settled.

        ambiguous (404): nearby and parcel: the address fits several different places or parcels. Add the direction (N, S, E, W). Not settled.

        outside_coverage (404): nearby: the address is outside Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr and Willacy counties. Not settled.

        not_available (404): parcel: this record is not available from this API. Not settled.

        rate_limited (429): parcel/match: too many free lookups from one IP address. Retry after the Retry-After header.

        upstream_unavailable (503): nearby and parcel read public records at request time, and that service did not answer in time. Retry in a minute. Not settled.

        payment_service_starting (503): The payment service is starting. Retry after the Retry-After header (2 s). Never charged.

        payments_not_configured (503): Payments are not switched on for this deployment.

        ask_not_configured (503): ask: the answering service is not switched on for this deployment. Never charged.

        ask_unavailable (503): ask: the answer could not be written in time. Retry in a minute. Never settled.

        data_warming_up (503): A self-updating dataset (bridge waits, crossings, peso, diesel, sales tax, new outlets, alcohol sales, home health) has not been stored yet. Retry after the next refresh. Never settled.'
      properties:
        ok:
          type: boolean
          const: false
        error:
          type: string
          enum:
          - unknown_param
          - repeated_param
          - missing_param
          - bad_param
          - unknown_value
          - unknown_week
          - bad_range
          - no_house_number
          - not_covered
          - no_results
          - no_readings
          - no_match
          - too_few_projects
          - not_found
          - address_not_found
          - ambiguous
          - outside_coverage
          - not_available
          - rate_limited
          - upstream_unavailable
          - payment_service_starting
          - payments_not_configured
          - ask_not_configured
          - ask_unavailable
          - data_warming_up
        message:
          type: string
          description: What was wrong, in a sentence.
        param:
          type: string
          description: The parameter at fault, when there is one.
        docs:
          type: string
          format: uri
          const: https://fronterasignal.com/openapi.json
        allowed:
          type: object
          description: Every parameter this endpoint takes, with its type and valid values.
          additionalProperties:
            type: object
        groups:
          type: array
          description: 'too_few_projects only: the count in each county and type of work.'
          items:
            type: object
        location:
          type: object
          description: 'nearby no_results only: where the address was placed.'
        coverage:
          type: object
          description: 'nearby no_results only: how many filings have a map point.'
        retry_after_seconds:
          type: integer
          description: payment_service_starting only.
    PaymentRequired:
      type: object
      required:
      - error
      - price
      - returns
      - sample
      - docs
      - how_to_pay
      properties:
        error:
          type: string
          const: payment_required
        price:
          type: string
          description: USD per call, paid in USDC.
          example: $0.02
        returns:
          type: string
          description: What the paid call answers with, in one line.
        sample:
          type: string
          format: uri
          description: A real answer to this endpoint, free.
        docs:
          type: string
          format: uri
        how_to_pay:
          type: string
          const: x402 v2, USDC on Base; retry with PAYMENT-SIGNATURE