How do I make my first Cartroute API call?

Updated September 23, 2026 · API version 2026-09-01 · This page as JSON

Create a free account, create an API key in the dashboard, and call GET https://cart-route.com/api/v1/search with the key in the Authorization header. The whole path takes about a minute and the first 200 searches are free.

Step 1: How do I get an account and credits?

Sign up with your name, email and a password. 100 credits are added immediately. Click the link in the confirmation email and 100 more are added, once. An agent can also register on a person's behalf with POST /api/v1/accounts.

Step 2: How do I create an API key?

Open the dashboard, name the key (for example "production agent") and press Create key. The key starts with cr_live_ and is shown exactly once, because Cartroute stores only its hash. Put it in an environment variable:

export CARTROUTE_API_KEY="cr_live_..."

Step 3: How do I run the first search?

curl "https://cart-route.com/api/v1/search?q=noise+cancelling+headphones+under+%24400&condition=new" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CARTROUTE_API_KEY"

import os
import requests

resp = requests.get(
    "https://cart-route.com/api/v1/search",
    params={"q": "noise cancelling headphones under $400", "condition": "new"},
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['CARTROUTE_API_KEY']}"},
    timeout=15,
)
resp.raise_for_status()
for product in resp.json()["results"]:
    s = product["price_summary"]
    print(product["title"], "-", s["best_retailer"], s["best_effective_price_usd"])

const url = new URL("https://cart-route.com/api/v1/search");
url.searchParams.set("q", "noise cancelling headphones under $400");
url.searchParams.set("condition", "new");

const res = await fetch(url, {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.CARTROUTE_API_KEY}` },
});
if (!res.ok) throw new Error((await res.json()).detail);
const body = await res.json();
for (const p of body.results) {
  console.log(p.title, p.price_summary.best_retailer, p.price_summary.best_effective_price_usd);
}

What comes back?

A search_result with the products that matched, each carrying price_summary, price_insight and an offers array. This is a trimmed real response from the catalog:

{
  "object": "search_result",
  "data_source": "live",
  "query": "sony wh-1000xm6",
  "total_results": 1,
  "results": [
    {
      "id": "prd_0dophw3",
      "title": "Sony WH-1000XM6 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones",
      "price_summary": {
        "best_offer_id": "off_0f10sq01vb",
        "best_retailer": "eBay",
        "best_effective_price_usd": 291.26,
        "lowest_price_usd": 199.99,
        "highest_price_usd": 378,
        "spread_usd": 178.01,
        "offers_count": 31,
        "in_stock_count": 31,
        "best_condition": "new",
        "offers_by_condition": {
          "new": 20,
          "used": 8,
          "renewed": 3
        },
        "coupons_count": 0
      },
      "price_insight": {
        "verdict": "typical_price",
        "reason": "Current lowest price is within the normal 90-day range ($180.00–$259.99)."
      },
      "offers": [
        {
          "retailer": "eBay",
          "price_usd": 280,
          "shipping_usd": 11.26,
          "effective_price_usd": 291.26,
          "availability": {
            "in_stock": true
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "credits": {
    "charged": 1,
    "remaining": 199
  }
}

Compare offers on effective_price_usd. Every field is described in response objects.

What should I read next?

• Search reference: filters, sorting, budgets and pagination.
• MCP server: skip the HTTP code and give an agent the tools directly.
• Errors and retries: what to do when a call fails.