# Getting started

Canonical: https://aicdapi.com/help/getting-started
Content version: 2026-09-15.1
Reviewed: 2026-09-15
Reviewed against source commit: a6e88209e0c64247031416f27f11b050e0333088
Owner: AICD API

Learn what AICD API does, what is public now, and how to check a source before you use a result.

## What AICD API does

AICD API collects public local-government records, keeps the source link, and returns structured data that software and AI agents can use.

The first region is Dallas-Fort Worth. Texas-wide coverage is planned. The current public catalog is research evidence, not proof that every listed record is already in the live feed.

## What is available now

- The public coverage catalog can be read without an API key.
- The catalog records a research pass for 238 active municipalities and 16 counties in the DFW region.
- Public no-key MCP access is closed during prelaunch.
- The authenticated MCP route exists for release testing, but paid tool calls return beta_unavailable. Do not retry them automatically.
- Permit and other new record-family imports are not claimed as live until their source and release checks pass.

### Links

- [View public coverage](/api/v1/public/coverage): Dated source evidence and known research gaps.
- [Check featured meeting-source status](/api/v1/public/source-status): Current health for featured DFW meeting sources.

## Your first useful query

Start with coverage. It tells you where evidence exists and where a gap remains. Then follow the returned source URL before you rely on a record.

1. Read the catalog researchDate and catalogVersion.
2. Check the evidence code and limits for the record subtype you need.
3. Follow sourceUrl to the publishing government page.
4. If the publisher is in the featured meeting-source list, check its source status. Otherwise follow the government source and treat missing or stale data as unknown.

### Read the public coverage catalog

```bash
curl --fail --silent --show-error \
  'https://aicdapi.com/api/v1/public/coverage?limit=10'
```

## Read the evidence codes

- M means a public machine-readable query, sample, or count succeeded.
- D means a public record or document was opened and read.
- P means an official source or portal was found, but record extraction was not proved.
- R means access, terms, account, payment, or reuse restrictions need resolution.
- U means no source was proved in this pass. It does not mean unavailable.
- N means the family or named subtype is explicitly not applicable.

> An evidence code does not prove full history, current completeness, commercial reuse rights, or production ingestion.