Frequently asked questions

PolyOrderbooks is a historical data API for Polymarket crypto markets. It stores timestamped L2 order books, outcome prices, and liquidity metrics so you can query past market state without calling live exchange APIs.

Quant researchers, trading teams, and developers building backtests, analytics dashboards, or execution models on prediction markets. If you need depth — not just a price line — this API is built for you.

Discovery (series, events, markets), historical outcome prices, market metrics (volume, liquidity, spread), and full L2 order book ladders. Resolved markets remain queryable, including the winning outcome.

No. Read paths query our archive only. We run collectors that ingest from Polymarket; your application talks to api.polyorderbooks.com.

Full reference, quickstart, and OpenAPI spec live at docs.polyorderbooks.com. The official Python SDK is on PyPI (polyorderbooks). Create a free account at polyorderbooks.com to get an API key.

The live API shows what is happening now. PolyOrderbooks stores history — past order books, prices, and liquidity — so you can replay a market after it has moved on. For official Polymarket APIs (Gamma, CLOB, Data API, rate limits), see our Polymarket API guide.

Open markets are snapshotted every second. Every plan, including the free Starter tier, can query down to 1s. Coarser buckets (1m–1d) are available on every plan.

Yes. Use L2 bid and ask ladders to estimate fills and slippage instead of relying on mid prices alone. Pull prices and metrics on the same time window so signals and liquidity stay aligned.

No. PolyOrderbooks is an API product. Use the dashboard for keys and usage; the full API reference is at docs.polyorderbooks.com — your integrations call the REST API directly.

Yes. The official polyorderbooks package is on PyPI (pip install polyorderbooks). Runnable examples live on GitHub. REST remains the core API; the SDK wraps the same endpoints.

Yes. Install @polyorderbooks/mcp-server from npm and add it to your MCP client config. It exposes the same historical order books, prices, and metrics as the REST API. See the MCP setup guide for Cursor and Claude Desktop.

Create an account, verify your email, and generate an API key from the dashboard. Plan limits are enforced on the hosted API — see pricing and the docs to get started.

No. PolyOrderbooks is an independent data product and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Polymarket.

No. We collect data into our own archive. The API only serves that history — your clients do not call Polymarket live.

A start time, end time, and resolution on prices, metrics, and books. Using the same window everywhere keeps joins simple.

Mids are easy to chart. Books show how much size sat at each price — which is what you need to estimate fills and slippage.

Through the REST API with an API key from your dashboard (after email verification), via the official Python SDK on PyPI, or through the MCP server for Cursor and Claude. See the docs for markets, books, prices, and metrics.

Yes — an official Python SDK on PyPI (polyorderbooks) and an MCP server (@polyorderbooks/mcp-server) for AI clients. REST remains the core product; Enterprise customers can also arrange S3 bulk exports and custom delivery.

Tools to search markets and pull historical L2 order books, outcome prices, and liquidity metrics from the same archive as the REST API. Install @polyorderbooks/mcp-server in your MCP client config — full setup at polyorderbooks.com/polymarket-mcp-server.

No. Backtest AI takes a strategy in plain English — 'Buy DOWN on BTC 15m below 0.40, take profit at 0.55, stop loss at 0.30' — turns it into entry and exit rules, then replays it over resolved Polymarket crypto up/down markets. No Python, no CSV wrangling.

Real history from the PolyOrderbooks archive: 1-second L2 order books captured while each market was live. Fills walk the actual bid/ask ladder, so entries and exits reflect available size, partial fills, and slippage instead of an assumed mid price.

Resolved crypto up/down markets across BTC, ETH, SOL, BNB, DOGE, HYPE, XRP, and ZEC at 5m, 15m, and 4h windows — more than 118,000 resolved markets in the archive today. Backtest AI is available as a standalone $29/mo plan with unlimited strategy backtests, ~500 AI backtests/month, 30-day market data for AI, and unlimited Strategy Builder access — or as a +$19/mo add-on on any data window.

Backtest AI runs on the same 1-second L2 archive your API key queries, reads every run back with a plain-English AI analysis, and prices it as a standalone $29/mo plan or a +$19/mo add-on on any data window.

Yes — Starter is free with no credit card. Sign up, verify your email, and create an API key from the dashboard. Pick a data window from $19/mo (30 days of history, up to 120) and add Backtest AI for +$19/mo, or get the standalone Backtest AI plan for $29/mo with 30-day market data and unlimited strategy backtests — all from the pricing page with card or crypto checkout.

History endpoints take a resolution parameter (how finely points are returned). We run a 1-second capture loop over open markets. Every plan, including the free Starter tier, can query down to 1s. Coarser buckets (1m–1d) stay on every plan.

Today we collect and serve Polymarket crypto markets only. Other categories are not in the archive yet — Enterprise can discuss custom coverage.

Exceeding your plan's per-minute or daily caps returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header (seconds). Slow your client and retry, or upgrade to a faster speed (Fast +$19/mo, Heavy +$39/mo) from the pricing page for higher limits.

Yes. Paid plans support card payments and 300+ cryptocurrencies at checkout. Starter stays free with no payment required.

Open your dashboard and click Manage subscription to open the billing portal. You can cancel, update your payment method, or download invoices there. Plan changes take effect after the provider confirms the update.

Not as a standard self-serve plan. Enterprise customers can arrange S3 bulk exports in Parquet, CSV, or JSON — one-time or on a schedule. Email contact@polyorderbooks.com or see the Enterprise tier on pricing to discuss.