API tutorial
Polymarket API Tutorial
This tutorial takes you from signing up to a working Polymarket data pipeline in one sitting: a key, a market list, one book pull, and a merge that explains the grid — all free on Starter. Every step is a copy-paste-able call, and every result is checkable against the record.
Figures measured as of 2026-09-24 on the published PolyOrderbooks archive.
Step 1
The key and the first list
Sign up for Starter, copy the key from the dashboard, and list markets: GET /v1/markets?limit=5 with the X-API-Key header. The response names series, slugs, windows, and resolution state — the identifiers every later call uses.
The 60 rpm limit is plenty for the tutorial; the rate-limits guide is the companion if you plan a burst.
Step 2
Pull a book for one market
Pick a resolved slug and call GET /v1/markets/{slug}/books at resolution 250ms. The frames arrive with timestamps and full bid/ask ladders — the same shape the schema documents.
With 1,200+ frames for a 5-minute market, the request is a complete microstructure dataset rather than a preview.
Step 3
Merge prices and metrics
Pull /prices and /metrics for the same slug, then join on the timestamp bucket: books carry depth, prices carry executables, metrics carry VWAP and volume — one clock, one row model.
Export the merge as Parquet and the tutorial delivers the minimal reproducible pipeline the backtest and replay recipes then build on.
Honest
The honest limits
The tutorial is complete on purpose: a real key, a real market, a real merge — so the honest end state is a pipeline you own, bounded only by the free window, and ready to scale by buying the history your production question needs.
FAQ
What is the first step in the API?
Sign up for Starter, copy the key, and list markets — GET /v1/markets with the X-API-Key header.
How do I pull a full market?
GET /v1/markets/{slug}/books at 250ms plus /prices and /metrics, joined on the timestamp bucket.
Is the tutorial free?
Yes — Starter covers the whole loop with a 3-day window and 60 rpm.