---
title: "Find materials with similar properties as a reference material."
method: POST
path: "/tools/find_equivalent_materials"
---

# Find materials with similar properties as a reference material.

`POST /tools/find_equivalent_materials`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://api.mechanofab.com/v1`
- URL: `https://api.mechanofab.com/v1/tools/find_equivalent_materials`
- Auth: HTTP bearer

Use when the user wants alternatives to a specific material (e.g. 'what can replace SS304?', 'cheaper alternative to titanium'). Returns materials ranked by similarity score. Match criteria include strength, density, cost_tier, process_compat, thermal, corrosion.

## Request body

- object
  - `material_id` string, required
  - `match_criteria` string[], required
  - `max_results` number

## Response `200`

Tool result

- object
  - `source_material` object, required
  - `equivalents` unknown[], required
    - unknown
  - `source_tag` string, required

## Other responses

- `400`: Invalid request/input.
- `401`: Missing/invalid credentials.
- `402`: Insufficient credits.
- `403`: Scope/tool forbidden.
- `404`: Unknown resource.
- `409`: Idempotency conflict.
- `429`: Rate limited.
- `503`: Control plane / runtime unavailable.

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/mechanofab/apis/mechanofab-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/mechanofab/apis/mechanofab-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/mechanofab/apis/mechanofab-api/revisions/5945a6fad621?raw)