---
title: "Generate a grounded answer with citations"
method: POST
path: "/api/v1/ask"
tags: ["search"]
---

# Generate a grounded answer with citations

`POST /api/v1/ask`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://api.metagraph.sh`
- URL: `https://api.metagraph.sh/api/v1/ask`
- Auth: none required

Ask a natural-language question about the registry and get a grounded answer with citations. POST a JSON body `{ question }`; the answer carries inline [n] markers resolved by `citations`, each naming the surface it came from, so every claim is traceable to a registered surface rather than to the model. Use this when the question is exploratory ("which subnets expose a public inference API?"); use /api/v1/search/semantic when you want the ranked matches themselves rather than prose. Mirrored by the `ask` MCP tool. Served live (no static file); 503 ai_unavailable where no AI binding is configured.

## Request body

- AskRequest
  - `question` string, required: The question to answer, in plain language. Exploratory questions work best ("which subnets expose a public inference API?"); for ranked matches rather than prose, use GET /api/v1/search/semantic.

## Response `200`

Canonical artifact wrapped in the Metagraphed API envelope.

- object
  - `data` object, required
    - `answer` string, required
    - `citations` object[], required
      - `netuid` integer, nullable, required
      - `ref` integer, required
      - `score` number, required
      - `slug` string, nullable, required
      - `title` string, nullable, required
      - `url` string, nullable, required
    - `context_count` integer, required
    - `model` string, required
    - `question` string, required
  - `meta` ResponseMeta, required
    - `artifact_path` string
    - `cache` 'short' | 'standard' | 'static'
    - `catalog_paging` object
      - `reason` 'catalog_changed' | 'catalog_budget_exceeded' | 'catalog_unavailable', required
    - `contract_version` string, required
    - `generated_at` string, nullable: Deterministic build content marker (epoch by default); not a wall clock. Use published_at for human-facing freshness.
    - `observed_through` string, date-time, nullable: How far the tier that answered this request has observed at all. A payload reporting no activity at or before this time is a measured absence; one whose subject is newer is outside coverage, not empty. Null when the horizon is unreadable.
    - `pagination` PaginationMeta
      - `collection` string, required
      - `cursor` integer, required
      - `limit` integer, required
      - `next_cursor` integer, nullable, required
      - `order` 'asc' | 'desc'
      - `returned` integer, required
      - `snapshot` string: Present only for page_snapshot paging. Echo as page_snapshot on subsequent pages; a changed collection or query requires a restart.
      - `sort` string, nullable
      - `total` integer, required
    - `published_at` string, date-time, nullable: Real publish time from the KV latest pointer, distinct from generated_at. Null before the first publish or when the control KV is unbound.
    - `source` string
    - `stale_contract` object: Present ONLY when the served artifact was built under an older contract than the live one (serve-time drift, #1001) — the body may predate a schema change. Mirrored on the x-metagraph-stale-contract response header for monitoring.
      - `built_under` string, required: Contract version the served artifact was built under.
      - `live` string, required: Current (live) contract version the Worker is running.
  - `ok` true, required
  - `schema_version` 1, required

## Other responses

- `304`: ETag matched and the cached response is still valid.
- `400`: Query parameters were malformed or unsupported.
- `402`: A payment was presented and could not be verified or settled. The response carries a fresh x402 quote in the `accepts` array and the PAYMENT-REQUIRED header. A request with NO payment is never answered with 402 -- it is served on the anonymous tier.
- `404`: Artifact or API route was not found.
- `405`: HTTP method is not supported.
- `500`: Unexpected backend error.

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/metagraph/apis/metagraphed-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/metagraph/apis/metagraphed-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/metagraph/apis/metagraphed-api/revisions/e29036024bb1?raw)