Getting started
Welcome to the Polybook API. This guide takes you from zero to your first rows of prediction-market order-book data in a few minutes.
What you need
- A Polybook account — create one free.
- An active plan (Starter, Pro or Archive) — see pricing. The sample data is free and needs no account.
- An API key — create one in your dashboard.
The 30-second version
# 1. check what your key can access
curl -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_KEY" https://polybk.com/v1/coverage
# 2. list today's BTC 5-minute markets
curl -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
"https://polybk.com/v1/windows?symbol=btc&timeframe=5"
# 3. download one market as CSV
curl -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_KEY" -o market.csv \
"https://polybk.com/v1/windows.csv?symbol=btc&timeframe=5&window_start=1793331300"
That's the whole loop: check access → pick a market window → download it.
Concepts
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Stream | One symbol × one market length. e.g. btc-5m |
| Window | One market's life — a 5- or 15-minute settlement window |
| Row | One second of one market: best bid/ask (both outcomes), sizes, freshness |
Symbols: btc, eth, sol, xrp — each in 5-minute and 15-minute market lengths. 8 streams in total.
Where to go next
- Authentication — how API keys work
- API reference — every endpoint, parameter and error
- Data schema — every column explained
- Python quickstart — pandas + Polybook in 10 lines