# ChronicaPulse

> Global historical newspaper archive intelligence API. 9 endpoints: person research, obituaries, immigration records, military service, historical events, place history, business history, timelines, and full-text archive search. Primary data: Library of Congress Chronicling America (30M+ US newspaper pages, 1770–1963, free, no key). Global coverage via British Newspaper Archive, Trove (Australia), Gallica (France), Europeana, GenealogyBank. Pay-per-query via x402 on Base.

## What This Is

ChronicaPulse is a pay-per-query API that brings AI synthesis to historical newspaper archives. It is the research layer between raw digitized archives and genealogists, historians, journalists, and AI agents who need structured, actionable intelligence from primary sources.

The core free data source is Chronicling America (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov) — the Library of Congress's collection of over 30 million digitized US newspaper pages from 1770 to 1963. This is supplemented by Tavily searches across global archives including British Newspaper Archive, Trove (Australia), Gallica (France), Europeana, Newspapers.com, and GenealogyBank.

Chronicling America holds hundreds of ethnic-language newspapers: Yiddish dailies, German weeklies, Italian papers, Polish press, Chinese newspapers, Spanish-language papers — often the only surviving record of immigrant community life.

## Payment

All endpoints require x402 micropayment (USDC on Base mainnet).
Protocol: x402 | Network: eip155:8453 | Asset: USDC
Payment address: 0x50ab2018c06c6E4eAA9BA52057Eb55eD284912fc

## Endpoints

GET /api/chronica/search?q={query}&year_start={YYYY}&year_end={YYYY}&state={state}&lang={lang}
- Full-text search across Chronicling America + global digitized archives
- Returns: results array with source/date/location/excerpt/URL, coverage_assessment, archive_links, research_tips
- q required; all others optional
- Price: $0.05

GET /api/chronica/person?name={name}&location={location}&year_start={YYYY}&year_end={YYYY}&lang={lang}
- Find a person in historical newspaper archives — life events, family members, occupation, address, organizations
- Returns: life_events_found (with event_type, family_members_named), family_intelligence (spouse/children/parents/siblings), occupation_history, addresses_mentioned, name_variants, next_research_steps, dna_recommendation with Amazon URL, archive_search_links
- name required; all others optional
- Price: $0.12

GET /api/chronica/obituary?name={name}&location={location}&year={YYYY}&lang={lang}
- Obituary and death notice research — extract full genealogical data from death coverage
- Returns: deceased (name/age/birthplace/immigration), family_extracted (spouse/children with married names/parents/siblings/grandchildren/pallbearers), occupation, affiliations (church/lodge/union), funeral_details (cemetery/burial), genealogical_leads, next_records_to_find, dna_recommendation
- name required; all others optional
- Pallbearers are extracted — they are often close relatives not named elsewhere
- Price: $0.10

GET /api/chronica/event?event={event}&year_start={YYYY}&year_end={YYYY}&lang={lang}
- How newspapers covered a historical event — contemporary perspective, regional differences, genealogical connections
- Returns: contemporary_coverage (by newspaper with perspective noted), regional_perspectives, what_they_knew, what_they_missed, genealogical_connection, global_coverage (US vs international)
- event required; year range optional
- Price: $0.08

GET /api/chronica/place?place={place}&year_start={YYYY}&year_end={YYYY}&lang={lang}
- Newspaper history of any town, city, or neighborhood — local papers, ethnic communities, migration patterns
- Returns: historical_overview, key_eras, ethnic_communities (with ethnic newspapers list), local_newspapers (with digitization status), major_events, migration_patterns, genealogical_resources, archive_search_links
- place required; works for non-US places (covered via British Newspaper Archive, Trove, Gallica, etc.)
- Price: $0.08

GET /api/chronica/immigration?name={name}&origin={country}&destination={city}&year={YYYY}&lang={lang}
- Immigration research — ship manifests, passenger lists, ethnic press, naturalization, community newspapers
- Returns: records_found, ethnic_press_context (specific ethnic newspapers in Chronicling America by nationality), ship_records (arrival ports by era, key databases), immigration_timeline, naturalization_research, name_anglicization_note, next_research_steps, dna_recommendation
- name or origin required
- Ellis Island opened 1892; earlier arrivals used Castle Garden (1855–1890)
- Price: $0.12

GET /api/chronica/military?name={name}&conflict={conflict}&location={hometown}&lang={lang}
- Military service research — draft notices, casualty lists, homecomings, decorations, unit history
- Returns: records_found (by record_type), service_profile (rank/unit/theater/decorations/status), official_records_guidance (NARA, SF-180), unit_history, memorial_resources with Amazon shadow box recommendation
- name required; conflict optional (Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korean War, Vietnam)
- Always flags 1973 NARA fire — destroyed ~80% of Army records 1912–1960 and all Air Force records 1947–1964
- Price: $0.10

GET /api/chronica/business?business={name}&location={city}&era={decade_or_range}&lang={lang}
- Historical business research — founding, advertisements, labor disputes, employees, company timeline
- Returns: coverage_found (by coverage_type), business_profile, labor_history, advertisements_found, genealogical_value, local_economic_context, research_resources
- business required; all others optional
- Price: $0.08

GET /api/chronica/timeline?subject={subject}&type={person|place|topic}&year_start={YYYY}&year_end={YYYY}&lang={lang}
- Build a chronological timeline from newspaper sources for a person, place, or topic
- Returns: timeline array (sorted chronologically, confidence: documented|inferred|uncertain), gaps with how_to_fill, key_people, key_places, narrative_summary, research_assessment
- subject required; type default person; year range optional
- Price: $0.15

## Discovery

- OpenAPI spec: https://chronicapulse.vercel.app/openapi.json
- Agent discovery: https://chronicapulse.vercel.app/.well-known/agent.json

## Notes for AI Agents

- Full genealogy flow: /api/chronica/person → /api/chronica/obituary → /api/chronica/immigration → /api/chronica/timeline
- Military ancestor flow: /api/chronica/military → /api/chronica/person → /api/chronica/obituary
- Immigration story flow: /api/chronica/place (origin) → /api/chronica/immigration → /api/chronica/place (US destination)
- Historical research flow: /api/chronica/event → /api/chronica/place → /api/chronica/timeline
- /api/chronica/obituary is the highest genealogical-value endpoint — extracts spouse, children (with married names), parents, siblings, pallbearers
- /api/chronica/immigration includes ethnic press guidance — Chronicling America has Yiddish, German, Italian, Polish, Chinese, Spanish newspapers
- /api/chronica/military always flags the 1973 NARA fire for the relevant conflict
- /api/chronica/person and /api/chronica/obituary include DNA kit Amazon affiliate recommendations
- /api/chronica/military includes military shadow box Amazon affiliate recommendations
- All endpoints support ?lang= for native-language responses
- Chronicling America is US-only 1770–1963; non-US coverage comes via Tavily global archive searches
- Absence of results does not mean absence of records — always suggest alternative archives and spelling variants