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How to Turn Your Dataset Into a Paid API in 5 Minutes

#ai #data #api #webmonetization

You have a dataset. Maybe it's DeFi yield data you've been scraping. Maybe it's a curated list of construction permits, or restaurant health scores, or patent filings. You know it's valuable because you built something useful on top of it.

Now someone else — a person or an AI agent — wants access. What are your options?

The traditional path

  1. Set up a server
  2. Write an API
  3. Add authentication (API keys? OAuth?)
  4. Integrate a payment processor (Stripe? What about agents that don't have credit cards?)
  5. Write documentation
  6. Deploy and monitor
  7. Handle billing, usage tracking, rate limiting

That's weeks of work before anyone pays you a dollar. And it has nothing to do with your actual expertise — the data itself.

The 5-minute path

Here's the alternative. You need three things: an account on resolved.sh, a CSV file, and a payout wallet address.

Step 1: Register (free) 

POST https://resolved.sh/register/free
Authorization: Bearer <your-api-key>

{
  "display_name": "DeFi Yield Intelligence",
  "description": "Curated yield rates across 50+ protocols, updated daily"
}
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You get a permanent page at {slug}.resolved.sh with a generated subdomain. Free. No payment.

Step 2: Set your payout wallet 

POST https://resolved.sh/account/payout-address
Authorization: Bearer <your-api-key>

{"payout_address": "0xYourWalletHere"}
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This is where your earnings go. 100% of every sale, directly to your wallet. No protocol fee.

Step 3: Upload your data 

PUT https://resolved.sh/listing/{id}/data/yields.csv?price_usdc=0.50&description=Daily+yield+rates
Authorization: Bearer <your-api-key>
Content-Type: text/csv

protocol,chain,apy,tvl_usd,updated
aave-v3,ethereum,3.21,5200000000,2026-04-15
compound-v3,base,4.55,890000000,2026-04-15
...
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That's it. Your CSV is now a queryable API.

What buyers see

Your data is immediately discoverable at three surfaces:

Free schema endpoint — anyone can inspect before buying:

GET https://{slug}.resolved.sh/data/yields.csv/schema
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Returns column names, types, row count, and sample rows. No payment required.

Paid query endpoint — filtered access:

GET https://{slug}.resolved.sh/data/yields.csv/query?chain=ethereum&apy__gt=3.0
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Buyers pay per query. They can filter with operators: =, __gt, __lt, __gte, __lte, __in, __contains. They get exactly the rows they need.

Paid download endpoint — full file access:

GET https://{slug}.resolved.sh/data/yields.csv
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Buyers pay for the complete dataset.

Split pricing

You can charge differently for queries vs. downloads:

PUT /listing/{id}/data/yields.csv?price_usdc=0.50&query_price_usdc=0.05&download_price_usdc=2.00
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Now browsing the schema is free, a filtered query costs $0.05, and downloading the whole file costs $2.00. This lets you serve both quick lookups and bulk access at appropriate price points.

How payment works

Buyers pay in USDC on Base via the x402 protocol. The flow:

  1. Buyer makes a request → gets back HTTP 402 with payment requirements
  2. Their x402 client pays the required USDC amount (gasless — no ETH needed)
  3. Client retries with proof of payment → gets the data

100% of the payment goes directly to your wallet at time of purchase. No invoicing, no settlement delays, no platform cut.

Agents can do this autonomously. Humans can too, using any x402 client library.

What you don't have to build

  • Query engine: resolved.sh uses DuckDB to make your CSV queryable with SQL-like filters
  • API documentation: An OpenAPI spec is auto-generated at /{slug}/openapi.json, and interactive docs render at /{slug}/docs
  • Discovery: Your data appears in your resource's llms.txt, agent-card.json, and HTML page
  • Payment infrastructure: x402 handles payment verification, settlement, and replay protection
  • Hosting: Your file is stored in Cloudflare R2, served globally

Beyond data

Once you have a registration, you can add other revenue streams on the same page:

  • Blog posts with optional per-post pricing
  • Courses with per-module or bundle pricing
  • A paid API gateway (register any HTTPS endpoint as a named service)
  • A tip jar (min $0.50, always-on)
  • Sponsored content slots (rent space on your page)
  • A paid Q&A inbox (get paid to answer questions)

Each primitive is independent — use the ones that fit your business.

The economics

  • Free tier: $0 (1 per account, randomized subdomain, full data marketplace access)
  • Paid registration: $24/year (vanity subdomain, custom domain, domain purchase)
  • Data sales: 0% platform fee — 100% goes to your wallet
  • Service calls: 0% platform fee
  • Tips, blog posts, courses, Q&A: 0% platform fee

The only thing resolved.sh charges for is the annual registration. Everything you earn on the platform is yours.

Getting started

Full API spec: https://resolved.sh/llms.txt
Interactive API docs: https://resolved.sh/docs
Agent skill definition: https://resolved.sh/skill.md

If you have a dataset and 5 minutes, you have a data business.

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