Glossary of News API terms#

This glossary defines the terms you will meet across the APITube dashboard, the API response and the documentation — each in one or two sentences, with a link to the article that covers it in depth. If you are new, read key concepts first for how the data model fits together; use this page when a single word needs a quick answer.

API key#

The secret token that authenticates every request, sent as an X-API-Key header or an api_key query parameter. Keys come in two modes — see test vs live keys — and are managed per workspace in the dashboard. Never expose a live key in client-side code; API key security explains safer patterns.

Test key and live key#

A test key returns real responses with truncated article bodies and never spends your quota — for development. A live key returns full content and counts against your plan. The response header x-apitube-mode tells you which mode served the call.

Request (point)#

The unit your plan quota counts. On /v1/news/everything a request is only charged when at least one article comes back; failed calls and empty result sets are free. What exactly is charged per endpoint is broken down in what counts as a request.

Balance and pay-as-you-go (PAYG)#

Money-based credit that covers usage beyond your plan’s included requests: you top up a dollar balance and overage is drawn from it. A monthly spending cap can stop PAYG from growing unbounded — see what pay-as-you-go is and how to set a spending limit.

Rate limit#

The per-minute ceiling on how many calls a key may make, separate from your monthly quota. Exceeding it returns HTTP 429 with error code ER0203; repeated violations trigger a temporary ban (ER0204). Numbers per plan and fixes are in how to fix rate-limit errors.

Scope#

A per-endpoint permission attached to an API key. A key scoped to search endpoints cannot call, say, streaming — the API answers 403 with ER0603. Scopes are set when creating or editing a key; see API key scopes.

Workspace#

The container your keys, members and billing live in. Teams share one workspace so everyone uses the same quota and key list, with roles controlling who may manage what — covered under teams and workspaces.

Endpoint#

One addressable API function, such as /v1/news/everything (search), /v1/news/top-headlines or /v1/fact-check. All endpoints share the same authentication and error envelope, so code written for one transfers to the rest.

SSE stream#

Server-Sent Events — a long-lived HTTP connection on which new matching articles are pushed to you as they are indexed, instead of you polling. Streaming draws from its own credit pool, separate from REST requests; start with how to stream with SSE.

WebSocket#

The bidirectional alternative to SSE for real-time delivery, useful when your platform already speaks WebSocket. Same filters, same billing model as streaming — see how to stream with WebSocket and choosing a real-time method.

Webhook#

Push delivery in reverse: you register a URL plus a saved search, and APITube POSTs each new matching article to that URL, signed with an HMAC header so you can verify the sender. Deliveries retry with backoff and are billed per delivered article.

Export format#

Every search can be re-run as a downloadable file: the response’s export block carries ready URLs for CSV, XLSX, RSS, XML, TSV, Parquet, JSONL and JSON. See the export formats overview.

Pagination#

How you read beyond the first page of results: pass page=2, 3, … or follow the response’s prebuilt next_page URL until has_next_pages is false. Default page size is 100 articles, maximum 250.

Request ID#

The unique identifier (request_id in the body, X-Request-ID header) attached to every call. Quote it when contacting support — it lets the exact request be traced in the logs.

Entity#

A person, company, place or other named thing the NLP layer detected in an article, with its type, position and its own per-entity sentiment. Entities power queries like “news mentioning this company” — see finding news by entity.

Sentiment#

The tone score of a text, from negative to positive, available for the whole article and per entity. Filter by sentiment explains the polarity values and score ranges.

Story#

The cluster of articles from different sources covering the same underlying event. Fetching a story gives you every angle on one event in a single call — see what a story is.

Duplicate#

A reprint or near-copy of an article already in the index, flagged so you can exclude repeated content from results — see excluding paywalled and duplicate articles.

Category, topic and industry#

Three parallel taxonomies attached to each article: categories follow the IPTC Media Topics scheme (ids like medtop:15000000), topics are finer subject slugs, and industries map coverage to business sectors. Each has its own filter — start with filter by category.

OPR (Open PageRank)#

The authority score of a source’s domain, based on how widely the site is referenced on the web. Higher OPR means a more established publisher; use it to keep results to serious outlets — explained in what OPR is.

Error code (ERxxxx)#

The machine-readable cause inside every error response, read together with its HTTP status — ER0202 is an invalid key, ER0203 a rate limit, and so on. The full envelope and the common codes are in understanding API error codes.

Stream slot#

One of the simultaneous streaming connections your plan allows (2 on Basic, 10 on Professional, 50 on Corporate; none on Free). Opening one connection more than the limit returns ER0360; a stuck slot after a crashed client can be freed with the session endpoints — see fixing SSE stream problems.

Saved search#

The set of search filters attached to a webhook: the same dot-notation parameters as /v1/news/everything, stored with the webhook so APITube knows which new articles to deliver. Building one is part of setting up a webhook.

Playground#

The interactive sandbox in the dashboard that runs real News API requests against your own keys, with every parameter as a form field and generated code snippets. Handy for testing a filter before writing code — see how to test requests in the API Playground.

Fact check#

The /v1/fact-check endpoint: give it a claim and it returns a verdict with supporting articles from the news index. It is priced differently from search and unavailable on the Free plan — walkthrough in how to fact-check a claim.

Common Questions#

• Is this the same as the official docs glossary?
• What should I read after the glossary?

Is this the same as the official docs glossary?#

No — the official documentation glossary leans toward response-field definitions for developers reading the API reference. This page covers the same vocabulary in plainer language and adds the account-side terms (workspace, scope, PAYG, test key) you meet in the dashboard, linking each one to its how-to article in this help centre.

What should I read after the glossary?#

If you have not called the API yet, go to how to run your first news search — it walks through one request end to end. If you are deciding whether APITube fits your project, key concepts explains the data model these terms come from.