Yelp API

Local business search, business details, and reviews as clean JSON — one plain HTTP GET per call, paid as you go. No Yelp Fusion API app approval, no daily call cap, no API key request form.

Base URL: https://yelp.fetcher.sh

Authentication

Two ways to pay, same data — full mechanics in the [fetcher skill](../fetcher/SKILL.md):

# 1. Prepaid credits (recommended — get a key at https://fetcher.sh/topup
#    or via POST /api/credits/topup, see the fetcher skill)
export FETCHER_API_KEY="bby_live_xxxxxxxxxxxx"
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  "https://yelp.fetcher.sh/api/search?query=ramen&location=San+Francisco"

# 2. x402 pay-per-call — omit the header; a GET with no payment returns 402
#    with machine-readable payment requirements (USDC on Base, Polygon,
#    Arbitrum, Monad, or Solana). @x402/fetch signs and retries automatically.

Every response is { "status": number, "message": string, "data": ... }; the HTTP status mirrors status.

Endpoints (4 — all GET, $0.003/call)

Required on search: query, location. Optional: sortBy (recommended, rating, reviewCount), page. Reviews support page.

Scenarios

Highest rated first:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "query=ramen" -G \
  --data-urlencode "location=San Francisco" \
  --data-urlencode "sortBy=rating" \
  "https://yelp.fetcher.sh/api/search"

Most reviewed first:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "query=tacos" -G \
  --data-urlencode "location=Austin, TX" \
  --data-urlencode "sortBy=reviewCount" \
  "https://yelp.fetcher.sh/api/search"

A business's details by ID, or by its Yelp URL handle/slug:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  "https://yelp.fetcher.sh/api/place/gary-danko-san-francisco"

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  "https://yelp.fetcher.sh/api/place/handle/gary-danko-san-francisco"

A business's reviews, paginated:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FETCHER_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "page=2" -G \
  "https://yelp.fetcher.sh/api/place/gary-danko-san-francisco/reviews"

MCP

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "yelp": {
      "url": "https://yelp.fetcher.sh/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer bby_live_..." }
    }
  }
}

Free: searchendpoints, describeendpoint, checkbalance. Paid: fetchdata (any endpoint above), topupcredits, plus the named shortcut yelpsearch. Drop the headers block to pay per call with x402 instead — see the [fetcher skill](../fetcher/SKILL.md) for the full flow.

Errors

• 400 — missing/invalid parameter (message names it)
• 401 — unknown or rotated key
• 402 — payment required (x402 challenge) or topup_required (credits

exhausted)

• 404 — not a priced path
• No rate limits; no refunds on upstream failures (settlement precedes

delivery)

Reference

• Full agent setup: <https://yelp.fetcher.sh/skill.md>;
• OpenAPI 3.1 contract: <https://yelp.fetcher.sh/openapi.json>;
• Condensed catalog: <https://yelp.fetcher.sh/llms.txt>;
• Payment, credits, and MCP deep dive: [fetcher skill](../fetcher/SKILL.md)
• Site: <https://yelp.fetcher.sh>;