Messari Alpha Scout Workflow

Goal

Surface emerging narratives and high-momentum assets by combining mindshare gainers, trending topics, news flow, and AI synthesis. Designed as a daily morning brief or on-demand alpha scan.

Total cost per run: ~$1.25 USDC on Base

Trigger phrases

• "Find me alpha"
• "What's trending in crypto?"
• "What narratives are heating up?"
• "Morning brief"
• "What should I be watching today?"

Step 0 — Preflight: check balance

mp token balance list --wallet main --chain base --json

Ensure at least $2.00 USDC on Base.

Step 1 — Mindshare gainers 24h (~$0.35)

mp x402 request \
  --method GET \
  --url "https://api.messari.io/signal/v1/assets/mindshare-gainers-24h" \
  --wallet main \
  --chain base

Extract: top 5–10 assets with largest mindshare increases in the past 24h. Note the slugs for Step 4.

Step 2 — Mindshare gainers 7d (~$0.35)

mp x402 request \
  --method GET \
  --url "https://api.messari.io/signal/v1/assets/mindshare-gainers-7d" \
  --wallet main \
  --chain base

Extract: assets with sustained mindshare growth over a week — these indicate forming narratives, not just noise.

Step 3 — Trending topics today (~$0.25)

mp x402 request \
  --method GET \
  --url "https://api.messari.io/v1/current" \
  --wallet main \
  --chain base

Extract: today's top narratives and topic clusters. Cross-reference with Steps 1–2 to confirm narrative alignment.

Step 4 — News flow (~$0.55)

Pull recent news filtered to the top assets identified in Step 1:

mp x402 request \
  --method GET \
  --url "https://api.messari.io/news/v1/news/feed?limit=20" \
  --wallet main \
  --chain base

Extract: headlines from the past 24h, note which assets appear repeatedly, identify catalysts (partnerships, upgrades, regulatory news).

Step 5 — AI narrative synthesis (~$0.25)

mp x402 request \
  --method POST \
  --url "https://api.messari.io/ai/v2/chat/completions" \
  --body '{
    "model": "messari",
    "messages": [
      {
        "role": "system",
        "content": "You are a crypto alpha analyst. Given mindshare gainers, trending topics, and news, identify: 1) The top 3 emerging narratives, 2) Assets best positioned to benefit from each narrative, 3) Conviction level (high/medium/low) and why, 4) Key risks to watch."
      },
      {
        "role": "user",
        "content": "24h mindshare gainers: {step1_output}. 7d gainers: {step2_output}. Trending topics: {step3_output}. News: {step4_headlines}"
      }
    ]
  }' \
  --wallet main \
  --chain base

Full workflow script

#!/bin/bash
# messari-alpha-scout.sh
# Runs a full alpha scan and saves results

WALLET="main"
CHAIN="base"
BASE="https://api.messari.io"
OUT="$HOME/.config/moonpay/research/alpha-$(date -u +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)"
mkdir -p "$(dirname "$OUT")"

echo "=== [1/4] Mindshare Gainers 24h ==="
G24=$(mp x402 request --method GET \
  --url "${BASE}/signal/v1/assets/mindshare-gainers-24h" \
  --wallet "$WALLET" --chain "$CHAIN")
echo "$G24" > "${OUT}-gainers-24h.json"

echo "=== [2/4] Mindshare Gainers 7d ==="
G7D=$(mp x402 request --method GET \
  --url "${BASE}/signal/v1/assets/mindshare-gainers-7d" \
  --wallet "$WALLET" --chain "$CHAIN")
echo "$G7D" > "${OUT}-gainers-7d.json"

echo "=== [3/4] Trending Topics ==="
TOPICS=$(mp x402 request --method GET \
  --url "${BASE}/v1/current" \
  --wallet "$WALLET" --chain "$CHAIN")
echo "$TOPICS" > "${OUT}-topics.json"

echo "=== [4/4] News Feed ==="
NEWS=$(mp x402 request --method GET \
  --url "${BASE}/news/v1/news/feed?limit=20" \
  --wallet "$WALLET" --chain "$CHAIN")
echo "$NEWS" > "${OUT}-news.json"

echo ""
echo "Alpha scan saved to ${OUT}-*.json"
echo "Total cost: ~\$1.20 USDC"
echo ""
echo "Pass results to Messari AI for narrative synthesis (Step 5)"

Schedule as a daily morning brief

Schedule with cron (runs every day at 7:00 AM):

# Add to crontab
(crontab -l 2>/dev/null; echo '0 7 * * * ~/.config/moonpay/scripts/messari-alpha-scout.sh # messari:alpha') | crontab -

Output format

Present to the user as:

## Alpha Brief — [Date]
**Cost:** ~$1.20 USDC | **Chain:** Base

### Emerging Narratives

**1. [Narrative Name]** — Conviction: HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW
Assets: [token1], [token2]
Signal: [why this narrative is heating up]
Risk: [key risk]

**2. [Narrative Name]** — Conviction: HIGH/MEDIUM/LOW
...

### Assets to Watch
| Asset | 24h Mindshare Δ | 7d Mindshare Δ | Catalyst |
|-------|----------------|----------------|---------|
| BTC   | +12%           | +8%            | ETF inflows |
| ...   |                |                |         |

### Key News
- [headline 1]
- [headline 2]
- [headline 3]

Next steps after alpha scan

Once you identify high-conviction assets:

# Deep dive on a specific token
# → use messari-token-research skill

# Act on the research
mp token swap \
  --wallet main \
  --chain base \
  --from-token usdc \
  --from-amount <AMOUNT> \
  --to-token <TOKEN>

Notes

• Overlap between 24h and 7d gainers = stronger signal (not just noise)
• Topics in Step 3 that match assets in Steps 1–2 = high-conviction narrative plays
• Run daily before market open for best effect
• Payments in USDC on Base (--chain base)

Related skills

• messari-x402 — Core endpoint reference
• messari-token-research — Deep dive on any asset surfaced by the scan
• messari-deep-research — Full async report on a narrative or asset
• moonpay-swap-tokens — Execute trades after research
• moonpay-budget-agent — Cap daily research spend
• moonpay-trading-automation — Automate the daily brief via cron/launchd