> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.macrobymark.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

> What Macro by Mark is and who it's for.

# Welcome to Macro by Mark

**Macro by Mark** is a curated macroeconomic data API that gives developers,
quants, and data scientists a single, consistent interface to time-series data
from central banks, statistical agencies, and international organizations.

Instead of stitching together a dozen provider SDKs, normalizing incompatible
date formats, and chasing broken download links, you make one authenticated
HTTP call and get clean, structured JSON back — every time.

## What you can do

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Search indicators" icon="magnifying-glass" href="/api-reference/indicators/search">
    Full-text search across thousands of macroeconomic series — GDP, inflation,
    employment, trade, and more.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Fetch observations" icon="chart-line" href="/api-reference/indicators/observations">
    Retrieve time-series data with optional date-range filtering, unit
    transformations (level, %, YoY), and vintage selection.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Track releases" icon="calendar" href="/api-reference/indicators/releases">
    Build economic calendars and schedule data-refresh pipelines using upcoming
    and historical release schedules.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Explore vintages" icon="clock-rotate-left" href="/api-reference/indicators/vintages">
    Access point-in-time snapshots of data exactly as they were published —
    critical for real-time backtesting.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Who is this for?

| Audience                     | Primary use case                                                        |
| ---------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Quantitative researchers** | Backtesting macro strategies with point-in-time data                    |
| **Data engineers**           | Building automated ETL pipelines that stay in sync with source releases |
| **Product teams**            | Embedding live economic indicators in dashboards and apps               |
| **Economists & analysts**    | Quick, ad-hoc exploration of cross-country macro data                   |

## Data coverage

Macro by Mark aggregates data from leading providers including:

* **FRED** (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) — 800,000+ US economic series
* **World Bank** — Global development indicators
* **OECD** — Standardized cross-country statistics
* **BLS** — US Bureau of Labor Statistics
* **Eurostat** — European statistical data
* **IMF** — International financial statistics

See the [Providers](/providers) page for the full coverage table and data
freshness SLAs.

## Quick start

1. [Get an API key](/authentication) from your dashboard.
2. Make your first request:

```bash theme={null}
curl -G https://api.macrobymark.com/v1/indicators/search \
  --data-urlencode "q=CPI" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"
```

3. Explore the full [API Reference](/api-reference/indicators/search).