Run Your First Research

Research runs are NoodleSpy's core feature. You submit a topic, NoodleSpy discovers sources, reads and analyzes them, and returns structured findings.

Research is async — you create a run, then poll for results.

1. Create a research run

curl -X POST https://api.noodlespy.com/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer nspy_your_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "topic": "user onboarding pain points in B2B SaaS"
  }'

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "id": "run_abc123",
    "topic": "user onboarding pain points in B2B SaaS",
    "research_type": "topic_research",
    "sources": ["reddit"],
    "options": {
      "depth": "standard",
      "time_range": "recent",
      "focus": "general"
    },
    "status": "queued",
    "created_at": "2026-03-18T10:30:00Z",
    "updated_at": "2026-03-18T10:30:00Z"
  }
}

Save the id — you'll need it to check on your run.

2. Poll for results

Research typically takes 1–15 minutes depending on depth. Poll with GET /runs/{id}:

curl https://api.noodlespy.com/runs/run_abc123 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer nspy_your_key_here"

While running, status will be "queued" or "running". When done, it changes to "completed".

3. Read your findings

A completed run includes structured findings:

{
  "data": {
    "id": "run_abc123",
    "status": "completed",
    "findings": {
      "summary": "Users consistently report frustration with...",
      "themes": [
        {
          "name": "Too many onboarding steps",
          "description": "Users abandon onboarding flows with more than 5 steps",
          "sentiment": "negative",
          "frequency": 12
        }
      ],
      "quotes": [
        {
          "id": "q_1",
          "text": "The onboarding wizard has 14 steps and I gave up on step 3",
          "author": "frustrated_user",
          "source_url": "https://reddit.com/r/SaaS/...",
          "platform": "reddit",
          "community": "r/SaaS"
        }
      ],
      "sources": [
        {
          "url": "https://reddit.com/r/SaaS/...",
          "title": "Why do SaaS onboarding flows suck?",
          "platform": "reddit",
          "community": "r/SaaS",
          "relevance": 0.92
        }
      ],
      "metadata": {
        "sources_discovered": 24,
        "sources_analyzed": 8,
        "mode": "synthesized"
      }
    }
  }
}

4. Customize your research

Use options to control depth, time range, and focus:

{
  "topic": "user onboarding pain points in B2B SaaS",
  "options": {
    "depth": "deep",
    "time_range": "year",
    "focus": "pain_points"
  }
}
OptionValuesDefault
depthquick (1 credit), standard (2), deep (3)standard
time_rangerecent, year, anyrecent
focusgeneral, pain_points, solutions, opinionsgeneral
rawtrue / false — skip synthesis, return raw contentfalse

Next steps