Quickstart

By the end of this page you’ll have a report_id and a JSON report you can render however you want.

1. Create an account

Sign up at acrelens.com/signup. You’ll get 4 free reports as soon as you add a card — no charge until your free reports are spent.

2. Grab your API key

In the dashboard, head to Manage → API Keys and click + New key. Keys look like:

al_live_a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6

The full key is shown exactly once. Copy it now — AcreLens stores only a SHA-256 hash. If you lose it, revoke and create a new one.

3. Make your first request

Not a developer? Skip the rest of this page. Open the dashboard — you’ll land on Home with a gamified onboarding card to walk you through your first analysis. Or jump straight to Reports → + New analysis, fill in an address, pick a mode, and click Run. The report list updates live (60–120 seconds) and any completed row opens the same structured analysis the API returns. No code required.

Analyze a 5-acre parcel in Taos, NM:

curl -X POST https://api.acrelens.com/v1/analyze \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer al_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -d '{
    "address": "123 Canyon Rd, Taos, NM",
    "state": "NM",
    "mode": "off_grid",
    "county": "Taos",
    "acreage": 5.2,
    "asking_price": 65000
  }'

const res = await fetch("https://api.acrelens.com/v1/analyze", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": `Bearer ${process.env.ACRELENS_API_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "Idempotency-Key": crypto.randomUUID(),
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    address: "123 Canyon Rd, Taos, NM",
    state: "NM",
    mode: "off_grid",
    county: "Taos",
    acreage: 5.2,
    asking_price: 65000,
  }),
});
const { report_id, poll_url } = await res.json();

import os, uuid, requests

res = requests.post(
    "https://api.acrelens.com/v1/analyze",
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['ACRELENS_API_KEY']}",
        "Idempotency-Key": str(uuid.uuid4()),
    },
    json={
        "address": "123 Canyon Rd, Taos, NM",
        "state": "NM",
        "mode": "off_grid",
        "county": "Taos",
        "acreage": 5.2,
        "asking_price": 65000,
    },
)
data = res.json()

The API responds immediately with 202 Accepted while the report runs in the background:

Response

{
  "report_id": "rpt_01HY2Z...",
  "status": "processing",
  "mode": "off_grid",
  "estimated_completion_seconds": 90,
  "poll_url": "https://api.acrelens.com/v1/reports/rpt_01HY2Z..."
}

4. Receive the result

You have two options. Pick webhooks for production — polling burns rate-limit quota and adds latency.

Option A — webhooks (recommended)

Set a webhook_url in your dashboard or per-request. AcreLens POSTs to it with HMAC-SHA256-signed bodies when the report finishes. See the webhooks guide for the signature scheme and retry behavior.

Option B — poll the `poll_url`

curl https://api.acrelens.com/v1/reports/rpt_01HY2Z... \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer al_live_..."

Reports typically complete in 60–120 seconds. While processing, you’ll get back the basic envelope. Once status is "completed", you’ll see the full body:

Completed report (abridged)

{
  "report_id": "rpt_01HY2Z...",
  "status": "completed",
  "mode": "off_grid",
  "property": {
    "address": "123 Canyon Rd, Taos, NM",
    "state": "NM",
    "county": "Taos",
    "acreage": 5.2,
    "lat": 36.4072,
    "lng": -105.5734,
    "asking_price": 65000
  },
  "scores": {
    "overall": 78,
    "sub_scores": { "solar": 92, "water": 64, "septic": 71, "building_codes": 80, "access": 83 }
  },
  "confidence": { "solar": "high", "water": "medium", "septic": "medium", "building_codes": "high", "access": "high" },
  "summary": "Strong off-grid fundamentals — top-tier solar, accessible groundwater. Material risk is county-level RV/septic rules pending verification.",
  "details": {
    "solar": { "score": 92, "summary": "...", "details": ["..."] },
    "water": { "score": 64, "summary": "...", "details": ["..."] },
    "buildability": { "score": 71, "summary": "...", "details": ["..."], "rv_living_allowed": "conditional", "composting_toilet_allowed": "conditional", "permit_difficulty": "moderate" },
    "access": { "score": 83, "summary": "...", "details": ["..."] }
  },
  "considerations": ["..."],
  "estimated_costs": { "solar": {...}, "well": {...}, "septic": {...}, "road": {...}, "permits": {...}, "total_low": 31500, "total_high": 83000 },
  "sources": [...],
  "generated_at": "2026-04-28T22:00:00.000Z"
}

See the endpoint reference for the complete schema with all details, considerations, and estimated_costs fields.

5. Render however you want

The API returns structured JSON — that’s the deliverable. Pipe it into your own UI, generate a PDF with your branding, ask Claude/GPT to summarize it, push to a Notion page, drop in Slack. Bring your own format.

Next steps

Match the right analysis mode to what your users care about — sub-scores differ.
Set up webhooks so you’re not polling.
Use idempotency keys on every POST so retries don’t double-charge.
Browse the full endpoint reference when you’re ready to go beyond /v1/analyze.

Get started

Concepts

Guides

Reference

1. Create an account

2. Grab your API key

3. Make your first request

4. Receive the result

Option A — webhooks (recommended)

Option B — poll the `poll_url`

5. Render however you want

Next steps

​1. Create an account

​2. Grab your API key

​3. Make your first request

​4. Receive the result

​Option A — webhooks (recommended)

​Option B — poll the poll_url

​5. Render however you want

​Next steps

1. Create an account

2. Grab your API key

3. Make your first request

4. Receive the result

Option A — webhooks (recommended)

Option B — poll the `poll_url`

5. Render however you want

Next steps