# Smart Telescope Atlas — public catalogue API

## Read-only access

GET https://smarttelescopeatlas.com/data/telescopes.json

No authentication, registration, cookies or payment is required. This is a static JSON document, refreshed with each site build. It accepts no filter or mutation parameters. Select records locally by slug. Cache according to response headers; do not repeatedly poll for live prices.

The response contains source, license, citation, updated, imageRights, methodology, pricePolicy, fitPolicy and telescopes. Each telescope includes its slug, name, manufacturer specifications, source/check dates, reference price, field-of-view basis, derived framedWell count and canonical url. Keep other notes, regional restrictions and pre-order details with the record. Field names and optional values are described by /openapi.json; new optional fields may be added.

Prices are dated reference observations in their stated currency, not live quotes, stock or delivery guarantees. framedWell is a calculated native-field fit for framedWellTotal selected objects, not visibility or image-quality evidence. We do not test hardware. Preserve unknown values, source discrepancies and regional/pre-order caveats. Manufacturer images retain copyright and are excluded from the data's CC BY 4.0 licence. Cite the supplied citation, record URL, sources and check dates. Do not infer safe solar use from catalogue inclusion.

## Discovery

- API catalog: /.well-known/api-catalog (RFC 9727 linkset).
- OpenAPI description: /openapi.json.
- Agent skill: /.well-known/agent-skills/compare-smart-telescopes/SKILL.md (verify its SHA-256 against /.well-known/agent-skills/index.json).
- ARD entries: /.well-known/ard.json; /.well-known/ai-catalog.json is the legacy alias.
- Broader source-linked summary: /llms.txt.

The optional WebMCP tool get_telescope_catalog is registered on the six homepages when document.modelContext or navigator.modelContext is available. It reads the same public JSON, optionally selecting one to four unique catalogue slugs. It returns the policies with the records and performs no navigation, purchases, location lookups or private API access. Unsupported browsers use the ordinary website or JSON endpoint without a polyfill.

These resources do not advertise an OAuth issuer, a hosted MCP server, A2A service, checkout, payment endpoint or agent registration service. Internal /api/* endpoints are not part of this public catalogue API.