> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.thebuoy.app/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Search for reading closest to a specific time > Find the reading closest to a target datetime within a tolerance window. Useful for finding conditions at a specific past time. ## OpenAPI ````yaml /api-reference/openapi.json get /buoys/{buoy_id}/readings/search openapi: 3.0.3 info: title: The Buoy API version: 2.0.0 description: >- **The Buoy API** — programmatic access to ocean wave buoys on The Surf Kit platform. All operations are **read-only** (`GET`). Data includes live and historical readings, geographic filters, chart time series, and **`GET /conditions`** (combined forecast, buoy reading, and tide for a point). ## Authentication Pass your API key in the `Authorization` header: ``` Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY ``` `GET /buoys/search` and `GET /buoys/nearest` are public (no key required). ## Rate limiting Responses include `X-RateLimit-*` headers. Exceeding your hourly quota returns `429 Too Many Requests`. contact: name: API Support email: thomas@thebuoy.app license: name: Proprietary servers: - url: https://api.thebuoy.app/v2 description: Production server (V2) - url: http://localhost:3000/api/v2 description: Development server (V2) security: - ApiKeyAuth: [] tags: - name: Buoys description: Real-time ocean buoy data - name: Satellite Passes description: >- Satellite altimeter passes over virtual buoys, and the missions behind them - name: Conditions description: All-in-one conditions endpoint paths: /buoys/{buoy_id}/readings/search: get: tags: - Buoys summary: Search for reading closest to a specific time description: | Find the reading closest to a target datetime within a tolerance window. Useful for finding conditions at a specific past time. operationId: searchBuoyReadings parameters: - name: buoy_id in: path required: true schema: type: integer - name: date in: query required: true description: Target date (YYYY-MM-DD) schema: type: string format: date - name: time in: query required: true description: Target time (HH:MM) schema: type: string pattern: ^[0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2}$ - name: tolerance_hours in: query description: 'Hours to search around target time (default: 3, max: 24)' schema: type: integer default: 3 minimum: 1 maximum: 24 responses: '200': description: Successful response headers: X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitLimit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitRemaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitReset' content: application/json: schema: type: object properties: status: type: string example: success data: type: object properties: closest_reading: allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/BuoyReading' - type: object properties: time_diff_minutes: type: integer description: Minutes difference from target time search_parameters: type: object properties: target_datetime: type: string format: date-time tolerance_hours: type: integer search_range: type: object properties: start: type: string format: date-time end: type: string format: date-time '400': $ref: '#/components/responses/BadRequest' description: Missing date or time parameter, or invalid format '401': $ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized' '404': $ref: '#/components/responses/NotFound' description: No reading found within tolerance window '429': $ref: '#/components/responses/RateLimitExceeded' security: - ApiKeyAuth: [] components: headers: XRateLimitLimit: schema: type: integer description: Maximum requests allowed per hour example: 1000 description: Maximum requests allowed per hour XRateLimitRemaining: schema: type: integer description: Requests remaining in current hour example: 987 description: Requests remaining in current hour XRateLimitReset: schema: type: integer description: Unix timestamp when rate limit resets example: 1735326000 description: Unix timestamp when rate limit resets schemas: BuoyReading: type: object description: Individual buoy reading properties: id: type: integer uuid: type: string description: Unique identifier for the reading significient_height: type: number format: float description: Significant wave height in meters maximum_height: type: number format: float description: Maximum wave height in meters period: type: number format: float description: Wave period in seconds time: type: string format: date-time description: Reading timestamp water_temperature: type: number format: float description: Water temperature in Celsius direction: type: integer description: Wave direction in degrees (0-360) direction_compass: type: string description: Compass direction (e.g., "SW", "NW") unit: type: string description: Unit abbreviation (e.g., "m") energy_per_wave: type: number format: float description: Energy per wave in kilojoules ErrorResponse: type: object description: Standardized error response format for V2 API properties: error: type: string description: >- Error code (e.g., "unauthorized", "bad_request", "resource_not_found") example: unauthorized message: type: string description: Human-readable error message example: Invalid API key details: type: object description: Additional error details (optional, varies by error type) responses: BadRequest: description: Bad request (400 Bad Request) content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' example: error: bad_request message: Search term must be at least 2 characters timestamp: '2025-12-27T14:30:00Z' request_id: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 Unauthorized: description: Invalid or missing API key (401 Unauthorized) content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' example: error: unauthorized message: Invalid API key timestamp: '2025-12-27T14:30:00Z' request_id: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 NotFound: description: Resource not found (404 Not Found) content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' example: error: resource_not_found message: Couldn't find Spot with 'id'=999 timestamp: '2025-12-27T14:30:00Z' request_id: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 RateLimitExceeded: description: Rate limit exceeded (429 Too Many Requests) headers: X-RateLimit-Limit: schema: type: integer description: Maximum requests allowed per hour example: 1000 X-RateLimit-Remaining: schema: type: integer description: Requests remaining in current hour example: 0 X-RateLimit-Reset: schema: type: integer description: Unix timestamp when rate limit resets (top of next hour) example: 1735326000 Retry-After: schema: type: integer description: Seconds to wait before retrying example: 3600 content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' example: error: rate_limit_exceeded message: You have exceeded 1000 requests per hour timestamp: '2025-12-27T14:30:00Z' request_id: 550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000 securitySchemes: ApiKeyAuth: type: http scheme: bearer bearerFormat: API Key description: > API key authentication. Pass your API key as a Bearer token in the Authorization header. Format: `Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY` Alternative: Pass as query parameter `?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY` **Security:** API keys are stored as BCrypt hashes (never plain text). Only the hash is stored in the database. ````