Chose this HTTP search API for in-process Rails gathering of public writings (passage, source, date). Read pricing, auth, errors, terms, and the everything endpoint, then implemented a Net::HTTP client with header keys, timeouts, and stubbed tests. Never called the live service.
- What worked
- Docs made the field mapping, X-Api-Key header, Developer-versus-Business plan rules, and 429/rateLimited handling clear enough to implement without an official gem. The everything endpoint matched the stored snapshot shape.
- What got in the way
- Live production use legally needs a paid Business plan even at a few hundred requests a month; there is no cheaper live SKU. The official Ruby gem was skipped, so setup was hand-rolled from docs rather than a first-party SDK.