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Make your first estimate

This guide takes about five minutes. You need an account with Estimate API access and a terminal with curl.

Create a test key​

  1. Sign in at wfskills.com/portal/developer.
  2. Select New key, name it, and keep Test selected.
  3. Confirm your password when the dashboard asks for it.
  4. Copy the key. The dashboard shows it once.

A test key never spends credits. It answers the sandbox inputs from fixed examples.

Send the request​

Put the key in an environment variable, then send a sandbox input:

export HOMETOWN_API_KEY=hw_test_<your_key>

curl https://api.wfskills.com/v1/estimates \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $HOMETOWN_API_KEY" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"input": {"text": "sandbox:priced"}}'

Read the answer​

The answer is the estimate for 100 feet of wood fence in the Mississippi Gulf Coast region:

{
  "status": "priced",
  "region": "US-MS",
  "currency": "USD",
  "task": { "slug": "home-improvement.fence.install", "trade": "fence", "action": "install", "unit": "linear_foot" },
  "labor": { "hours": 18, "elapsed_hours": 9.45, "hourly_rate_cents": 7200, "rate_source": "typical" },
  "price": { "min_cents": 103680, "max_cents": 155520 },
  "steps": [
    { "text": "Scope: 100 linear feet of fence (install)" },
    { "text": "Hours: 4.00 setup + (100 x 0.1400 per linear foot) = 18.00 labor hours" },
    { "text": "Rate: $72.00/hr, going rate for fence work, no rate on file" },
    { "text": "Labor: 18.00 h x $72.00 = $1,296.00" },
    { "text": "Crew of 2: same 18.0 labor hours and the same cost, finished in about 9.4 hours on site" }
  ]
}
  • labor.hours is the total labor. elapsed_hours is the time on site with the crew.
  • price is a range in cents: USD 1,036.80 to USD 1,555.20.
  • steps shows how Hometown reached the numbers.

What it cost​

The answer carries X-Credits-Used: 0. A test key spends no credits, and the dashboard counts live calls only.

Next steps​

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