# Snopes API

> Snopes returns fact checks, claims, ratings, and article details as a workflow and API.

Snopes searches fact checks by claim and returns matching claims, ratings, summaries, authors, and article details; it needs a claim to search. List latest fact checks returns recent claims and article details overall or by topic; it can take a topic and maximum number of results.

- Page: https://fous.com/tools/snopes
- Handle: `@snopes`
- Category: [News](https://fous.com/tools/category/news)
- Source website: https://snopes.com
- Last verified: Sep 29, 2026

## Methods

### List latest fact checks

Operation `list_latest_fact_checks`, version 1. 1 credit per completed call. Failed calls without a completed billing receipt are free; completed work can remain charged if delivery is interrupted.

List the newest Snopes fact checks overall or in a topic, with each claim, rating, author, publication date, image and article link. Topics follow Snopes article categories; less active topics may have fewer recent checks.

**Input**

| Field | Type | Required | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| `topic` | string | no | `"all"` | Topic to list, for example politics. |
| `max_results` | integer | no | `20` | Maximum number of checks to return, for example 20. |

**Input schema**

```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "topic": {
      "enum": [
        "all",
        "politics",
        "health",
        "entertainment",
        "science",
        "technology",
        "business",
        "news"
      ],
      "type": "string",
      "default": "all",
      "description": "Topic to list, for example politics.",
      "examples": [
        "all",
        "politics",
        "technology"
      ]
    },
    "max_results": {
      "type": "integer",
      "default": 20,
      "maximum": 50,
      "minimum": 1,
      "description": "Maximum number of checks to return, for example 20.",
      "x-fous-developer": true,
      "examples": [
        20,
        5,
        3
      ]
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false,
  "examples": [
    {
      "topic": "all",
      "max_results": 20
    },
    {
      "topic": "politics",
      "max_results": 5
    },
    {
      "topic": "technology",
      "max_results": 3
    }
  ]
}
```

**Output**

| Field | Type | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `fact_checks` | array |  |  |
| `fact_checks[].claim` | string or null | `"Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, is getting a divorce because of an affair with Rep. Jamie Raskin, a ` | Claim as Snopes words it. |
| `fact_checks[].topic` | string or null | `"Politics"` | Snopes article topic. |
| `fact_checks[].author` | string or null | `"Rae Deng"` | Author name. |
| `fact_checks[].rating` | string or null | `"Originated as Satire"` | Snopes rating label. |
| `fact_checks[].headline` | string or null | `"Bogus story claims Liz Cheney is getting divorced due to affair with Jamie Raskin"` | Fact-check headline. |
| `fact_checks[].image_link` | string or null | `"https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/1200/height/675/https://media.snopes.com/2026/09/liz_cheney_and_jamie_raskin.png"` | Featured image link. |
| `fact_checks[].published_date` | string or null | `"2026-09-28"` | Publication date in YYYY-MM-DD format. |
| `fact_checks[].fact_check_link` | string or null | `"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/liz-cheney-divorce-raskin-affair/"` | Fact-check page link. |

**Example input**

```json
{
  "topic": "all",
  "max_results": 20
}
```

**Example output**

```json
{
  "fact_checks": [
    {
      "claim": "Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, is getting a divorce because of an affair with Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat.",
      "topic": "Politics",
      "author": "Rae Deng",
      "rating": "Originated as Satire",
      "headline": "Bogus story claims Liz Cheney is getting divorced due to affair with Jamie Raskin",
      "image_link": "https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/1200/height/675/https://media.snopes.com/2026/09/liz_cheney_and_jamie_raskin.png",
      "published_date": "2026-09-28",
      "fact_check_link": "https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/liz-cheney-divorce-raskin-affair/"
    },
    {
      "claim": "The official poverty rate in the U.S. hit an all-time historical low in 2025.",
      "topic": "Politics",
      "author": "Laerke Christensen",
      "rating": "True",
      "headline": "Is official US poverty rate at all-time historical low, as Trump claimed?",
      "image_link": "https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/1200/height/675/https://media.snopes.com/2026/09/trump_best_poverty_rate.png",
      "published_date": "2026-09-28",
      "fact_check_link": "https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-best-poverty-quote/"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Major League Baseball approached U.S. President Donald Trump's administration regarding the possibility of hosting a game at a national park, specifically at Grand Teton National Park",
      "topic": "Politics",
      "author": "Anna Rascouët-Paz",
      "rating": "Mixture",
      "headline": "Did MLB approach White House about hosting game at Grand Teton National Park?",
      "image_link": "https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/1200/height/675/https://media.snopes.com/2026/09/did_mlb_approach_white_house_about_hosting_baseball_game_at_national_park.png",
      "published_date": "2026-09-28",
      "fact_check_link": "https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/national-park-mlb-game/"
    }
  ]
}
```

### Search fact checks

Operation `search_fact_checks`, version 1. 1 credit per completed call. Failed calls without a completed billing receipt are free; completed work can remain charged if delivery is interrupted.

Search Snopes for fact-checks of a claim, in relevance order. Excludes news and other pages; broad searches can reach the end of Snopes’ available result pages before the requested limit.

**Input**

| Field | Type | Required | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| `claim` | string | yes | `"Bill Gates microchip vaccine"` | The rumour or claim to search for, e.g. Bill Gates microchip vaccine. |
| `max_results` | integer | no | `16` | Maximum fact-checks to return, e.g. 10. |

**Input schema**

```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "claim"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "claim": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The rumour or claim to search for, e.g. Bill Gates microchip vaccine.",
      "examples": [
        "Bill Gates microchip vaccine",
        "vaccine",
        "zzxqyplmokn123987notarealclaim"
      ]
    },
    "max_results": {
      "type": "integer",
      "default": 10,
      "maximum": 50,
      "minimum": 1,
      "description": "Maximum fact-checks to return, e.g. 10.",
      "x-fous-developer": true,
      "examples": [
        16
      ]
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false,
  "examples": [
    {
      "claim": "Bill Gates microchip vaccine"
    },
    {
      "claim": "vaccine",
      "max_results": 16
    },
    {
      "claim": "zzxqyplmokn123987notarealclaim"
    }
  ]
}
```

**Output**

| Field | Type | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| `fact_checks` | array |  | Matching Snopes fact-checks in search relevance order. |
| `fact_checks[].claim` | string or null | `"Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates tweeted the joke, \"I guess we finally ran out of microchips,\" in response to a previo` | Claim in Snopes’ words. |
| `fact_checks[].author` | string or null | `"Jordan Liles"` | Article author. |
| `fact_checks[].rating` | string or null | `"Correct Attribution"` | Snopes rating label. |
| `fact_checks[].summary` | string or null | `"Gates' joke came in response to a tweet from \"The Daily Show's\" Twitter account about Microsoft's ending its support ` | One-sentence description. |
| `fact_checks[].headline` | string or null | `"Bill Gates Tweets Joke About Microchips Conspiracy Theory"` | Article headline. |
| `fact_checks[].image_link` | string or null | `"https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/1200/height/675/https://media.snopes.com/2022/06/GettyImages-850252202.jpg"` | Article image link. |
| `fact_checks[].published_date` | string or null | `"2022-06-15"` | Published date (YYYY-MM-DD). |
| `fact_checks[].fact_check_link` | string or null | `"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bill-gates-microchips-tweet/"` | Snopes fact-check page link. |

**Example input**

```json
{
  "claim": "Bill Gates microchip vaccine"
}
```

**Example output**

```json
{
  "fact_checks": [
    {
      "claim": "Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates tweeted the joke, \"I guess we finally ran out of microchips,\" in response to a previous tweet from \"The Daily Show's\" Twitter account.",
      "author": "Jordan Liles",
      "rating": "Correct Attribution",
      "summary": "Gates' joke came in response to a tweet from \"The Daily Show's\" Twitter account about Microsoft's ending its support of the Internet Explorer web browser.",
      "headline": "Bill Gates Tweets Joke About Microchips Conspiracy Theory",
      "image_link": "https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/1200/height/675/https://media.snopes.com/2022/06/GettyImages-850252202.jpg",
      "published_date": "2022-06-15",
      "fact_check_link": "https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bill-gates-microchips-tweet/"
    },
    {
      "claim": "Bill Gates —  along with a coalition dubbed \"ID 2020\" — seeks to \"microchip\" the world population using a COVID-19 vaccine.",
      "author": "Alex Kasprak",
      "rating": "False",
      "summary": "Conspiracy theorists misrepresent Bill Gates’ funding of vaccination and digital-identity research as evidence of a nefarious global surveillance plan foretold in the Book of Revelation.",
      "headline": "Are Bill Gates and the ID2020 Coalition Using COVID-19 To Build Global Surveillance State?",
      "image_link": "https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/1200/height/675/https://media.snopes.com/2020/04/GettyImages-1174968755.jpg",
      "published_date": "2020-04-22",
      "fact_check_link": "https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bill-gates-id2020/"
    }
  ]
}
```

## Quick start

Replace `YOUR_API_KEY` with a Fous API key. To create one, open Developers at the bottom of Fous Studio, turn on Developer mode, then go to API keys (https://app.fous.com/keys). Change the values in `input` to run the same tool on new data.

```bash
curl 'https://api.fous.com/v1/query' \
  --fail-with-body --silent --show-error --max-time 180 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
  "api": "@snopes",
  "visibility": "public",
  "operation": "list_latest_fact_checks",
  "version": 1,
  "input": {
    "topic": "all",
    "max_results": 20
  },
  "response": {
    "format": "json"
  }
}'
```

```python
# Save as fous.py and run with python3 fous.py. No packages needed.
import json
import urllib.error
import urllib.request

api_key = "YOUR_API_KEY"

body = json.loads("{\n  \"api\": \"@snopes\",\n  \"visibility\": \"public\",\n  \"operation\": \"list_latest_fact_checks\",\n  \"version\": 1,\n  \"input\": {\n    \"topic\": \"all\",\n    \"max_results\": 20\n  },\n  \"response\": {\n    \"format\": \"json\"\n  }\n}")
request = urllib.request.Request(
    "https://api.fous.com/v1/query",
    data=json.dumps(body).encode("utf-8"),
    headers={
        "Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    method="POST",
)
try:
    with urllib.request.urlopen(request, timeout=180) as response:
        result = json.load(response)
except urllib.error.HTTPError as error:
    raise RuntimeError(f"HTTP {error.code}: {error.read().decode('utf-8', errors='replace')}") from error
if result.get("success") is False:
    raise RuntimeError(result.get("error", {}).get("message", "Request failed"))
print(json.dumps(result["data"]["output"], indent=2))
```

```typescript
// Save as fous.mts and run with npx tsx fous.mts.
const apiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY";

const response = await fetch("https://api.fous.com/v1/query", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  signal: AbortSignal.timeout(180_000),
  body: JSON.stringify({
  "api": "@snopes",
  "visibility": "public",
  "operation": "list_latest_fact_checks",
  "version": 1,
  "input": {
    "topic": "all",
    "max_results": 20
  },
  "response": {
    "format": "json"
  }
}),
});
type ApiResult = { success: boolean; data?: { output: unknown }; error?: { message: string } };
const result: ApiResult = await response.json();
if (!response.ok || result.success === false) {
  throw new Error(result.error?.message ?? `HTTP ${response.status}`);
}
if (!result.data) throw new Error("Missing API response data");
console.log(result.data.output);
```

## Use from an AI assistant

Connect this tool to Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Codex and any MCP client as its own MCP server. Each method is a typed tool whose arguments are the method’s input.

- Server URL: `https://api.fous.com/mcp/tools/snopes`
- Authorization: `Authorization: Bearer <Fous API key>`

**Tools**

- `list_latest_fact_checks`: List latest fact checks. 1 credit per completed call. Failed calls without a completed billing receipt are free; completed work can remain charged if delivery is interrupted.
- `search_fact_checks`: Search fact checks. 1 credit per completed call. Failed calls without a completed billing receipt are free; completed work can remain charged if delivery is interrupted.
- `fous_get_run`: the result of a run that was still going, by its `request_id`. Free.

Claude Code:

```bash
claude mcp add --scope user --transport http fous-snopes https://api.fous.com/mcp/tools/snopes --header "Authorization: Bearer ${FOUS_API_KEY:?Set FOUS_API_KEY to your Fous API key}"
```

To give the assistant every tool, connect `https://api.fous.com/mcp`: it finds one with `fous_search_tools` and runs it with `fous_run_tool`. Setup for other clients: https://fous.com/llms-full.txt.

## Use cases

- Check whether a claim has a Snopes fact check.
- Track recent fact checks by topic.
- Review claim ratings and publication dates.
- Find fact-check headlines and article links.
- Summarize matching checks for a research brief.

## FAQ

### Can I run it with my own inputs?

Yes. Change the inputs in Studio and press Run, or send new inputs from your code, or ask a connected AI assistant.

### Can I call this Snopes tool as an API?

Yes. Send a POST request to /v1/query with your Fous API key and the inputs, and get JSON back.

### How much does it cost?

Each completed run costs 1 credit. Failed runs without a completed receipt are free; completed work can remain charged if delivery is interrupted. With pay as you go, a credit costs 1¢. Monthly plans cost less per credit.

### Do I need a Snopes account?

No. You only need a Fous account.

### How current is the data?

Fous gets the data from snopes.com when you run it. Some results are reused for up to 24 hours, and results that use your account or key are never reused. It was last verified on Sep 29, 2026.

### Which Snopes fact checks match a claim?

Search fact checks returns matching fact checks in relevance order when given a claim.

### What are the latest Snopes fact checks?

List latest fact checks returns the newest checks overall or for a specified topic.

### What rating did Snopes give a claim?

Search fact checks returns Snopes rating labels for matching claims; List latest fact checks returns ratings for recent checks.

## Related

- [PolitiFact API](https://fous.com/tools/politifact.md): Fact checks of political claims and public statements.
- [AP News API](https://fous.com/tools/ap-news.md): AP News provides reporting, up to 50 public-page headlines, searchable articles visible in its search, and full text when accessible.
- [Google News API](https://fous.com/tools/google-news.md): Google News returns recent publisher articles, up to 100 per search, current top stories by topic, country, and language, and local stories by city or region when available.
- [Fox News API](https://fous.com/tools/fox-news.md): Fox News returns section-page headlines, keyword-matched articles among up to 100 available results, and readable article text, including the latest live-blog updates.
- [World Health Organization API](https://fous.com/tools/world-health-organization.md): The World Health Organization provides public health information, latest outbreak reports, country health statistics with up to 10 years of history when available, and topic fact sheets.
- [The New York Times API](https://fous.com/tools/the-new-york-times.md): The New York Times provides current section headlines and summaries, keyword-matched public listings with dates, authors, sections and links, and Best Sellers lists for the latest issue or dates within a week.
- [Hacker News API](https://fous.com/tools/hacker-news.md): Hacker News provides current ranked story lists, searchable stories and comments, discussion threads with up to 500 visible comments excluding deleted or flagged ones, and monthly hiring posts with details when stated.
- [Medium API](https://fous.com/tools/medium.md): Medium returns public writer, publication, and topic articles, including newest posts and weekly popular picks, plus readable article text; member-only stories remain limited to visible previews.
- [All News tools](https://fous.com/tools/category/news)