category

Browse the FRED® data category tree.

Categories organize FRED data into a hierarchical structure rooted at category 0 (the root). Use the category command to explore the taxonomy, inspect category metadata, list child categories, and discover series grouped under specific economic topics.


USAGE

reserve category [subcommand]

Available Subcommands:

SubcommandDescription
getFetch metadata for a category
listList direct children of a category 
seriesList series belonging to a category 
treeRecursively display the category subtree
reserve category [subcommand] –help (for more details about a specific subcommand)

GET

Fetch metadata for a specific category.

Usage: reserve category get <CATEGORY_ID>

## Category ID 0 (root)
$ reserve category get 0

# Get category metadata and format as JSON
$ reserve category get 0 --format json

LIST

List direct children of a category.

Usage: reserve category list <CATEGORY_ID>

## List top-level categories
$ reserve category list 0

## List child categories under a specific category
$ reserve category list 32455

TREE

Recursively display the full category subtree.

Usage: reserve category tree <CATEGORY_ID>

## Display full category hierarchy
$ reserve category tree 0

## Display subtree for a specific category
$ reserve category tree 32455

SERIES

## Get series under category 32455 (default 20)
$ reserve category series 32455

## Limit results
$ reserve category series 32455 --limit 5

## Format for spreadsheet import
$ reserve category series 32455 --format csv

WORKFLOW 

## Discover top-level economic domains:
$ reserve category list 0

## Drill into a category:
$ reserve category list 32455

## Inspect category metadata:
$ reserve category get 32455

## List series within the category:
$ reserve category series 32455 --limit 50

Currency exchange rate example:

# Interogate Money, Banking, and Finance category
reserve category tree 32991 --depth 2

├── [15] Exchange Rates
   ├── [94] Daily Rates
   ├── [95] Monthly Rates
   ├── [32219] Annual Rates
   ├── [105] Trade-Weighted Indexes
   └── [158] By Country

# Get Mexico ID for Exchange rates by Country
reserve category tree 158 --depth 2 | grep Mexico
├── [269] Mexico

# Look for daily spot rate code
reserve category series 269 --limit 50
| DEXMXUS | Mexican Pesos to U.S. Dollar Spot Exchange Rate | D    |

# Pull observation data
reserve obs get DEXMXUS --start 2025-01-01
+---------+------------+---------+
| SERIES  | DATE       | VALUE   |
+---------+------------+---------+
| DEXMXUS | 2025-01-01 |       . |
| DEXMXUS | 2025-01-02 |  20.625 |
| DEXMXUS | 2025-01-03 |  20.649 |
| DEXMXUS | 2025-01-06 | 20.2771 |
| DEXMXUS | 2025-01-07 | 20.3255 |

OUTPUT

RESERVE utilizes a command-line interface package that outputs hierarchies in an ASCII based tree format by default.

reserve category tree root --depth 2
[0] Categories
├── [32991] Money, Banking, & Finance
   ├── [22] Interest Rates
   ├── [15] Exchange Rates
   ├── [24] Monetary Data
   ├── [46] Financial Indicators
   ├── [23] Banking
   ├── [32360] Business Lending
   └── [32145] Foreign Exchange Intervention
├── [10] Population, Employment, & Labor Markets
   ├── [12] Current Population Survey (Household Survey)
   ├── [11] Current Employment Statistics (Establishment Survey)
   ├── [32250] ADP Employment
   ├── [33500] Education
   ├── [33001] Income Distribution
   ├── [32241] Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTS)
   ├── [33509] Labor Market Conditions
   ├── [104] Population
   ├── [2] Productivity & Costs
   ├── [33831] Minimum Wage
   ├── [32240] Weekly Initial Claims
   └── [33731] Tax Data

reserve category tree 32991 --depth 2
[32991] Money, Banking, & Finance
├── [22] Interest Rates
   ├── [34009] AMERIBOR Benchmark Rates
   ├── [33058] Automobile Loan Rates
   ├── [51] Bankers Acceptance Rate
   ├── [121] Certificates of Deposit
   ├── [120] Commercial Paper
   ├── [32348] Corporate Bonds
   ├── [33059] Credit Card Loan Rates
   ├── [34005] EONIA Rates
   ├── [34007] Euro Short-Term Rate
   ├── [32298] Eurodollar Deposits
   ├── [118] FRB Rates - discount, fed funds, primary credit
   ├── [33056] Interest Checking Accounts
   ├── [33446] Interest Rate Spreads
   ├── [32299] Interest Rate Swaps
   ├── [32995] Long-Term Securities
   ├── [34242] Monetary Policy
   ├── [33055] Money Market Accounts
   ├── [114] Mortgage Rates
   ├── [33057] Personal Loan Rates
   ├── [117] Prime Bank Loan Rate
   ├── [33491] Saving Accounts
   ├── [34003] SONIA Rates
   ├── [116] Treasury Bills
   ├── [115] Treasury Constant Maturity
   └── [82] Treasury Inflation-Indexed Securities
├── [15] Exchange Rates
   ├── [94] Daily Rates
   ├── [95] Monthly Rates
   ├── [32219] Annual Rates
   ├── [105] Trade-Weighted Indexes
   └── [158] By Country

RESERVE can also output category data in machine readable formats:

# Format as JSON
reserve category get 32991 --format json

# Format as CSV
reserve category series 32991 --limit 10 --format csv

See Global Flags for additional global options available for this command.

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Not endorsed nor supported by the FRED® API technical team

© 2026 Derick Schaefer