# Trigger an on-demand self-tuning optimize

`POST /contexts/{slug}/optimize`

:::code-group
```bash title="cURL"
curl --request POST \
  --url https://{host}/api/contexts/{slug}/optimize \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'X-Pinecone-Api-Version: <x-pinecone-api-version>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
  "eval_pass_rate_threshold": 123,
  "retrieval_p90_latency_ms": 123,
  "optimize_timeout_seconds": 123,
  "max_iterations": 123,
  "max_tool_turns": 123,
  "models": [
    "<string>"
  ],
  "candidate_queries": [
    {
      "ask": "<string>",
      "answer": "<string>",
      "fallback_to_chunks": true,
      "latency_ms": 123
    }
  ],
  "pinecone_api_key": "<string>"
}'
```

```python title="Python"
import requests

url = "https://{host}/api/contexts/{slug}/optimize"

payload = {
  "eval_pass_rate_threshold": 123,
  "retrieval_p90_latency_ms": 123,
  "optimize_timeout_seconds": 123,
  "max_iterations": 123,
  "max_tool_turns": 123,
  "models": [
    "<string>"
  ],
  "candidate_queries": [
    {
      "ask": "<string>",
      "answer": "<string>",
      "fallback_to_chunks": True,
      "latency_ms": 123
    }
  ],
  "pinecone_api_key": "<string>"
}
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer <token>",
    "X-Pinecone-Api-Version": "<x-pinecone-api-version>",
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)

print(response.text)
```

```javascript title="JavaScript"
const options = {method: "POST", headers: {"Authorization": "Bearer <token>", "X-Pinecone-Api-Version": "<x-pinecone-api-version>", "Content-Type": "application/json"}, body: JSON.stringify({
  "eval_pass_rate_threshold": 123,
  "retrieval_p90_latency_ms": 123,
  "optimize_timeout_seconds": 123,
  "max_iterations": 123,
  "max_tool_turns": 123,
  "models": [
    "<string>"
  ],
  "candidate_queries": [
    {
      "ask": "<string>",
      "answer": "<string>",
      "fallback_to_chunks": true,
      "latency_ms": 123
    }
  ],
  "pinecone_api_key": "<string>"
})};

fetch("https://{host}/api/contexts/{slug}/optimize", options)
  .then(res => res.json())
  .then(res => console.log(res))
  .catch(err => console.error(err));
```

```php title="PHP"
<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://{host}/api/contexts/{slug}/optimize",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "POST",
  CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => "{\"eval_pass_rate_threshold\":123,\"retrieval_p90_latency_ms\":123,\"optimize_timeout_seconds\":123,\"max_iterations\":123,\"max_tool_turns\":123,\"models\":[\"<string>\"],\"candidate_queries\":[{\"ask\":\"<string>\",\"answer\":\"<string>\",\"fallback_to_chunks\":true,\"latency_ms\":123}],\"pinecone_api_key\":\"<string>\"}",
  CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
    "Authorization: Bearer <token>",
    "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: <x-pinecone-api-version>",
    "Content-Type: application/json"
  ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}
```

```go title="Go"
package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"strings"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://{host}/api/contexts/{slug}/optimize"

	payload := strings.NewReader("{\"eval_pass_rate_threshold\":123,\"retrieval_p90_latency_ms\":123,\"optimize_timeout_seconds\":123,\"max_iterations\":123,\"max_tool_turns\":123,\"models\":[\"<string>\"],\"candidate_queries\":[{\"ask\":\"<string>\",\"answer\":\"<string>\",\"fallback_to_chunks\":true,\"latency_ms\":123}],\"pinecone_api_key\":\"<string>\"}")

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", url, payload)

	req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
	req.Header.Add("X-Pinecone-Api-Version", "<x-pinecone-api-version>")
	req.Header.Add("Content-Type", "application/json")

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(string(body))

}
```

```java title="Java"
HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.post("https://{host}/api/contexts/{slug}/optimize")
  .header("Authorization", "Bearer <token>")
  .header("X-Pinecone-Api-Version", "<x-pinecone-api-version>")
  .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
  .body("{\"eval_pass_rate_threshold\":123,\"retrieval_p90_latency_ms\":123,\"optimize_timeout_seconds\":123,\"max_iterations\":123,\"max_tool_turns\":123,\"models\":[\"<string>\"],\"candidate_queries\":[{\"ask\":\"<string>\",\"answer\":\"<string>\",\"fallback_to_chunks\":true,\"latency_ms\":123}],\"pinecone_api_key\":\"<string>\"}")
  .asString();
```

```ruby title="Ruby"
require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://{host}/api/contexts/{slug}/optimize")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(url)
request["Authorization"] = 'Bearer <token>'
request["X-Pinecone-Api-Version"] = '<x-pinecone-api-version>'
request["Content-Type"] = 'application/json'
request.body = "{\"eval_pass_rate_threshold\":123,\"retrieval_p90_latency_ms\":123,\"optimize_timeout_seconds\":123,\"max_iterations\":123,\"max_tool_turns\":123,\"models\":[\"<string>\"],\"candidate_queries\":[{\"ask\":\"<string>\",\"answer\":\"<string>\",\"fallback_to_chunks\":true,\"latency_ms\":123}],\"pinecone_api_key\":\"<string>\"}"

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body
```
:::

:::code-group
```json title="200"
{
  "task_id": "<string>",
  "state": "<string>",
  "exploring": true,
  "profiling": true,
  "importing": true
}
```

```json title="404"
{
  "message": "<string>",
  "code": "<string>"
}
```
:::

#### Authorizations

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `Authorization` | `string` | - |  |

Session token from `POST /auth/login`, sent as `Authorization: Bearer <token>`.

#### Headers

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `X-Pinecone-Api-Version?` | `string` | `2026-07` | Date-based contract version, echoed back on the same header. Omit for the default (2026-07); send unstable for the in-development surface. An unrecognized value is rejected with 400 unsupported_api_version. |

#### Path Parameters

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `slug` | `string` | - | Context slug or UUID. |

#### Body

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `eval_pass_rate_threshold?` | `number` | - | Pass rate a candidate manifest must clear to count as ready. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `retrieval_p90_latency_ms?` | `integer` | - | The p90 latency bar a candidate must stay under. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `optimize_timeout_seconds?` | `integer` | - | Default 7200 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `max_iterations?` | `integer` | - | Default 20 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `max_tool_turns?` | `integer` | - | Default 200 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `models?` | `string[]` | - | Model-id overrides passed to the optimize runtime |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `candidate_queries?` | `object[]` | - | Recent query records to tune toward (absent = no-op) |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `ask?` | `string` | - | The question to tune retrieval against. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `answer?` | `string` | - | Used as eval ground truth |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `fallback_to_chunks?` | `boolean` | - | Whether answering this query had to drill from artifacts down to chunks. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `latency_ms?` | `number` | - | Latency the query showed in real traffic, as a tuning baseline. |
:::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `pinecone_api_key?` | `string` | - | Task-token override; normally not needed |

#### Response

`200` — Optimize enqueued (`state: optimizing`)

What every context-workflow trigger returns. The work is asynchronous: poll `GET /tasks/{task_id}`. The per-workflow booleans duplicate `state` and appear only where a workflow's contract names one.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `task_id` | `string` | - | The enqueued task. Poll it at GET /tasks/id. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `state` | `string` | - | The forward-looking status the trigger put the context into. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `exploring?` | `boolean` | - | Duplicates state; present only for explore |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `profiling?` | `boolean` | - | Duplicates state; present only for profile |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `importing?` | `boolean` | - | Duplicates state; present only for the import/curate triggers |

## Related pages

- [List contexts (newest first, with stats)](./data-plane-contexts-list-contexts-newest-first-with-stats.md)
- [Create a context](./data-plane-contexts-create-a-context.md)
- [Get a context](./data-plane-contexts-get-a-context.md)
- [Update a context](./data-plane-contexts-update-a-context.md)
- [Delete a context (and its Pinecone indexes)](./data-plane-contexts-delete-a-context-and-its-pinecone-indexes.md)
- [Per-context task statistics](./data-plane-contexts-per-context-task-statistics.md)
- [Run the Design-flow explore agent (propose a manifest)](./data-plane-contexts-run-the-design-flow-explore-agent-propose-a-manifest.md)
- [Estimate the token + time cost of curating the in-progress manifest](./data-plane-contexts-estimate-the-token-time-cost-of-curating-the-in-progress-manifest.md)

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