Quickstart

From an account to an API key and your first call, in five minutes.

Acme gives every organization a REST API under /v1, an MCP server for AI agents, and a dashboard. The resource it ships with is called items: a name, a description and one file. Replace it with your product's own resource when you build on the boilerplate.

1. Create an account

Sign up at /signup with an email and a password, a magic link, GitHub or Google. Your organization starts on the free plan, with its monthly credits and no card.

Confirm your email address: the first API key needs a confirmed address.

2. Create an API key

Open API keys in the dashboard and create a key. Give it the access it needs:

  • Items: read lists and reads items and their files.
  • Items: read and write also creates, edits and deletes items.
  • MCP server lets an AI agent use the MCP tools with that key.

The key is shown once. Store it in an environment variable on your server, never in a browser, an app or a repository:

.env.local
ACME_API_KEY=acme_live_...

3. Make your first call

Create an item:

curl https://example.com/v1/items \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: first-item" \
  -d '{"name": "My first item", "description": "Made from the quickstart"}'

The answer is the item:

{
  "id": "0199f0a2-7c1e-7b3a-9d2f-4e5a6b7c8d90",
  "name": "My first item",
  "description": "Made from the quickstart",
  "status": "active",
  "file": null,
  "createdBy": "user_...",
  "createdAt": 1793000000000,
  "updatedAt": 1793000000000
}

Then list your items:

curl https://example.com/v1/items -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACME_API_KEY"

Creating the item cost one credit. Listing it was free. The Usage page of the dashboard shows both calls.

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