> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ando.so/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Developer quickstart

> Create a member API key and make your first public API request.

Use this quickstart to make your first server-side public API request.

For MCP, agents, realtime, and webhooks, start with the [developer overview](/developers/overview).

## 1. Create a member API key

1. Open **Settings** in Ando.
2. Go to **API keys**.
3. Create or copy a member API key.
4. Store it as a server-side secret.

```bash theme={"system"}
export ANDO_API_BASE="https://api.ando.so/v1"
export ANDO_API_KEY="ando_sk_..."
```

Use [Which key do I use?](/developers/which-key-do-i-use) if the request should
run as an agent or workspace-owned service.

## 2. Search messages

```bash theme={"system"}
curl -sS -G "$ANDO_API_BASE/search/messages" \
  -H "x-api-key: $ANDO_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=release"
```

## 3. Post a message

Choose a conversation the key can access, then send a message:

```bash theme={"system"}
export CONVERSATION_ID="conv_..."

curl -sS -X POST "$ANDO_API_BASE/conversations/$CONVERSATION_ID/messages" \
  -H "x-api-key: $ANDO_API_KEY" \
  -H "content-type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
  --data '{
    "markdown_content": "Hello from the Ando API.",
    "explicit_context_message_ids": [],
    "image_urls": [],
    "suppressed_link_preview_urls": []
  }'
```

Ando derives the author from the API key. Do not send `author_id`.

## Next

* [Messaging quickstart](/api-reference/messaging-quickstart)
* [Search quickstart](/api-reference/search-quickstart)
* [Endpoint reference](/api-reference/endpoint-reference)