# Quickstart

Get up and running with Serply API in just a few minutes.

## Production Endpoint

All API requests should be made to:

```
https://api.serply.io
```

## Making Your First API Request

An API key is a token that you provide when making API calls. Include the token in a header parameter called `X-Api-Key`.

### Using cURL

```bash
curl --header 'X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  'https://api.serply.io/v1/search/?q=google+search+api'
```

### Using JavaScript/Node.js

```javascript
const response = await fetch('https://api.serply.io/v1/search/?q=google+search+api', {
  headers: {
    'X-Api-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'
  }
});
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);
```

### Using Python

```python
import requests
from urllib.parse import quote_plus

query = quote_plus('google search api')

response = requests.get(
    f'https://api.serply.io/v1/search/?q={query}',
    headers={'X-Api-Key': 'YOUR_API_KEY'}
)
data = response.json()
print(data)
```

> **Send the query as `?q=`.** The older `/q=` spelling, with the query packed
> into the path, is still accepted and returns the same results, but it cannot
> carry every query. A literal `%` in the search text returns a 400, and a `?`
> or `#` truncates the query there and silently drops the parameters that
> follow, so `/v1/search/q=C%23+tutorial&num=5` searches for `C` and ignores
> `num`. The `?q=` form handles all three correctly. Google Maps is the one
> endpoint that takes its search text as a path segment instead of `q`; see the
> [Google Maps](/docs/resources/google-maps) reference.

## Getting Your API Key

1. Sign up at [app.serply.io](https://app.serply.io)
2. Navigate to your dashboard
3. Copy your API key from the settings page

You can view and manage your API keys in the Dashboard.

## What's Next?

- Learn about [Authentication](/docs/guides/authentication) methods
- Explore our [code examples](/docs/guides/sdks) for various programming languages
- Check out the [API Reference](/docs) for all available endpoints