# Getting started

From API key to first call: create a key, query with curl, read responses, and make retries safe from the start.

> **Type:** area
> **For:** Developers who work with the Szenera API for the first time, with an account in an organization whose package includes API access.

![The portal page Settings › Organization › API keys: the list of sections on the left, and on the right the Create key button and the table of issued keys with name and permissions, class, creator, creation time, validity, and last use](/getting-started/bilder/20c58c63-overview.png)

_This is where every integration starts: the key is created in the portal, and everything else goes through the API._

## Orientation

| Page | When you need it |
|---|---|
| [How does a call flow through the platform?](/getting-started/about-request-flow) | From the bearer header through the permission check to the response with a trace ID: the stations every call passes through. |

## The first call

| Page | When you need it |
|---|---|
| [Create an API key](/getting-started/create-api-key) | In the portal under Settings › Organization › API keys, create a key with class, permissions, and expiry. The plaintext appears exactly once. |
| [Your first call with curl](/getting-started/first-call) | Call GET /v1/me and GET /v1/playlists with a key and curl, and look at the response and its headers, in five minutes. |
| [What a response contains](/getting-started/response-contents) | Status, headers, list shape, IDs with a prefix, and the error body: everything a response of the API holds, in tables. |
| [Idempotency from the start](/getting-started/idempotency) | Protect write calls with Idempotency-Key, so that a retry after a network drop does not create a second operation. |

## If you get stuck

| Page | When you need it |
|---|---|
| [When the first call fails](/getting-started/troubleshooting) | 401, 403, 404, 422, 429, and network errors on the first call: what the code means and which page shows the way back. |