For AI agents: a documentation index is available at the root level at /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt. Append /llms.txt to any URL for a page-level index, or .md for the markdown version of any page.
GuidesAPI Reference
GuidesAPI Reference
  • Get started
    • Introduction
    • Quickstart
    • Authentication
  • Reference
    • Errors & status codes
LogoLogo
On this page
  • API keys
  • Credits
Get started

Authentication

How to authorize requests and report cost.
||View as Markdown|
Was this page helpful?
Edit this page
Previous

Quickstart

Next

Errors & status codes

Built with

API keys

Every /v1 request needs a Scout API key, sent as a Bearer token in the Authorization header.

$curl -X POST https://core.usescout.sh/v1/search \
>  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
>  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>  -d '{"queries": ["hello world"]}'

Get a key in the Scout dashboard under Settings → API keys. Keys are scoped to your team and can be rotated or revoked at any time.

Treat API keys like passwords. Call Scout from your own backend rather than embedding keys in browser, mobile, or other untrusted clients. If a key leaks, revoke it from the dashboard immediately and issue a new one.

Requests without a valid key receive 401 Unauthorized. Once the key is recognized, usage is attributed to your team and counted against your plan.

Credits

Most responses include a credits field reporting the relative cost of the call - a plain search costs 1 credit, an extract costs 2 per URL, and a research task costs one credit per agent step it takes. The field is informational; it lets you budget and compare calls.

Detailed usage line items are returned under usage[] on every response, broken out by SKU (e.g. sku_search, sku_objective_rerank, sku_contents_text).