> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.usescout.sh/llms.txt.
> For full documentation content, see https://docs.usescout.sh/llms-full.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://docs.usescout.sh/_mcp/server.

# Authentication

## API keys

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

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

```python Python
import requests

requests.post(
    "https://core.usescout.sh/v1/search",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={"queries": ["hello world"]},
).json()
```

```javascript JavaScript
await fetch("https://core.usescout.sh/v1/search", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({ queries: ["hello world"] }),
});
```

Get a key in the [Scout dashboard](https://platform.usescout.sh) 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`).