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

# Quickstart

> Authenticate and make your first Videobase API request.

Use your API key to retrieve your Videobase account details.

## Prerequisites

You need:

* A Videobase account
* The 16-character API key generated from your account page

<Warning>
  Keep your API key on your server. Do not expose it in browser code, public repositories, logs, or shared screenshots.
</Warning>

## Make a request

Replace `YOUR_API_KEY` with your key.

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl --request GET \
    --url https://api.videobase.com/v1/account \
    --header "Accept: application/json" \
    --header "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"
  ```

  ```javascript JavaScript theme={null}
  const response = await fetch("https://api.videobase.com/v1/account", {
    headers: {
      Accept: "application/json",
      "X-Api-Key": process.env.VIDEOBASE_API_KEY,
    },
  });

  const data = await response.json();

  if (!response.ok) {
    throw new Error(data.message ?? `Videobase request failed (${response.status})`);
  }

  console.log(data);
  ```

  ```python Python theme={null}
  import os
  import requests

  response = requests.get(
      "https://api.videobase.com/v1/account",
      headers={
          "Accept": "application/json",
          "X-Api-Key": os.environ["VIDEOBASE_API_KEY"],
      },
      timeout=30,
  )
  data = response.json()

  if not response.ok:
      raise RuntimeError(data.get("message", f"Videobase request failed ({response.status_code})"))

  print(data)
  ```
</CodeGroup>

A successful request returns account data:

```json theme={null}
{
  "email": "developer@example.com",
  "balance": "12.45000",
  "premiumExpire": "2026-12-31 23:59:59",
  "isPremium": true,
  "storage": {
    "total": "Unlimited",
    "used": 1048576,
    "left": "Unlimited"
  }
}
```

Storage values are in KB. Premium accounts return `"Unlimited"` for `storage.total` and `storage.left`.

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Browse the API reference" icon="square-terminal" href="/api-reference/overview">
    Explore account, upload, folder, video, and subtitle operations.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Handle errors" icon="triangle-exclamation" href="/api-reference/errors">
    Learn the current HTTP status and error body contract.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>