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

# API overview

> Base URL, authentication, versioning, and response format for the Prequel Export API.

The Prequel Export API is a REST API. All requests are made over HTTPS to your regional base URL and authenticate with an API key.

## Base URL

| Deployment        | Base URL                    |
| :---------------- | :-------------------------- |
| US (cloud-hosted) | `https://api.prequel.co`    |
| EU (cloud-hosted) | `https://eu-api.prequel.co` |
| Self-hosted       | Your configured host        |

## Authentication

Authenticate every request with your API key in the `X-API-KEY` header:

```bash title="Authenticated request" icon="terminal" theme={null}
curl https://api.prequel.co/sources \
  -H "X-API-KEY: $PREQUEL_API_KEY"
```

Prequel supports two credential types:

* **API keys** grant full access to a single environment. A key is scoped to either staging (`sk_staging_...`) or production (`sk_prod_...`), and the key you use determines which environment the request reaches. See [Environments](/export/concepts/environments).
* **Scoped auth tokens** are short-lived tokens (one-hour TTL) for client-side use with the [React SDK](/export/sdks/react/authentication). They grant limited, tenant-scoped access so a token can only read and write data for a single recipient.

## Versioning

The current API version is `2023-12-01`. Pin your integration to it by sending the version header on every request.

<Note>
  Include `X-Prequel-Api-Version: 2023-12-01` on all calls. See [API versioning](/export/api-reference/versioning) for the changes in this version and tips for migrating existing workflows.
</Note>

## Request limits

Requests may not exceed a **32 MB** payload.

## Response format

Every response is a JSON object with three top-level fields:

| Field     | Description                                     |
| :-------- | :---------------------------------------------- |
| `status`  | The outcome of the request.                     |
| `data`    | The requested resource or resources.            |
| `message` | A human-readable message describing the result. |

List endpoints are paginated. Paginated responses add `has_next` and `next_url`; follow `next_url` until `has_next` returns `false`. See [Pagination](/export/api-reference/versioning#pagination) for details.

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Create a Postman collection" icon="rocket" href="/export/api-reference/postman">
    Generate a ready-to-use Postman collection from the OpenAPI spec.
  </Card>

  <Card title="API versioning" icon="code-branch" href="/export/api-reference/versioning">
    Review the changes in version 2023-12-01 and how to migrate.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>