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

# Quickstart

> Get productive fast — pick a track: drive CreatorAudit from an AI agent over MCP, call the API, or use the dashboard.

CreatorAudit tracks Instagram and TikTok accounts and serves their metrics over an MCP server, a REST API, and a web dashboard. Pick your track below.

<Note>
  Data is **opt-in**: nothing exists until you track it. Track an account or video, the
  first scrape runs in the background, and metrics populate over the next few hours,
  then refresh daily. See [Data freshness](/data-freshness).
</Note>

## Prerequisites

* A CreatorAudit account. [Sign up](https://app.creatoraudit.com/sign-up) if you don't have one.
* An **API key** for the agent and API tracks — create one on the [API keys](https://app.creatoraudit.com/app/api-keys) page (shown once; keep it secret). Reads work with any key; **tracking, creating, and deleting need a `write`-scoped key**.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="AI agent (MCP)">
    Connect an AI client to the hosted MCP server at `https://mcp.creatoraudit.com/mcp` and drive CreatorAudit in natural language — nothing to install or run. Authenticate with your API key.

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Add the server to your client">
        Fastest path — **Claude Code**:

        ```bash theme={null}
        claude mcp add --transport http creatoraudit https://mcp.creatoraudit.com/mcp \
          --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
        ```

        Other clients:

        * **Codex** — `codex mcp add creatoraudit --url "https://mcp.creatoraudit.com/mcp?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY"`
        * **VS Code** — `code --add-mcp '{"name":"creatoraudit","type":"http","url":"https://mcp.creatoraudit.com/mcp?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY"}'`
        * **Cursor** — add it from Cursor's **Settings → MCP**, or use the one-click **Add to Cursor** button on your dashboard's [API keys](https://app.creatoraudit.com/app/api-keys) page.
        * **Claude Desktop / ChatGPT** — add a custom connector with the URL `https://mcp.creatoraudit.com/mcp?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY`.

        Auth accepts an `Authorization: Bearer` header, an `x-creatoraudit-api-key` header, or an `?api_key=` URL query parameter (a header wins, and is safer than a URL). Restart the client fully after editing config. Full details in the [MCP guide](/agents/mcp).
      </Step>

      <Step title="Verify the connection">
        Ask the agent **"which organization is my CreatorAudit key for?"** — it runs `get_api_key_info` and returns your organization. You're connected.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Track something and read it back">
        Ask the agent to **track an Instagram or TikTok account** (e.g. "track the TikTok account `nasa`"). The first scrape runs in the background — metrics land over the next few hours, so check back rather than expecting them instantly.
      </Step>
    </Steps>

    <Card title="Full MCP guide" icon="plug" href="/agents/mcp">
      Every tool, the auth model, the docs MCP server, and building a custom server.
    </Card>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="API">
    Make your first authenticated call against the v2 API at `https://api.creatoraudit.com/v2`.

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Confirm your key">
        `whoami` echoes the organization your key belongs to — a quick check that it works:

        ```bash theme={null}
        curl https://api.creatoraudit.com/v2/whoami \
          -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
        ```
      </Step>

      <Step title="Track an account">
        Tracking needs a `write`-scoped key. The call returns before metrics land — the first scrape is asynchronous:

        ```bash theme={null}
        curl https://api.creatoraudit.com/v2/accounts \
          -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
          -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
          -d '{"platform": "tiktok", "username": "nasa"}'
        ```
      </Step>

      <Step title="Read it back">
        Re-fetch the account until `last_scrape_time` is non-null, then its metrics are populated:

        ```bash theme={null}
        curl "https://api.creatoraudit.com/v2/accounts?limit=20" \
          -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
        ```

        Collections return `{ data: [...], pagination: { next_cursor, has_next, limit } }`.
      </Step>
    </Steps>

    <Card title="Set up API access" icon="terminal" href="/api-setup">
      Conventions, pagination, errors, and the interactive endpoint explorer.
    </Card>
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Dashboard">
    Get value in the web app — track an account, then watch its metrics fill in. No API key needed.

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Sign in and pick a workspace">
        Sign in at [app.creatoraudit.com](https://app.creatoraudit.com). You work inside an **organization** (your workspace) — switch or create one from the sidebar.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Track an account">
        Open **Accounts** in the sidebar, click **Add account**, enter an Instagram or TikTok username, and save. It appears in the table right away in a **Scraping…** state.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Read its metrics">
        Once the first refresh lands (it runs in the background), the **Scraping…** state clears and metrics populate. Click the row for the account's detail page, or open **Overview** for your whole workspace at a glance. Use the **7d / 30d / 90d** selector to set the window.
      </Step>
    </Steps>

    <Card title="Dashboard overview" icon="gauge" href="/dashboard/overview">
      The sidebar, the Overview, creators, videos, and analytics.
    </Card>
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Next steps

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Key concepts" icon="book" href="/concepts">
    Accounts, creators, videos, and how analytics are modeled.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Build with agents" icon="robot" href="/agents/overview">
    MCP, generating tools from the OpenAPI spec, and end-to-end recipes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="API reference" icon="terminal" href="/api-reference/introduction">
    Every endpoint with a live playground.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Code examples" icon="code" href="/examples/curl">
    Ready-to-run snippets in cURL, Python, and TypeScript.
  </Card>
</Columns>

* **Paginate** — pass `limit` (1–200) and the previous response's `pagination.next_cursor` as the `cursor` query parameter; when `has_next` is `false`, you've reached the end. See [Pagination](/api-reference/pagination).
* **Handle errors** — failures return [RFC 9457](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9457) problem details. See [Errors](/api-reference/errors).

<Note>
  Need help? Email [support@creatoraudit.com](mailto:support@creatoraudit.com).
</Note>