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

# Quickstart Guide: Make Your First Parallel AI API Call

> Learn how to authenticate with Parallel AI and make your first API call to list agents, create a chat completion, and verify everything is working.

## Prerequisites

All you need is a Parallel AI account and a terminal (or any HTTP client). No SDK installation is required to follow this guide — though we'll show you a Python example too.

***

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create your Parallel AI account">
    Head to [https://web.parallellabs.app/signup](https://web.parallellabs.app/signup) and sign up using your Google account or email address.

    Once you're in, you'll land on your company dashboard. If this is your first time, a default company workspace is created for you automatically.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Generate a Company API Key">
    1. In your dashboard, navigate to the **Integrations** page from the left sidebar.
    2. Find the **API Keys** section and click **Generate New Key**.
    3. Give your key a descriptive name (e.g. `my-first-key`).
    4. Copy the key immediately — it **won't be shown again** after you close the dialog.

    <Warning>
      Store your API key somewhere safe, such as a password manager or secrets vault. If you lose it, you'll need to generate a new one.
    </Warning>

    You'll pass this key in the `X-API-Key` header on every request. See the [Authentication guide](/authentication) for all supported header formats.
  </Step>

  <Step title="List your agents">
    With your key in hand, make your first live API call. This request retrieves all agents in your company:

    ```bash theme={null}
    curl -X GET "https://api.parallellabs.app/api/v0/agents" \
      -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json"
    ```

    If your account is brand new, you'll see an empty list — that's expected:

    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "items": [],
      "total": 0,
      "pages": 1,
      "hasNext": false
    }
    ```

    A `200 OK` response confirms that your key is valid and your connection to the API is working correctly.

    <Tip>
      Replace `YOUR_API_KEY` with the key you copied in the previous step. Keep this pattern in mind — every request to the Parallel AI API uses the same `X-API-Key` header.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create your first chat completion">
    Parallel AI exposes an OpenAI-compatible `/chat/completions` endpoint. Use it to run a completion against any supported model:

    <Tabs>
      <Tab title="cURL">
        ```bash theme={null}
        curl -X POST "https://api.parallellabs.app/api/v0/chat/completions" \
          -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
          -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
          -d '{
            "model": "gpt-4o-mini",
            "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
          }'
        ```
      </Tab>

      <Tab title="Python (openai library)">
        Because Parallel AI's chat completions endpoint is OpenAI-compatible, you can use the official `openai` Python package with no changes other than the `base_url`:

        ```python theme={null}
        from openai import OpenAI

        client = OpenAI(
            api_key="YOUR_API_KEY",
            base_url="https://api.parallellabs.app/api/v0",
        )

        response = client.chat.completions.create(
            model="gpt-4o-mini",
            messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}],
        )

        print(response.choices[0].message.content)
        ```

        Install the library first if you haven't already:

        ```bash theme={null}
        pip install openai
        ```
      </Tab>
    </Tabs>

    The API returns a standard OpenAI-format response object with the model's reply inside `choices[0].message.content`.

    <Note>
      You can swap `"gpt-4o-mini"` for any model supported on the platform. Refer to the [API Reference](/api-reference/introduction) for the full list of available models.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="You're ready — explore what's next">
    You've authenticated, listed your agents, and run a live chat completion. Here's where to go from here:

    <CardGroup cols={2}>
      <Card title="Build AI Agents" icon="robot" href="/core-features/agents">
        Create multi-channel agents for web, email, SMS, and voice — and connect them to your Knowledge Base.
      </Card>

      <Card title="Full API Reference" icon="code" href="/api-reference/introduction">
        Explore every endpoint available in the Parallel AI REST API with request and response schemas.
      </Card>
    </CardGroup>
  </Step>
</Steps>