> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developers.pleo.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Quickstart
**This page has now been ARCHIVED. Please visit:**
* **[OAuth 2.0 Setup Workflow Guide](/docs/current/guides/oauth-workflow-guide)**
* **[OAuth 2.0 Setup with Postman Workflow Guide](/docs/current/guides/oauth-workflow-guide-postman)**
* **[API Keys Workflow Guide](/docs/current/guides/standalone-api-keys-workflow-guide)**
Welcome to the Pleo API! We're here to help you get connected fast. This Quickstart guide walks you through using an API key to get up and running.
### Introduction
There are two ways to authenticate:
* [OAuth 2.0](/docs/oauth-20)
* [API keys](/docs/api-keys)
For this guide, we will be using the **API keys flow** and assume you have a Pleo account.
### 1. Get your API key
1. Head to your Pleo account > Settings > Scroll down and click on [API keys](https://app.pleo.io/settings/api-keys)
2. Click on *Create API key*
3. Add the following details
* **Name**: give your key a name that will help you remember what it's for, like `Pleo API Quickstart`
* **Expiration date**: choose when you want the key to expire
* **Access level**: decide if the key is for a specific entity (company) or for multiple entities of a business (organisation). [Read about the differences here](/docs/multi-entity-setup-with-pleo).
* **Permissions**: select the scopes you need. Your selections will automatically enable the right permissions in your key.
4. Click on *Create API Key*
5. Store your key securely as you will only be able to see it once
### 2. Make your first API call
Time to put your new key to use!
When authenticating with API keys, include the key in the `Authorization` header of the request, using the `Basic` schema. The key should be used as the username, and an empty string should be used as the password.
We'll use the [Get Search for employees](/reference/employees/search-for-employees) query for this example.
**curl**
With curl, specify the `-u / --user` flag, followed by the API key. The password is an empty string.
```shell Request example theme={null}
curl --request GET \
--url https://external.pleo.io/v2/employees \
--header 'accept: application/json;charset=UTF-8' \
--header 'authorization: Basic API_KEY'
```
If the request is successful, you will receive a response such as:
```json Response example theme={null}
{
"data": [
{
"code": "string",
"companyId": "3fa85f64-5717-4562-b3fc-2c963f66afa6",
"email": "string",
"firstName": "string",
"id": "3fa85f64-5717-4562-b3fc-2c963f66afa6",
"jobTitle": "string",
"lastName": "string",
"phone": "string"
}
],
"pagination": {
"currentRequestPagination": {
"after": "string",
"before": "string",
"limit": 0,
"offset": 0,
"parameters": {
"additionalProp": [
"string"
]
},
"sortingKeys": [
"string"
],
"sortingOrder": [
"ASC"
]
},
"endCursor": "string",
"hasNextPage": true,
"hasPreviousPage": true,
"startCursor": "string",
"total": 0
}
}
```
**Postman**
In Postman, you can specify the API key in the Authorization tab, selecting the Basic Auth type, and using the API key as the username, and an empty string as the password.
### Errors
We use standard HTTP status codes to let you know if a request was successful or if there was an issue. For a full list of codes and what they mean, check out our [API Response Codes | Errors guide](/reference/api-response-codes-errors-1).
### Next steps
Congrats, you've just completed the Quickstart 🎉 We recommend checking the [Authorization guide](/docs/authentication-authorisation-introduction) next.
**What’s Next**
[Introduction ->](/docs/authentication-authorisation-introduction)