Quickstart

Make your first url2llm request with cURL or a direct HTTP call from Node.js or Python. Start with one public page, then choose the outputs your application needs.

1. Get an API key

Create an account, then open Dashboard > API keys. Signup automatically provisions your first organization. As an organization owner or admin, reveal an eligible active key or choose Create API key, give it a name, and copy the new secret. Dashboard-created keys have both scrape and map scopes. Set the key in the shell where you run the example:

export URL2LLM_API_KEY='YOUR_API_KEY'

Keep the secret in server-side configuration. API keys covers narrower scopes, live and test prefixes, reveal, rotation, and revocation.

2. Choose your client

cURL needs no additional package. The Node.js example uses built-in fetch; the Python example uses the standard library. No url2llm SDK installation is required for these examples.

Client	Save as	Run
cURL	No file needed	Paste the command into your terminal
Node.js 18 or newer	`example.mjs`	`node example.mjs`
Python 3	`example.py`	`python3 example.py`

Run the saved example from the same shell where you set URL2LLM_API_KEY.

3. Send a scrape

This request fetches example.com and asks for Markdown and links. JavaScript rendering and main-content extraction are enabled by default.

curl https://api.url2llm.com/v1/scrape \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $URL2LLM_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"url":"https://example.com","formats":["markdown","links"]}'

const apiKey = process.env.URL2LLM_API_KEY
if (!apiKey) throw new Error('Set URL2LLM_API_KEY before running this example')

const response = await fetch('https://api.url2llm.com/v1/scrape', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${apiKey}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    url: 'https://example.com',
    formats: ['markdown', 'links'],
  }),
})
const result = await response.json()
if (!response.ok || !result.success) {
  throw new Error(`${response.status}: ${result.error?.message ?? 'Scrape failed'}`)
}
console.log(result.data.markdown)
console.log(result.data.metadata)

import json
import os
from urllib.error import HTTPError
from urllib.request import Request, urlopen

request = Request(
    'https://api.url2llm.com/v1/scrape',
    data=json.dumps({
        'url': 'https://example.com',
        'formats': ['markdown', 'links'],
    }).encode(),
    headers={
        'Authorization': f'Bearer {os.environ["URL2LLM_API_KEY"]}',
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    method='POST',
)
try:
    with urlopen(request, timeout=45) as response:
        result = json.load(response)
except HTTPError as error:
    result = json.load(error)
    raise RuntimeError(f'{error.code}: {result.get("error", {}).get("message", "Scrape failed")}') from error

if not result.get('success'):
    raise RuntimeError(result.get('error', {}).get('message', 'Scrape failed'))
print(result['data']['markdown'])
print(result['data']['metadata'])

4. Check the result

cURL prints the complete JSON response; the Node.js and Python examples print its Markdown and metadata. A successful response contains success: true and the page under data. This is an illustrative excerpt:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "metadata": {
      "source_url": "https://example.com/",
      "final_url": "https://example.com/",
      "status_code": 200,
      "credits_used": 1
    },
    "markdown": "# Example Domain",
    "links": [],
    "screenshot": null
  },
  "request_id": "..."
}

Check the API’s HTTP status and success before reading data. Then inspect metadata.status_code and a known heading or paragraph. The source status is separate from the API’s HTTP status. A source 404 can return a page result and is billable. Requested outputs appear in data; outputs you did not request are null. Page text and links depend on the source. There is no per-output success envelope or partial-result mode in the current API. Each ordinary scrape fetches fresh content and a billable request costs one credit. Supported extra formats have no current surcharge. Keep the top-level request_id for diagnosis and the source metadata beside content you store.

Try another operation

Task	Request	Guide
Check scrape cost	`POST /v1/quote` with the same scrape body	Quote and credits
Discover site URLs	`POST /v1/map` with `url` and a desired `limit`	Map API
Capture a page image	Enable `screenshot` in the scrape formats	Screenshots
Extract visual identity	Enable `branding` in the scrape formats	Branding
Return HTML or media references	Select the relevant scrape formats	Formats

Map requires the map key scope. Scrape, branding, screenshots, and quote use scrape. Map returns candidates; select the URLs you need and scrape each one. It does not launch a managed crawl job.

If the request fails

Status	Next step
`401`	Check that the key is set, valid, and not revoked
`403`	Check the required key scope or organization permission
`402`	Check the shared available credit balance in Billing
`400` or `422`	Read the error code and correct the request
`429`	Reduce request volume and retry with bounded backoff
`503` or `504`	Inspect the transient failure or timeout and use a bounded retry policy

For production retries, generate an Idempotency-Key once per distinct operation and reuse it with identical inputs. See retries and idempotency before retrying a billable request whose result you did not receive.

Next steps

Scrape options

Choose outputs, rendering, screenshots, and response handling.

API keys

Rotate or revoke keys and inspect usage by service.

Team access

Invite teammates and choose their organization roles.

Billing and usage

Manage shared credits and inspect individual charges.

Get started

Account

API guides

Page outputs

Reliability

Draft guides

1. Get an API key

2. Choose your client

3. Send a scrape

4. Check the result

Try another operation

If the request fails

Next steps

Scrape options

API keys

Team access

Billing and usage

​1. Get an API key

​2. Choose your client

​3. Send a scrape

​4. Check the result

​Try another operation

​If the request fails

​Next steps

Scrape options

API keys

Team access

Billing and usage

1. Get an API key

2. Choose your client

3. Send a scrape

4. Check the result

Try another operation

If the request fails

Next steps