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

# Quickstart

# Quickstart

<RequestExample dropdown>
  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl --request GET \
    --url 'https://api.forecast.example/api/v1/markets?view=matched&source=kalshi&limit=25' \
    --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'
  ```

  ```javascript Node.js theme={null}
  const response = await fetch(
    'https://api.forecast.example/api/v1/markets?view=matched&source=kalshi&limit=25',
    {
      headers: {
        Authorization: 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'
      }
    }
  );

  const data = await response.json();
  console.log(data);
  ```

  ```python Python theme={null}
  import requests

  response = requests.get(
      "https://api.forecast.example/api/v1/markets",
      params={"view": "matched", "source": "kalshi", "limit": 25},
      headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"},
      timeout=30,
  )

  print(response.json())
  ```
</RequestExample>

<ResponseExample>
  ```json Response theme={null}
  {
    "markets": [
      {
        "canonical_id": "KXBTCD-EXAMPLE",
        "confidence": 0.97,
        "category": "crypto",
        "is_active": true
      }
    ],
    "count": 1,
    "total": 1,
    "view": "matched",
    "generated_at": 1761868800000
  }
  ```
</ResponseExample>

Forecast splits the platform into three surfaces:

<Columns cols={3}>
  <Card title="Historical Data" icon="database" href="/historical/overview">
    Backtest-grade archive products for trades, candles, markets, and later order books.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Realtime Data" icon="activity" href="/realtime/markets">
    Low-latency reads for markets, ticks, and order-book snapshots.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Product APIs" icon="bot" href="/product/backtests">
    Authenticated workspace objects like backtests, bots, and strategies.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Choose an auth mode

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Market Data Key">
    Use API keys for market data reads and archive access. This is the clean external model for public and paid data products.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="User Token">
    Use a user JWT or workspace token for private product objects such as bots, strategies, and backtests.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Start with one endpoint

If you want the fastest first integration, start with `GET /api/v1/markets` and one `view`:

* `matched` for the most useful live market list
* `resolving` for a narrower operational slice

## Multi-language examples

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl --request GET \
    --url 'https://api.forecast.example/api/v1/ticks?symbol=KXBTCD-26JUN1420&limit=500' \
    --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'
  ```

  ```javascript Node.js theme={null}
  const ticks = await fetch(
    'https://api.forecast.example/api/v1/ticks?symbol=KXBTCD-26JUN1420&limit=500',
    {
      headers: {
        Authorization: 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY'
      }
    }
  ).then((res) => res.json());
  ```

  ```python Python theme={null}
  import requests

  ticks = requests.get(
      "https://api.forecast.example/api/v1/ticks",
      params={"symbol": "KXBTCD-26JUN1420", "limit": 500},
      headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"},
      timeout=30,
  ).json()
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## What to read next

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Authentication" icon="key-round" href="/reference/authentication">
    Header formats, public vs private auth, and the recommended external contract.
  </Card>

  <Card title="API Reference" icon="book-open-text" href="/api-reference/overview">
    The manual endpoint pages with parameters, request examples, and response shapes.
  </Card>
</Columns>