Get Started with apistash

Create a free account to get an API key, then open your MCP client's config file and add a single entry pointing to the apistash server:

// claude_desktop_config.json · cursor settings · cline settings
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apistash": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://api.apistash.io/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart your client afterwards — your agent connects to apistash and picks up the tools you choose in the next step, plus any custom tools, prompts, and resources you add.

In the dashboard, open Settings → MCP Settings and tick the tools you want your agents to have. Your credential reaches exactly that selection — so until you pick some, your client connects but lists no tools.

This is on purpose: an agent's tool list is sent to the model on every session, so handing it the whole catalogue would burn context and blur its tool choice. Start with the tools you can name a use for and add more as you go — the selection changes any time, and connected clients pick it up without reconnecting.

Your account is more than a key. It unlocks the rest of the platform — custom API connectors, prompts, resources, per-key tool scoping, and organizations and teams — and higher plans raise your rate limits.

Your API key goes in the X-API-Key: <your-api-key> header on every request. How you set headers depends on your MCP client — see the authentication guide → for client-specific instructions.