Get Started with apistash

Create a free account, then configure the connection in your MCP client. For Cursor, add this API-key example to your project's .cursor/mcp.json. Select Tools when creating the key so it can call governed tools.

// .cursor/mcp.json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apistash": {
      "url": "https://api.apistash.io/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "X-API-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop uses an OAuth custom connector under Customize → Connectors. Other clients also have their own configuration format; follow the client-specific setup guide.

In the dashboard, open Settings → MCP Settings and tick the tools you want your agents to have. Until you pick some, the governed catalogue stays closed; the three setup and context helpers remain available so every authenticated connection can orient itself.

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, agent definitions, 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.