Quick Start

Get up and running with Universal API in under 5 minutes.

Step 1: Create an Account

1. Go to universalapi.co and sign up
2. You'll be prompted to set an alias (username) — this is permanent and used in resource URLs (e.g., yourname/my-server)
3. You'll receive 100 free credits to start

Step 2: Create a Bearer Token

1. Navigate to Credentials (universalapi.co/keys)
2. Click "Create Access Token"
3. Give it a name (e.g., "My Laptop")
4. Copy the token immediately — it's only shown once!

Your token looks like: uapi_ut_xxxx_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

WARNING

Save your token somewhere safe. It cannot be retrieved after creation — only the prefix is stored. If you lose it, create a new one.

Step 3: Connect to Claude Desktop or Cline

Claude Desktop

Add this to your Claude Desktop config (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "universalapi": {
      "url": "https://mcp.api.universalapi.co/mcp/mcp-f1d167e0-d834-4a8e-a4e0-c40b3a498b16",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cline (VS Code)

Add this to your Cline MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "universalapi": {
      "url": "https://mcp.api.universalapi.co/mcp/mcp-f1d167e0-d834-4a8e-a4e0-c40b3a498b16",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_TOKEN_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace YOUR_TOKEN_HERE with your actual Bearer token from Step 2.

TIP

The server ID above (mcp-f1d167e0-...) is the universalapi-full MCP server — it gives your AI assistant access to the entire Universal API platform (create/manage resources, search, chat with agents, and more).

Step 4: Try It Out

Option A: Ask Claude/Cline

Once connected, try asking:

"Search for MCP servers related to web search"

"List all available MCP servers on Universal API"

"Search for web search tools"

Option B: Use curl

Check your account:

curl -s https://api.universalapi.co/user/info \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" | jq

{
  "authenticated": true,
  "userId": "d468e4e8-...",
  "alias": "yourname",
  "credits": 100,
  "subscriptionTier": "free",
  "needsAlias": false
}

Search for resources:

curl -s "https://api.universalapi.co/search?q=web+search&type=mcp" | jq

Chat with an agent:

curl -s -X POST https://stream.api.universalapi.co/agent/AGENT_ID/chat \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"prompt": "Hello! What can you do?"}'

Step 5: Explore the Marketplace

Browse available resources at universalapi.co:

• MCP Servers — Tools for AI assistants (Google Suite, SerpAPI, AWS Textract, etc.)
• Agents — Conversational AI agents you can chat with

What's Next?

Goal	Guide
Understand auth in depth	Authentication
Build your own MCP Server	Creating MCP Servers
Build an AI Agent	Creating Agents
See all API endpoints	API Reference

Troubleshooting

"Unauthorized" or 401 errors

• Make sure your token starts with uapi_ut_
• Check that the Authorization header is Bearer YOUR_TOKEN (with a space after "Bearer")
• Verify your token hasn't been revoked at universalapi.co/keys

"Insufficient credits" errors

• Check your balance: GET /user/info
• Purchase more credits or upgrade your plan at universalapi.co/pricing

MCP server not connecting in Claude/Cline

• Restart Claude Desktop or reload Cline after editing the config
• Verify the JSON is valid (no trailing commas, correct quotes)
• Check that the server URL is correct and includes the full mcp-xxx ID