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

# Quickstart

> Get started with the My Virtual Office API in minutes

# Quickstart

This guide will help you make your first API request in just a few minutes.

## Prerequisites

* A My Virtual Office account with seller access
* An API key (see [Authentication](/authentication) for how to generate one)

## Step 1: Get Your API Key

1. Log in to your [My Virtual Office dashboard](https://app.my-virtual-office.com)
2. Go to **Settings** > **API Keys**
3. Click **Generate API Key**
4. Copy your new API key

<Note>
  Remember: Your API key is only shown once. Store it securely!
</Note>

## Step 2: Make Your First Request

Let's create a customer using the API. Choose your preferred method:

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl -X POST https://app-api.my-virtual-office.com/api/customers \
    -H "X-API-Key: sk_live_your_api_key_here" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{
      "first_name": "John",
      "last_name": "Doe",
      "email": "john.doe@example.com",
      "company_name": "Acme Inc",
      "language": "en"
    }'
  ```

  ```javascript Node.js theme={null}
  const response = await fetch('https://app-api.my-virtual-office.com/api/customers', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'X-API-Key': 'sk_live_your_api_key_here',
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      first_name: 'John',
      last_name: 'Doe',
      email: 'john.doe@example.com',
      company_name: 'Acme Inc',
      language: 'en',
    }),
  });

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

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

  response = requests.post(
      'https://app-api.my-virtual-office.com/api/customers',
      headers={
          'X-API-Key': 'sk_live_your_api_key_here',
          'Content-Type': 'application/json',
      },
      json={
          'first_name': 'John',
          'last_name': 'Doe',
          'email': 'john.doe@example.com',
          'company_name': 'Acme Inc',
          'language': 'en',
      }
  )

  customer = response.json()
  print(customer)
  ```

  ```php PHP theme={null}
  $curl = curl_init();

  curl_setopt_array($curl, [
      CURLOPT_URL => 'https://app-api.my-virtual-office.com/api/customers',
      CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
      CURLOPT_POST => true,
      CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
          'X-API-Key: sk_live_your_api_key_here',
          'Content-Type: application/json',
      ],
      CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode([
          'first_name' => 'John',
          'last_name' => 'Doe',
          'email' => 'john.doe@example.com',
          'company_name' => 'Acme Inc',
          'language' => 'en',
      ]),
  ]);

  $response = curl_exec($curl);
  $customer = json_decode($response, true);
  print_r($customer);
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Step 3: Understand the Response

A successful request returns the created customer:

```json theme={null}
{
  "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "seller_id": "660e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001",
  "first_name": "John",
  "last_name": "Doe",
  "email": "john.doe@example.com",
  "company_name": "Acme Inc",
  "legal_entity": null,
  "language": "en",
  "address_data": null,
  "source": "api",
  "created_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z",
  "updated_at": "2024-01-15T10:30:00.000Z"
}
```

## Common Use Cases

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="CRM Integration" icon="address-book">
    Automatically create My Virtual Office customers when new contacts are added to your CRM
  </Card>

  <Card title="Website Forms" icon="wpforms">
    Create customers from sign-up forms on your website
  </Card>

  <Card title="Bulk Import" icon="file-import">
    Migrate existing customers from other systems
  </Card>

  <Card title="Automation" icon="robot">
    Build automated workflows with Zapier, Make, or custom scripts
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Next Steps

<Card title="Explore the API Reference" icon="book" href="/api-reference/customers/create">
  Learn about all available endpoints and parameters
</Card>

<Card title="Error Handling" icon="triangle-exclamation" href="/guides/error-handling">
  Learn how to handle API errors gracefully
</Card>