# Quick Start

## Create an API Key

Your API requests are authenticated using API keys. Keys can be created, retrieved, and deleted from your [Account Dashboard](https://account.etdata.org/settings/profile). Under the [API Keys](https://account.etdata.org/settings/api) tab you can generate multiple keys for a single account, however they will all be tied to the same quota. 

## Make Your First Request <mark style="color:blue;">(Programmatically)</mark>

In this example to make your first query, send an authenticated request to the *`raster/timeseries/point`* endpoint. The following code snippet will retrieve OpenET timeseries data from a single longitude, latitude point in a `json` format.&#x20;

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="curl" %}

```bash
curl -X 'POST' \
  'https://openet-api.org/raster/timeseries/point' \
  -H 'accept: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "date_range": [
    "2020-01-01",
    "2020-12-31"
  ],
  "interval": "monthly",
  "geometry": [
    -121.36322,
    38.87626
  ],
  "model": "Ensemble",
  "variable": "ET",
  "reference_et": "gridMET",
  "units": "mm",
  "file_format": "JSON"
}'
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Python" %}

```python
import requests

# set your API key before making the request
header = {"Authorization": YOUR_API_KEY}

# endpoint arguments
args = {
  "date_range": [
    "2020-01-01",
    "2020-12-31"
  ],
  "interval": "monthly",
  "geometry": [
    -121.36322,
    38.87626
  ],
  "model": "Ensemble",
  "variable": "ET",
  "reference_et": "gridMET",
  "units": "mm",
  "file_format": "JSON"
}

# query the api 
resp = requests.post(
    headers=header,
    json=args,
    url="https://openet-api.org/raster/timeseries/point"
)

print(resp.json())
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

## Make Your First Request <mark style="color:blue;">(GUI)</mark>

If you are less comfortable around a computer terminal and excel is more your pace, you may find our graphical user interface (GUI) useful. Visiting <https://openet-api.org> directly will take you to the public API server. When you visit the page for the first time you will need to click the<img src="https://3342101665-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fp6krz4jcrv0IsfRERGXc%2Fuploads%2Fl8iC9vY66BZv3ckscHPb%2FScreen%20Shot%202023-04-11%20at%208.55.39%20AM.png?alt=media&#x26;token=c3096eec-9c39-4e35-ab20-63a79c472b5b" alt="" data-size="line">button and add your API key. The browser will remember the API key and you won't need to do this step again until your browser cache has been cleared.&#x20;

Scroll down a little to the *raster/timeseries/point* tab and expand it. All fields will be prefilled, but you can manually change them if you like. Click the<img src="https://3342101665-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fp6krz4jcrv0IsfRERGXc%2Fuploads%2FWxFgIWu9X4VLMvS2I6w5%2FScreen%20Shot%202023-04-11%20at%209.16.29%20AM.png?alt=media&#x26;token=6ec00430-30a2-48d7-ad40-b960d33fe32f" alt="" data-size="line">button to run the query. A few seconds later you should see the return result just below.&#x20;


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://openet.gitbook.io/docs/quick-start.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.