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

# Quickstart

> Make your first request to the LinkedIn Scraper API in under two minutes.

# Quickstart

Make your first scraping request in a few minutes. You'll need an API key and a valid LinkedIn session cookie.

## Prerequisites

Before you start:

1. **An API key** — contact your API provider to obtain one. See [Authentication](/guides/authentication) for details.
2. **LinkedIn cookies** — you need a valid `li_at` and `JSESSIONID` cookie from an active LinkedIn Sales Navigator session. See [Getting Cookies](/guides/getting-cookies).
3. **A Sales Navigator search URL** — go to LinkedIn Sales Navigator, build a search with your desired filters, and copy the URL from the address bar.

## Base URL

All API requests are made to:

```
https://api.nickautomations.com/linkedin
```

<Note>
  If you are connecting to a different deployment, use that server's base URL instead. For development, the default is `http://localhost:8000`.
</Note>

## Authentication

Include your API key in every request via the `x-api-key` header:

```
x-api-key: <your-api-key>
```

## Your first request

Scrape the first page (25 contacts) from a Sales Navigator people search:

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl -X POST https://api.nickautomations.com/linkedin/scrape \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "x-api-key: <your-api-key>" \
    -d '{
      "cookies": "li_at=AQED...; JSESSIONID=\"ajax:0988250529423116538\"",
      "url": "https://www.linkedin.com/sales/search/people?query=...",
      "start": 0,
      "scraper_type": "contacts"
    }'
  ```

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

  url = "https://api.nickautomations.com/linkedin/scrape"
  headers = {
      "x-api-key": "<your-api-key>",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
  }
  payload = {
      "cookies": 'li_at=AQED...; JSESSIONID="ajax:0988250529423116538"',
      "url": "https://www.linkedin.com/sales/search/people?query=...",
      "start": 0,
      "scraper_type": "contacts",
  }

  response = requests.post(url, json=payload, headers=headers)
  data = response.json()
  print(f"Scraped {data['total_scraped']} items")
  ```

  ```javascript JavaScript theme={null}
  const res = await fetch("https://api.nickautomations.com/linkedin/scrape", {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      "x-api-key": "<your-api-key>",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      cookies: 'li_at=AQED...; JSESSIONID="ajax:0988250529423116538"',
      url: "https://www.linkedin.com/sales/search/people?query=...",
      start: 0,
      scraper_type: "contacts",
    }),
  });

  const data = await res.json();
  console.log(`Scraped ${data.total_scraped} items`);
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Response

A successful request returns:

```json theme={null}
{
  "success": true,
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "abc-123",
      "firstName": "Jane",
      "lastName": "Doe",
      "fullName": "Jane Doe",
      "title": "Software Engineer",
      "companyName": "Tech Corp",
      "location": "San Francisco, CA",
      "industry": "Computer Software"
    }
  ],
  "total_scraped": 25,
  "pages_processed": 1,
  "message": "Successfully scraped 25 items",
  "paging": {
    "total": 500,
    "start": 0,
    "count": 25
  }
}
```

## Next steps

* [Pagination](/guides/pagination) — page through the remaining results using the `paging` object
* [Scrape API Reference](/api-reference/scrape) — full request/response schema
* [Rate Limiting](/guides/rate-limiting) — understand your request limits