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

# Get started with Axiom API

> This section explains how to send data to Axiom, query data, and manage resources using the Axiom API.

You can use the Axiom API (Application Programming Interface) to send data to Axiom, query data, and manage resources programmatically. This page covers the basics for interacting with the Axiom API.

## Prerequisites

* [Create an Axiom account](https://app.axiom.co/register).
* [Create a dataset in Axiom](/reference/datasets#create-dataset) where you send your data.

## API basics

Axiom API follows the REST architectural style and uses JSON for serialization. You can send API requests to Axiom with curl or API tools such as [Postman](https://www.postman.com/).

For example, the following curl command ingests data to an Axiom dataset:

```bash theme={null}
curl -X 'POST' 'https://AXIOM_DOMAIN/v1/ingest/DATASET_NAME' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer API_TOKEN' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '[
    {
      "axiom": "logs"
    }
  ]'
```

<Info>
  Replace `AXIOM_DOMAIN` with the base domain of your edge deployment. For more information, see [Edge deployments](/reference/edge-deployments).

  Replace `API_TOKEN` with the Axiom API token you have generated. For added security, store the API token in an environment variable.

  Replace `DATASET_NAME` with the name of the Axiom dataset where you send your data.
</Info>

For more information, see [Send data to Axiom via API](/restapi/ingest) and [Ingest data endpoint](/restapi/endpoints/ingestToDataset).

## Base domain

The base domain of an API request depends on the following:

* To ingest data, use the [Ingest data endpoint](/restapi/endpoints/ingestToDataset) with the base domain of your edge deployment.

  | Edge deployment      | Base domain for ingest and query |
  | :------------------- | :------------------------------- |
  | `US East 1 (AWS)`    | `us-east-1.aws.edge.axiom.co`    |
  | `EU Central 1 (AWS)` | `eu-central-1.aws.edge.axiom.co` |

  For more information on edge deployments, see [Edge deployments](/reference/edge-deployments).

* For all other API endpoints, use the base domain `https://api.axiom.co`.

## Content type

Encode the body of API requests as JSON objects and set the `Content-Type` header to `application/json`. Unless otherwise specified, Axiom encodes all responses (including errors) as JSON objects.

## Authentication

To prove that API requests come from you, you must include forms of authentication called tokens in your API requests. Axiom offers two types of tokens:

* [API tokens](/reference/tokens#api-tokens) let you control the actions that can be performed with the token. For example, you can specify that requests authenticated with a certain API token can only query data from a particular dataset.
* [Personal access tokens (PATs)](/reference/tokens#personal-access-tokens-pat) provide full control over your Axiom account. Requests authenticated with a PAT can perform every action you can perform in Axiom. When possible, use API tokens instead of PATs.

If you use an API token for authentication, include the API token in the `Authorization` header.

```bash theme={null}
Authorization: Bearer API_TOKEN
```

If you use a PAT for authentication, include the PAT in the `Authorization` header and the org ID in the `x-axiom-org-id` header. For more information, see [Determine org ID](/reference/tokens#determine-org-id).

```bash theme={null}
Authorization: Bearer API_TOKEN
x-axiom-org-id: ORG_ID
```

If authentication is unsuccessful for a request, Axiom returns the error status code `403`.

## Data types

Below is a list of the types of data used within the Axiom API:

| Name        | Definition                                                        | Example                 |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- |
| **ID**      | A unique value used to identify resources.                        | "io12h34io1h24i"        |
| **String**  | A sequence of characters used to represent text.                  | "string value"          |
| **Boolean** | A type of two possible values representing true or false.         | true                    |
| **Integer** | A number without decimals.                                        | 4567                    |
| **Float**   | A number with decimals.                                           | 15.67                   |
| **Map**     | A data structure with a list of values assigned to a unique key.  | \{ "key": "value" }     |
| **List**    | A data structure with only a list of values separated by a comma. | \["value", 4567, 45.67] |

## What’s next

* [Ingest data via API](/restapi/ingest)
* [Query data via API](/restapi/query)