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

# Introduction

> Get started with the Tatango API

## Base URL

The Tatango API is built on REST principles. We enforce HTTPS in every request to improve data security, integrity, and privacy. The API does not support HTTP.

All requests contain the following base URL:

```bash theme={null}
https://api.v3.tatango.com
```

## Authentication

To authenticate you need to add the `x-api-key` header populated with your Tatango provided API Key *shown in the GIF below*.

```bash theme={null}
x-api-key: tatango_key_xxxxxxxxx
```

### API Key Creation

You can create an API key by logging into the [Tatango App](https://app.tatango.com/login) and navigating to My Account -> API -> Create API Key.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/tatango/jIzBXcXeWEWAVIXZ/api_key_creation.gif?s=930bd3d30c57e79be91c38267ce19edf" alt="GIF showing the process of creating an API key in the Tatango App interface" width="3342" height="1300" data-path="api_key_creation.gif" />

## Response Codes

Tatango uses standard HTTP codes to indicate the success or failure of your requests.

In general, 2xx HTTP codes correspond to success, 4xx codes are for user-related failures, and 5xx codes are for infrastructure issues.

| Status | Description                                                                                            |
| ------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 200    | Successful request.                                                                                    |
| 202    | Successful request, and the request is being processed asynchronously.                                 |
| 400    | Check that the request body's parameters were correct.                                                 |
| 403    | The API key used was invalid or missing.                                                               |
| 404    | The resource was not found. Check the URL and HTTP method.                                             |
| 429    | The rate limit was exceeded.                                                                           |
| 5xx    | Indicates an error with Tatango servers. If you receive this error repeatedly, please contact support. |

Specific error information is available for each request. This is shown on the request's page. See the "response" sub-section at the bottom of the page for an [example](/message-sending-api-reference/sms/send-sms#response-error). Then, click the drop down to see the specific error response examples.

## Rate Limit

The default rate limit is 10 requests per second. This number can be increased for trusted senders by request. After that, you'll hit the rate limit and receive a 429 response error code.

Learn more about our [rate limits](/message-sending-api-reference/rate-limit).