---
title: "Arete developer portal"
description: "Arete developer portal for API keys, documentation, quickstart, OpenAPI, MCP, and SDK generation. There is no separate sandbox hostname; verify with a4 doctor and the live catalog."
editUrl: true
head: []
template: "doc"
sidebar: {"hidden":true,"attrs":{}}
pagefind: true
draft: false
---

> For the complete documentation index optimized for AI agents, see [llms.txt](https://docs.arete.run/llms.txt) or [llms-full.txt](https://docs.arete.run/llms-full.txt). A markdown version of this page is available at [/developers.md](https://docs.arete.run/developers.md) or by sending `Accept: text/markdown`.
This is the **Arete developer portal**. Use it when you need keys, docs, the
HTTP API, or a first working project. Humans and agents should start here
rather than scraping the marketing site.

## API keys and authentication

Hosted catalog, Program Read, and live views use origin-bound publishable keys
and account API keys. They are not interchangeable.

1. Create or inspect a key at [https://arete.run/keys](https://arete.run/keys).
2. In a project, prefer `a4 auth login --key <a4_ak_…>` or `a4 auth signup`
   when the user asked for an agent account.
3. Browser apps take `auth={{ publishableKey }}` on the generated client.
   Never put an account API key in frontend code, logs, or git.

`a4 doctor --json` reports the current identity and the exact `fix` command
when a required check is not ready.

## Documentation and quickstart

| Resource              | URL                                                                | Use it for                                        |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------- |
| Quickstart            | [/using-stacks/quickstart/](/using-stacks/quickstart/)             | Install the CLI and run `a4 init`                 |
| Agent bootstrap       | [/agent.md](/agent.md)                                             | One-page setup for coding agents                  |
| What is Arete         | [/getting-started/what-is-arete/](/getting-started/what-is-arete/) | Product model                                     |
| Catalog + descriptors | [/agent-skills/explore/](/agent-skills/explore/)                   | Find programs and stacks by intent                |
| MCP servers           | [/agent-skills/mcp/](/agent-skills/mcp/)                           | Docs MCP and stream MCP                           |
| TypeScript SDK        | [/sdks/typescript/](/sdks/typescript/)                             | Generated clients                                 |
| OpenAPI spec          | [/openapi.json](/openapi.json)                                     | Function-calling description of the docs HTTP API |

The documentation index for agents is [llms.txt](/llms.txt). Append `.md` to
any docs URL, or send `Accept: text/markdown`.

## HTTP API and MCP

The documentation HTTP API is the MCP server at
`https://docs.arete.run/mcp`.

- `GET /mcp` returns the descriptor (`search_docs`, `fetch_page`).
- `POST /mcp` is JSON-RPC 2.0 Streamable HTTP.
- Errors are JSON objects `{ "error": { "code", "message", "hint" } }`.
- The OpenAPI document is at [`/openapi.json`](/openapi.json).

This API searches and fetches **these docs**. It does not submit Solana
transactions or mint hosted deployments. Those stay on the `a4` CLI and
generated SDKs.

## Sandbox

There is no separate sandbox hostname. Agents verify the local toolchain with
`a4 doctor --json`, then explore the live catalog:

```bash
a4 explore catalog --query "<intent>" --json
```

Use `--no-save` only for disposable generation. Do not treat a failed
descriptor as permission to guess a program ID or endpoint.

## Skills

Install product skills with `a4 init` (runs `npx skills add AreteA4/skills`)
or read the well-known index at
[/.well-known/agent-skills](/.well-known/agent-skills).