# Introduction

## Microshot API Reference

The Microshot API is organized around [REST](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_State_Transfer). Our API has predictable resource-oriented URLs,  uses JSON format for request bodies, returns [JSON-encoded](http://www.json.org/) responses, and uses standard HTTP response codes, authentication, and verbs.

### REST API <a href="#rest-api" id="rest-api"></a>

The Microshot API adheres to [REST](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_State_Transfer) conventions. Our API communicates in JSON format and uses [API tokens](https://docs.microshot.io/authentication) to authenticate requests.&#x20;

The server-side REST API is available at:

```
https://api.microshot.io
```

By default, the API returns the screenshot image data directly, along with the relevant headers. However, if you set the  [response\_type](https://docs.microshot.io/endpoints/screenshot#capture-screenshot) parameter to `json` the response will be in the form of a JSON which contains a link to the generated screenshot hosted on our CDN.

All the screenshots are cached for 24 hours. It means that after that time, the image won't be available anymore on our CDN. Cached screenshots don't count in your monthly quota.

## Start exploring API

Dive a little deeper and start exploring our API endpoints to get an idea of everything that's possible with the API:

{% content-ref url="endpoints" %}
[endpoints](https://docs.microshot.io/endpoints)
{% endcontent-ref %}


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# 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://docs.microshot.io/introduction.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.