# API Overview & Base URL

The Synapse API is a RESTful HTTP API. All endpoints return JSON (except where
noted). This page covers the essentials you need before diving into specific
endpoints.

## Base URL

```
https://synapse.schaefer.zone
```

All paths in this documentation are relative to this base URL. For self-hosted
instances, replace with your own URL.

## Authentication

Two methods, both sent via `Authorization` header:

```
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_MIND_KEY    # for data endpoints
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_JWT          # for account endpoints
```

Or via query parameter (rate-limited to 60/min):

```
?key=YOUR_MIND_KEY
```

See [Authentication](/docs/getting-started/authentication) for details.

## Endpoint Groups

| Group | Auth | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| Public | None | Landing page, health, OpenAPI, docs |
| Memory | Mind Key | CRUD, search, sync, embeddings |
| Chat | Mind Key / JWT | Async messaging between human and agent |
| Tasks | Mind Key | Task management |
| Scripts | Mind Key / JWT | Persistent script store |
| Scheduler | Mind Key | Cron jobs + variables |
| Webhooks | Mind Key | HTTP callbacks on events |
| Computers | Mind Key / JWT | Remote computer control |
| User/Minds | JWT | Account + mind management |
| Sharing | JWT | Mind sharing between users |
| Push | JWT | Web Push subscriptions |
| Tools | None | Time, calc, random (public utilities) |

## Response Formats

- **JSON** (default): `{ "key": "value", ... }`
- **Plain text**: `/memory/recall` returns LLM-optimized text
- **HTML**: `/`, `/docs`, `/human`, `/support`, `/playground`

## Standard Response Envelope

Success responses return the data directly:

```json
{ "id": "mem_001", "status": "stored" }
```

Error responses use this format:

```json
{
  "statusCode": 401,
  "error": "Unauthorized",
  "message": "Mind Key fehlt oder ungültig.",
  "docs": "https://synapse.schaefer.zone/docs/getting-started/authentication"
}
```

> [!NOTE]
> The `docs` field links to relevant documentation for common errors.

## HTTP Status Codes

| Code | Meaning |
|------|---------|
| 200 | Success (GET, PUT) |
| 201 | Created (POST) |
| 204 | No content (DELETE) |
| 400 | Bad request (validation error) |
| 401 | Unauthorized (missing/invalid token) |
| 403 | Forbidden (wrong token type) |
| 404 | Not found (path doesn't exist) |
| 409 | Conflict (duplicate) |
| 429 | Too many requests (rate limit) |
| 500 | Server error |

## Discoverability Endpoints

| Endpoint | Purpose |
|----------|---------|
| `GET /` | Landing page (LLM-optimized) |
| `GET /endpoints` | Machine-readable list of all endpoints |
| `GET /endpoints?format=text` | Plain-text endpoint list |
| `GET /openapi.json` | OpenAPI 3.0 specification |
| `GET /help` | Full API documentation (HTML) |
| `GET /help?format=json` | API docs as JSON |
| `GET /docs` | Documentation system (HTML) |
| `GET /docs?format=json` | Documentation index (JSON) |
| `GET /docs?format=text&scope=all` | All docs as one text block |
| `GET /playground` | Interactive API playground |

## Rate Limits

| Auth Method | Limit |
|-------------|-------|
| Mind Key (header) | None |
| Mind Key (?key=) | 60/min per IP |
| JWT (header) | None |
| Public endpoints | None |

Rate-limited responses include:

```
X-RateLimit-Limit: 60
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 42
Retry-After: 30  (only when 429)
```

## Pagination

List endpoints support `?limit=` and `?offset=`:

```
GET /memory?limit=50&offset=100
GET /mind/tasks?status=pending
```

Default limit: 100. Max limit: 500.

## CORS

All endpoints support CORS for browser-based clients:

```
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, OPTIONS
Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Authorization, Content-Type, X-Synapse-JWT, Mcp-Session-Id, Mcp-Tool-Profile
```

## SDKs & Clients

- **Node.js SDK**: `npm install synapse-memory-sdk` ([repo](https://gitlab.com/schaefer-services/synapse-sdk-js))
- **MCP Server**: `npx -y synapse-mcp-api@latest` ([repo](https://gitlab.com/schaefer-services/synapse-mcp))
- **HTTP client**: any HTTP library (curl, fetch, axios, etc.)

## Next Steps

- [Memory API](/docs/api/memory) — the most important endpoints
- [Chat API](/docs/api/chat) — async human-agent communication
- [Errors & Error Handling](/docs/api/errors)