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

# Creating Your First API Integration

> Step-by-step tutorial to wire a project endpoint into an application

## Goal

Integrate one deployed endpoint into an application service with secure auth, robust request handling, and baseline observability.

## Step 1: Prepare Endpoint Information

From your project, open **Use this model** and collect:

* Base URL
* Endpoint path
* Model name
* Endpoint type (chat, embedding, image, audio, etc.)

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/budecosystem-b7b14df4/XG_aP3k6QkB3cbrC/images/image-39.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=XG_aP3k6QkB3cbrC&q=85&s=1f046fa0cc86e4e91019fb8db4ed40e7" alt="Image" width="1920" height="871" data-path="images/image-39.png" />

## Step 2: Create an API key

1. Go to API Keys from the navigation.
2. Open the projects tab.
3. Create new key for the required project containing endpoint.

## Step 3: Send a Test Request

```bash theme={null}
curl --location 'https://YOUR_BASE_URL/v1/chat/completions' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
    "model": "YOUR_MODEL_NAME",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Give me a one-line summary of Bud AI Foundry."}],
    "max_tokens": 128
  }'
```

## Step 4: Validate Response and Move to Application Code

* Verify the response from the test request returns a 200 status code and the expected payload.
* When moving to your application code, consider enabling streaming to process the response incrementally.

## Step 5: Add Retry and Error Mapping

Implement client-side handling:

* Retry `429` and `5xx` with backoff.
* Surface `401/403` as credential/permission issues.
* Treat `400/422` as payload validation errors.

## Step 6: Add Monitoring Hooks

Capture and store:

* Request ID (if available)
* Endpoint URL/path
* Status code
* Latency
* Token/request usage metrics

## Validation Checklist

<Check>
  Request succeeds with valid key and payload
</Check>

<Check>
  Invalid key returns expected auth error handling
</Check>

<Check>
  Retry path works for simulated transient failures
</Check>

<Check>
  Logs include endpoint, status, and latency fields
</Check>

## Next Steps

Proceed to advanced usage:

* [Guides](/api-integration/guides/openai-compatible-clients)
* [Reference](/api-integration/reference/request-response-reference)
* [Troubleshooting](/api-integration/troubleshooting)