Creating a Task

This guide walks you through creating an API key and sending your first request using the FourA Dashboard.

Step 1: Open the Dashboard

Navigate to the Dashboard and sign in with your FourA account.

Step 2: Create an API Key

Go to the API Keys page and click Create API key. Once you have a key, the button above the list reads Create Key.

Give the key a descriptive name (e.g., "production-scraper" or "dev-testing"). The API Key Created dialog shows the plain key with a copy button, and under Test your first request a ready-to-run curl command with Copy command. On a phone or tablet, Try it in the Playground takes you there instead.

If you miss it, click the eye icon on the key's row later to reveal it again. Legacy keys created before reveal shipped can't be brought back; regenerate them once to switch over. Full flow: Managing API Keys.

Your key looks like this: pk_live_a1b2c3d4e5f6...

Step 3: Choose an Endpoint

FourA has four endpoints for different scenarios:

Auto (POST /api/auto/)

The smart default. Pass a URL plus a validate rule and FourA picks the cheapest path that works: direct request, rotating proxy, or full browser. Best when you're targeting a new site and don't yet know what it needs.

Single (POST /api/single/)

Sends a fast HTTP request. Best for static HTML pages and API endpoints. Response time: typically under 2 seconds.

Browser (POST /api/browser/)

Runs a Chrome browser instance to render JavaScript. Best for SPAs, lazy-loaded content, and pages that require JS execution. Response time: 2 to 10 seconds.

Proxy (POST /api/proxy/)

Routes the request through rotating proxies with automatic retry. Best for sites that check who is asking, or that answer differently by country.

Step 4: Send Your First Request

Open a terminal and run:

curl -X POST https://eu.api.foura.ai/api/single/ \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"method": "GET", "url": "https://example.com"}'

Step 5: Read the Response

{
  "status": 200,
  "headers": [
    {
      "result": { "version": "HTTP/2", "code": 200, "reason": "" },
      "content-type": "text/html; charset=UTF-8",
      "content-length": "1256"
    }
  ],
  "data": "<html>...</html>",
  "total_time": 0.45
}

The headers field is an array of objects, one per redirect hop. Each entry has a result with the status line plus every response header the target returned.

Key fields:

• status: HTTP status code from the target site
• data: the response body (HTML, JSON, or raw text)
• total_time: request duration in seconds

Step 6: Try a Browser Request

If the target page uses JavaScript to render content, use the browser endpoint instead:

curl -X POST https://eu.api.foura.ai/api/browser/ \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com/products", "timeout_ms": 15000}'

The browser response uses body instead of data:

{
  "status": 200,
  "headers": {"content-type": "text/html"},
  "body": "<html>...</html>"
}

Common Issues

Next Steps

• Dashboard Overview: Full dashboard walkthrough
• Playground: Test requests in the dashboard before writing code
• Smart Fetch (Auto): Deep dive on the auto endpoint
• Choosing the Right Endpoint: Detailed comparison
• Common Issues: Solve problems quickly