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

# Start building with the Consensus API and MCP

> Pick a surface, run your first filtered search, and find the guide for what you are building.

Four steps from zero to a working integration.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Pick your surface">
    Use **MCP** to try Consensus inside Claude or ChatGPT in two minutes, or when each person should search under their own account. Use the **API** for anything in code — monitoring agents, literature tables, pipelines, and scientific agents running on one shared key.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run one filtered search">
    [Make your first request](/api-get-started), then add filters one at a time. The filters are where precision comes from.

    ```bash theme={null}
    curl -G "https://api.consensus.app/v1/search" -H "x-api-key: $CONSENSUS_API_KEY" \
      --data-urlencode "query=vision-language models for robot manipulation" \
      --data-urlencode "domain=cs" \
      --data-urlencode "year_min=2024"
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read the guide for what you are building">
    Start with [internal tools](/use-cases/internal-tools) or [research systems](/use-cases/research-systems), then read [best practices](/use-cases/best-practices) for rate limits, pagination, and grounding rules.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Scale up when you need to">
    Enterprise adds 1,000+ results per search and custom rate limits. [Talk to us](https://consensus.app/home/api) about a trial.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Build internal research tools" icon="building" href="/use-cases/internal-tools">
    Assistants, field-monitoring agents, literature tables, and scientific agents.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Build custom research systems" icon="graduation-cap" href="/use-cases/research-systems">
    Literature reviews, grounded writing, and evidence reports.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>