Getting Started

Lab Atlas gives you two ways to work with your data programmatically:

• REST API — a versioned HTTP API (/api/v1/) for scripts, integrations, and automation.

• MCP server — a Model Context Protocol endpoint (/mcp) that lets AI agents (Claude Code, claude.ai, the Anthropic API) read your Lab Atlas data with natural-language prompts.

Both surfaces authenticate with the same API key, scoped to your user and organization. Whatever you can see in the web app, your key can see — no more.

API and MCP tools are currently limited to Enterprise customers only.

Create an API key

Every member of your organization can create their own API keys — no admin role is required. Each key belongs to the person who created it and carries that person's permissions.

1

Open the API keys page

Click Settings in the sidebar, then go to API access → API keys.

2

Create a new key

Click New API Key. In the Create API Key dialog, fill in:

• Name — a label to recognize the key later (max 64 characters).

• Duration — how long the key stays valid: 7, 30, 90, or 365 days.

Then click Submit.

3

Copy and store the key

Your key is shown once, in the form lak_<keyId>.<secret>. Use the reveal and copy buttons to grab it, then store it somewhere safe (e.g. a secrets manager or environment variable).

This is the only time the full key is displayed. If you lose it, revoke it and create a new one.

You can revoke or delete keys at any time from the same page.

Use the REST API

Pass your key in the X-API-KEY header. The base URL is https://<your-tenant>.labatlas.com/api/v1/.

curl https://<your-tenant>.labatlas.com/api/v1/projects \
  -H "X-API-KEY: lak_xxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"

Use X-API-KEY (or Authorization: ApiKey <key>). Do not use Authorization: Bearer … — that scheme is reserved for the internal web client and will be rejected on /api/v1/.

For the full endpoint list, pagination, permissions model, and error formats, see the Public API Reference.

Connect via MCP

Point your MCP client at https://<your-tenant>.labatlas.com/mcp over Streamable HTTP, sending your API key in the X-API-KEY header.

Claude Code

export LABATLAS_API_KEY=lak_xxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

claude mcp add --transport http labatlas \
  https://<your-tenant>.labatlas.com/mcp \
  --header "X-API-KEY: $LABATLAS_API_KEY"

claude mcp list   # expect: labatlas  ✓ connected

claude.ai

In Settings → Connectors, add a custom connector:

• URL — https://<your-tenant>.labatlas.com/mcp

• Transport — HTTP / Streamable HTTP

• Header name — X-API-KEY

• Header value — your Lab Atlas API key

Anthropic API

{
  "mcp_servers": [
    {
      "type": "url",
      "url": "https://<your-tenant>.labatlas.com/mcp",
      "name": "labatlas",
      "headers": { "X-API-KEY": "lak_xxxxxxxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" }
    }
  ]
}

For the full tool list, example prompts, and troubleshooting, see the MCP User Guide.