# Quickstart

## Prerequisites

- An nthbouncer account (sign up at [nthbouncer.com](https://nthbouncer.com))
- An upstream API URL you are allowed to call
- A tool that can send HTTP requests (`curl` is enough)

## Create a pool

1. Open the dashboard and select **Pools → Create pool**.
2. Choose a subdomain (this becomes `‹subdomain›.nthpool.cloud`).
3. Add at least one **origin** (the upstream base URL).
4. Pick **Pass-through** if your client already authenticates to the upstream, or
   **Managed** if nthbouncer should attach credentials for you.
5. Save. The pool goes live within a few seconds.

## Create a pool key

1. Open the pool → **Access**.
2. Select **Create key**, name it, and copy the secret once.
3. Store it as an environment variable. It is not shown again.

## Send a request

Replace the placeholders and call your pool hostname. The path after the host is
forwarded to the selected origin.

```bash
export POOL_KEY='nb_live_…'
export POOL_HOST='https://your-pool.nthpool.cloud'

curl -sS "$POOL_HOST/your/api/path" \
  -H "X-Nthpool-Key: $POOL_KEY"
```

On a **managed** pool you may also send `Authorization: Bearer $POOL_KEY`.
On a **pass-through** pool, keep the pool key in `X-Nthpool-Key` and put the
upstream credential in `Authorization` (or whatever the upstream expects).

If the pool has multiple origins, pick one explicitly:

```bash
curl -sS "$POOL_HOST/your/api/path" \
  -H "X-Nthpool-Key: $POOL_KEY" \
  -H "X-Nthpool-Origin: https://api.example.com"
```

## Confirm admission

A successful response includes headers such as
`x-nthpool-remaining-slots` and `x-nthpool-effective-limit`. Open the pool's
**Logs** page to see the request in access logs, or **Metrics** for
admit/queue/reject proof (not the same as Billing allowance).

## Next steps

- [Access](/docs/pools/access) (HMAC, JWT, Cloudflare Access)
- [Concurrency](/docs/pools/concurrency) (concurrency limits, adaptive mode)
- [Agents](/docs/agents) (`https://nthbouncer.com/mcp`)
- [Concurrency locks API](/docs/api/locks) (same concurrency limit without proxying)
- [Knowledge base: NetSuite](/docs/knowledge-base/netsuite-rest)