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

# CurbWaste API Quickstart: Create Your First Customer Record

> Make your first CurbWaste API call in under 5 minutes. This guide walks you through authenticating, creating a customer, and verifying the response.

Make your first partner API call against the customers API.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Get your API key">
    In the [Developer Platform](https://platform.curbwaste.com) **API Keys** page, create a key with `customers:read` and `customers:write`. Copy the `cw_live_…` secret once.

    ```bash theme={null}
    export CURBWASTE_API_KEY="cw_live_YOUR_API_KEY"
    ```

    Details: [Authentication](/authentication).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a customer">
    Only `displayName` is required. Optional: `email`, `phone`, `companyName`.

    ```bash theme={null}
    curl -X POST "https://api.curbwaste.com/v1/customers" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $CURBWASTE_API_KEY" \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -d '{"displayName":"Acme Corp","email":"billing@acme.com","phone":"555-0100"}'
    ```

    `201` response shape:

    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "data": {
        "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
        "displayName": "Acme Corp",
        "customerId": "C001",
        "status": "active",
        "email": "billing@acme.com",
        "phone": "555-0100",
        "companyName": null,
        "createdAt": "2026-08-07T18:00:00.000Z",
        "updatedAt": "2026-08-07T18:00:00.000Z"
      }
    }
    ```

    Save `data.id` for the next step. If you registered a webhook, you should also receive `customer.created`.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Get the customer">
    ```bash theme={null}
    curl "https://api.curbwaste.com/v1/customers/a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer $CURBWASTE_API_KEY"
    ```

    Expect `200` with the same profile. Cross-company or unknown ids return `404`.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What to do next

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Keep customers in sync" icon="arrows-rotate" href="/guides/sync-customers">
    Create, update, and join records using CurbWaste `id` as your source of truth.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Get events in real time" icon="webhook" href="/guides/webhooks-setup">
    Register a webhook in the Developer Platform and verify HMAC signatures.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Connect an AI agent" icon="sparkles" href="/concepts/mcp">
    Point an MCP-compatible client at CurbWaste with the same API key scopes.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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