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

# Introduction

> An overview of Plain's GraphQL API.

Plain is built with this very GraphQL API we expose to you. This means that there are **no limitations** in what can be done via the API vs the UI.

These docs just highlight the most interesting and most used APIs. If you want to do something beyond what is documented here, please [reach out to us](mailto:help@plain.com) or explore our [schema](/graphql/schema) on your own!

<Note>
  If you're looking to access our GraphQL API from an Agent, try our [MCP Server](https://plain.support.site/article/mcp-server) instead.
</Note>

<Snippet file="graphql/sdk-note.mdx" />

## Key details

Our API is compatible with all common GraphQL clients with the following details:

* **API URL:** `https://core-api.uk.plain.com/graphql/v1`
* **Allowed method**: POST
* **Required headers:**
  * `Content-Type: application/json`
  * `Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN` where the token is your API key. See [authentication](/graphql/authentication/) for more details.
* **JSON body:**
  * `query`: the GraphQL query string
  * `variables`: a JSON object of variables used in the GraphQL query
  * `operationName`: the name of your GraphQL operation (this is just for tracking and has no impact on the API call or result)

If you'd like to use the **GraphQL schema to generate types** for your client code you can fetch the schema
from: `https://core-api.uk.plain.com/graphql/v1/schema.graphql`

## Your first API call

In this example, we're going to get a customer in your workspace by their email address. You can find a customer's email on the right-hand side when looking at one of their threads in Plain.

You will need an API key with the `customer:read` permission. See [authentication](/graphql/authentication/) for details on how to get an API key

You'll need to set two shell variables:

* `PLAIN_TOKEN`: The API key
* `PLAIN_CUSTOMER_EMAIL`: The email of the customer you want to fetch

```shell theme={null}
PLAIN_TOKEN=XXX
PLAIN_CUSTOMER_EMAIL=XXX
curl -X POST https://core-api.uk.plain.com/graphql/v1 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PLAIN_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"query":"query customerByEmail($email: String!) { customerByEmail(email: $email) { id fullName updatedAt { iso8601 } } }","variables":{"email":"'"$PLAIN_CUSTOMER_EMAIL"'"},"operationName":"customerByEmail"}'
```