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

# Get started with the Lusha API

> Learn what the Lusha API offers, make your first request to the base URL, and understand how the credit-based billing model works before you build.

The Lusha API gives you programmatic access to one of the world's largest B2B contact and company databases. All requests go to a single base URL - `https://api.lusha.com` - and are authenticated with an API key you pass in a request header. Whether you are enriching CRM records, prospecting for new leads, or wiring up real-time event signals, every capability is available through a consistent REST interface.

## What you can build

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Enrichment" icon="address-book" href="/v2/enrichment/overview">
    Add verified emails, phone numbers, and firmographics to existing contact and company records.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Prospecting" icon="magnifying-glass" href="/v2/prospecting/overview">
    Search Lusha's database with ICP filters to build targeted lists of contacts and companies.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Signals" icon="bolt" href="/v2/signals/overview">
    Detect job changes, promotions, and company events to reach prospects at the right moment.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Webhooks" icon="webhook" href="/v2/webhooks/overview">
    Receive real-time push notifications when signals occur for your monitored contacts or companies.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Lookalikes" icon="users" href="/v2/lookalikes/overview">
    Discover new prospects that resemble your best customers using AI-powered similarity search.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Account" icon="chart-bar" href="/v2/account/usage">
    Check your credit balance and usage at any time with the account usage endpoint.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Base URL

All endpoints are served from a single base URL:

```
https://api.lusha.com
```

## Credits and billing

The Lusha API uses a credit-based model. Credits are charged per data point revealed (for example, an email address or phone number), with a minimum of 1 credit per request - even if no match is found. Contact your account manager for the rates on your plan. To check how many credits you have remaining, call the account usage endpoint:

```bash theme={null}
curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.lusha.com/account/usage \
  --header 'api_key: YOUR_API_KEY'
```

The `contact.isCreditCharged` field in enrichment responses tells you whether a credit was consumed for a given request.

## Your first API call

The example below fetches enriched contact data for a person by first name, last name, and company domain. Replace `YOUR_API_KEY` with your actual key.

```bash theme={null}
curl --request GET \
  --url 'https://api.lusha.com/v2/person?firstName=Dustin&lastName=Moskovitz&companyDomain=lusha.com' \
  --header 'api_key: YOUR_API_KEY'
```

A successful response returns a `contact` object containing email addresses, phone numbers, job title, location, and social links.

<Tip>
  You can also search by `email`, `linkedinUrl`, or `personId` instead of name and company. Providing more identifiers generally improves match accuracy.
</Tip>

<Info>
  Lusha is rolling out a V3 API (endpoints under `/v3/`) alongside the current endpoints shown in this guide. V2 and V3 run in parallel, and V2 endpoints keep working - see the [V3 migration guide](https://docs.lusha.com/tutorials/v3-migration-guide) if you want to plan ahead.
</Info>

## Next steps

Before making API calls in your application, read the [authentication guide](/v2/authentication) to understand how to pass your API key securely and what to expect when credentials are missing or invalid.