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

# Sign Up

> Create a new organization and get your API key.

This is the starting point for using Chowder. Create an organization and you'll receive an org-level API key (`chd_org_*`) that grants full access to everything under that org.

No authentication is required for this endpoint — it's how you *get* your first key.

## Request Body

<ParamField body="name" type="string" required>
  The name for your organization. Must be between 1 and 128 characters.
</ParamField>

## Response

Returns `201 Created` with the new organization and your API key.

<Warning>
  The `api_key` value is shown **only once** in this response. Store it somewhere safe — you won't be able to retrieve it again.
</Warning>

<ResponseField name="organization" type="object">
  The created organization.

  <Expandable title="Organization fields">
    <ResponseField name="id" type="string">Unique organization ID (UUID).</ResponseField>
    <ResponseField name="name" type="string">The org name you provided.</ResponseField>
    <ResponseField name="model_providers" type="string[]">List of model providers with API keys configured. Empty initially.</ResponseField>
    <ResponseField name="subscription_tier" type="string">Current plan. Defaults to `"shrimp"`.</ResponseField>
    <ResponseField name="instance_limit" type="integer">Max number of active instances allowed.</ResponseField>
    <ResponseField name="instance_count" type="integer">Current number of active instances.</ResponseField>
    <ResponseField name="created_at" type="string">ISO 8601 timestamp.</ResponseField>
    <ResponseField name="updated_at" type="string">ISO 8601 timestamp.</ResponseField>
  </Expandable>
</ResponseField>

<ResponseField name="api_key" type="string">
  Your org-level API key, prefixed with `chd_org_`. Use this as a Bearer token for all subsequent requests.
</ResponseField>

<RequestExample>
  ```bash cURL theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark-dimmed"}}
  curl -X POST https://api.chowder.dev/v1/organization/signup \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{
      "name": "Acme Corp"
    }'
  ```
</RequestExample>

<ResponseExample>
  ```json 201 theme={"theme":{"light":"github-light","dark":"github-dark-dimmed"}}
  {
    "organization": {
      "id": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
      "name": "Acme Corp",
      "model_providers": [],
      "subscription_tier": "shrimp",
      "instance_limit": 1,
      "instance_count": 0,
      "created_at": "2026-02-14T12:00:00.000000+00:00",
      "updated_at": "2026-02-14T12:00:00.000000+00:00"
    },
    "api_key": "chd_org_abc123def456ghi789jkl012mno345pqr678"
  }
  ```
</ResponseExample>