← All posts

Getting Started with the link.sc API: A Developer's Guide

GUIDES · DEC 10, 2025 · 3 MIN READ

This guide walks you through everything you need to start using the link.sc API, from getting your API key to building your first web data pipeline.

Quick Start

1. Get Your API Key

Sign up at link.sc/register to get your free API key. The Starter plan includes 500 requests per month — no credit card required.

Your API key will look like: lsc_abc123...

2. Make Your First Fetch Request

The Fetch API converts any URL into clean, structured content:

curl -X POST https://api.link.sc/v1/fetch \
  -H "x-api-key: lsc_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://example.com",
    "format": "markdown"
  }'

3. Make Your First Search Request

The Search API provides real-time web search with content extraction:

curl -X POST https://api.link.sc/v1/search \
  -H "x-api-key: lsc_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "q": "latest AI news",
    "format": "markdown",
    "num_results": 5
  }'

API Overview

link.sc provides two core APIs:

Fetch API (/v1/fetch)

Converts any URL into clean content. Supported output formats:

Format Description Best For
markdown Clean Markdown with preserved structure LLMs, RAG pipelines
json Structured JSON extraction Data pipelines
html Cleaned HTML Custom parsing
screenshot Full-page screenshot Visual verification

Search API (/v1/search)

Real-time web search with optional content extraction:

Parameter Type Description
q string Search query
format string Output format (markdown, json)
num_results number Number of results (1-10)
country string Geo-target (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2)

Using the Python SDK

Install the SDK:

pip install linksc

Basic usage:

import linksc

client = linksc.Client(api_key="lsc_YOUR_KEY")

# Fetch a page
result = client.fetch(
    url="https://example.com",
    format="markdown"
)
print(result.content)

# Search the web
results = client.search(
    q="latest AI news",
    format="markdown"
)
for r in results.results:
    print(f"{r.title}: {r.url}")

Using the Node.js SDK

Install the SDK:

npm install linksc

Basic usage:

import { LinkSC } from 'linksc';

const client = new LinkSC({ apiKey: 'lsc_YOUR_KEY' });

// Fetch a page
const result = await client.fetch({
  url: 'https://example.com',
  format: 'markdown'
});
console.log(result.content);

// Search the web
const results = await client.search({
  q: 'latest AI news',
  format: 'markdown'
});
results.results.forEach(r => {
  console.log(`${r.title}: ${r.url}`);
});

Common Use Cases

Feeding LLMs with Web Context

# Get current information for your LLM
context = client.search(q=user_question, format="markdown")

prompt = f"""Answer based on this context:
{context.results[0].content}

Question: {user_question}"""

Building a Knowledge Base

urls = ["https://docs.example.com/page1", "https://docs.example.com/page2"]

for url in urls:
    page = client.fetch(url=url, format="markdown")
    chunks = split_into_chunks(page.content)
    vector_store.add(chunks, metadata={"source": url})

Monitoring Web Pages

import hashlib

result = client.fetch(url="https://competitor.com/pricing", format="markdown")
current_hash = hashlib.md5(result.content.encode()).hexdigest()

if current_hash != previous_hash:
    notify("Pricing page changed!")

Authentication

All requests require your API key in the x-api-key header:

x-api-key: lsc_YOUR_KEY

Keep your API key secure. Never commit it to version control. Use environment variables in production:

import os
client = linksc.Client(api_key=os.environ["LINKSC_API_KEY"])

Rate Limits and Pricing

Plan Requests/Month Rate Limit
Starter (Free) 500 10 req/min
Professional ($49) 25,000 100 req/min
Enterprise Unlimited Custom

Next Steps

Start building with link.sc today. Get your free API key in under 2 minutes.