Developer Quickstart

This guide walks developers through getting Cashmere integrated into an application. By the end, you'll have an API key, be able to search licensed content, and optionally connect Cashmere to an MCP client.

This should take about 15 minutes.

Prerequisites

  • A Cashmere account (sign up here)
  • At least one content license in your Cashmere account

Step 1: Create an API Key

  1. Log in at https://cashmere.io/accounts/login
  2. Navigate to Settings > API Keys
  3. Click Add Key
  4. Configure:
  5. Name: e.g. dev-test-key
  6. Collections: select the collections you want this key to access
  7. Search model: leave as default (vtups1-2155) unless you need recency boosting
  8. Copy the key immediately -- it will only be shown once

For more detail, see Creating an API Key.

Step 2: Make Your First Search Request

With your API key, you can immediately search any licensed content:

curl "https://cashmere.io/api/v2/search?q=machine+learning&limit=5" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

You'll get back an array of results with content, relevance scores, source metadata, and view-source URLs.

For full parameter reference, see AI Search on Licensed Content.

Step 3: List Your Licensed Content

Verify what content your key has access to:

curl "https://cashmere.io/api/v2/omnipubs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

This returns all Omnipubs available under your license, with metadata like title, authors, and cover images.

Step 4: Connect to an MCP Client (Optional)

Cashmere works with any MCP-compatible client. Pick your platform:

ChatGPT

Use the MCP server URL directly -- no OAuth required:

https://mcp.cashmere.io?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY

Follow the full setup: Creating a Custom App in ChatGPT

Claude

Add Cashmere as an MCP integration in Claude's settings.

Follow the full setup: Connecting MCP to Claude

Any MCP Client

Point your client's MCP server configuration at:

https://mcp.cashmere.io?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY

Once connected, you get access to tools for searching, listing publications, browsing collections, and pulling usage reports. See Cashmere MCP Tools for the full reference.

Step 5: Upload Content via API (If You're a Publisher)

If you also publish content, you can ingest Omnipubs programmatically:

curl -X POST "https://cashmere.io/api/v2/omnipub" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/book.epub" \
  -F "external_id=9780140455113" \
  -F "collection_id=42"

Poll ingestion status at /v2/omnipubs/{uuid}/status until you see status 100 (Ready).

Full reference: Add Omnipubs via API

Next Steps

For questions, contact [email protected]