# 3Min API

> No-code API relay service — create endpoints in 3 minutes, no backend required.

3Min API lets small businesses create API endpoints without writing code.
Define your API schema, test it in sandbox, get the data into your own system
via webhook or polling, then deploy to production — all from a web dashboard.

## Core Value Proposition

- **3-minute setup**: Create API endpoints without writing code
- **No backend needed**: Start immediately without hiring developers
- **Data delivery**: Push to your webhook, or pull on your own schedule with cursor-based polling — whichever your environment allows
- **Instant documentation**: Auto-generated API docs with Swagger-style testing
- **MCP integration**: Manage APIs via AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor)
- **Email invitation**: Invite partners to access API keys, logs, and stats from their dashboard

## How It Works

1. **Create endpoint** (~30 sec) - Define API name and optional required fields
2. **Test call in Sandbox** (~1 min) - Use built-in Swagger UI to test
3. **Receive the data in your system** - Webhook (we push each record to your URL) or polling (your client pulls what arrived since the last call). Both can be on at once
4. **Deploy to Production** - One click to go live

Also available: invite partners by email so they get keys, logs, and stats in their own dashboard;
Production Console for direct CRUD on production data (owner only).

## Pricing

| Plan | Price | API Calls |
|------|-------|-----------|
| Free | $0 | 1,000/mo |
| Basic | $10/mo | 100,000/mo |
| Pro | $30/mo | 1,000,000/mo |

## Technical Specs

- **Architecture**: Asynchronous queue-based processing
- **Response time**: Instant API response, the rest is handled automatically
- **Max payload**: 100KB per request
- **Security**: HTTPS/TLS, DDoS protection
- **Reliability**: Queue-first design with 3-tier auto-recovery (~56 hours coverage). Once API returns 202, data processing is guaranteed.
- **Webhook retry**: One attempt per try with a 15-second timeout; failures are queued and retried — production 6 attempts total over ~5 hours, sandbox 4 over ~12 minutes. Any 4xx other than 429 is permanent and never retried. Data is saved regardless of webhook success.
- **Webhook failure alert**: When a delivery is given up on — retries exhausted, or a permanent response that is never retried — the endpoint owner gets an email — every plan including Free, production only, owner webhook only, at most one per endpoint per day. No recovery notice; collaborator webhook failures are never emailed.
- **Webhook signing**: Every delivery is signed with HMAC-SHA256 per the Standard Webhooks spec (`webhook-id`, `webhook-timestamp`, `webhook-signature`). Verification is optional.
- **Polling**: `GET /api/v1/data/{slug}/poll` returns only what arrived since the last call, oldest first, and hands back a cursor the client stores. For receivers with no public URL, or that need to control the pace. Records younger than ~60 seconds are held back until the queue settles. Each request counts as one API call regardless of how many records come back, empty responses included — so usage tracks the poll interval, not the traffic.
- **Data retention**: Production records are kept at least 60 days, then removed a whole month at a time; sandbox records are deleted after 30 days; Free-plan endpoints are deleted 7 days after creation. Usage statistics are kept separately and survive record deletion. Use a webhook or `/poll` to keep data beyond the window

## Documentation

- [User Manual](https://3minapi.com/guide): Visual dashboard walkthrough with screenshots — step-by-step UI guides for onboarding, endpoints, collaboration keys, logs, stats, and more
- [Overview](https://3minapi.com/docs/overview): Service overview and core concepts
- [Quickstart](https://3minapi.com/docs/quickstart): Get started in 3 minutes
- [Concepts](https://3minapi.com/docs/concepts): Key concepts (endpoints, API keys, webhooks)
- [Integration Guide](https://3minapi.com/docs/integration): API reference, webhook receiver, and polling loop with code samples
- [Architecture](https://3minapi.com/docs/architecture): System architecture and reliability
- [MCP Integration](https://3minapi.com/docs/mcp): AI tool integration via Model Context Protocol
- [Claude Integration](https://3minapi.com/guide/ai-claude): Connect from the Claude Connectors directory (search "3minapi", select "3Min API", click Connect)
- [ChatGPT Integration](https://3minapi.com/guide/ai-chatgpt): Connect from the ChatGPT Plugins directory
- [MCP Integration (CLI / IDE)](https://3minapi.com/guide/ai-mcp): API key setup for Claude Code, Cursor, and other MCP clients
- [Pricing & Policies](https://3minapi.com/docs/pricing): Plans, limits, and billing
- [FAQ](https://3minapi.com/docs/faq): Frequently asked questions
- [Troubleshooting](https://3minapi.com/docs/troubleshooting): Error codes and fixes

## Links

- Website: https://3minapi.com
- Documentation: https://3minapi.com/docs
- Pricing: https://3minapi.com/pricing
- Privacy Policy: https://3minapi.com/privacy
- Terms of Service: https://3minapi.com/terms
- Support: https://3minapi.com/support

## Optional

- [Policies](https://3minapi.com/docs/policies): Data retention, refund, cancellation
- [Complete Documentation](https://3minapi.com/llms-full.txt): Full documentation in a single file for LLM context