> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.sportmonks.com/v2/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.sportmonks.com/v2/cricket-api/getting-started/getting-started.md).

# Getting started

Before you are able to call our API you need a SportMonks account. [Register now.](https://my.sportmonks.com/register)

To make our first request, we’ll need a way to get authenticated first. Cricket API 2.0 utilizes API tokens for the authentication of requests. You can obtain and manage your API tokens in [Mysportmonks](https://my.sportmonks.com/login).

Example API token: \[HdoiD312ND….]

The API token is only meant for your eyes and, as such, should be stored away safely.

{% hint style="info" %}
Our tokens have no expiration date and will remain valid until you manually delete it yourself.
{% endhint %}

Cricket API 2.0 utilizes response codes to indicate successful and failed API requests.\
\
When making a request, a code response will always be returned. See below for a short list of possible code responses:

| Code number | Description                                                                                                     |
| ----------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `200`       | **Successful request and data was returned**                                                                    |
| `400`       | **Part of the request is malformed; the exact reason can be found in the response**                             |
| `401`       | **The request is not authenticated**                                                                            |
| `403`       | **Unauthorized request to access data from an ineligible plan**                                                 |
| `404`       | **This recond is not found. It could be that the data you're trying to access is deleted due to rescheduling.** |
| `429`       | **You have reached the response rate limit of your plan**                                                       |
| `500`       | **Internal error with our servers**                                                                             |

{% hint style="info" %}
We recommend you use Postman for convenience. Every endpoint has an example request ready to be requested by you. Hit the button below to import our Cricket API collection.\
                                                              [![Run in Postman](https://run.pstmn.io/button.svg)](https://cricket-postman.sportmonks.com/)
{% endhint %}

With our token in hand, we can finally make the first request!

## Your first request

Now that all prerequisites have been fulfilled, we’re ready to send our first request to the API!

### Build the request

The request consists of the following components:

* The base URL
* A path parameter, in this example, we use \[leagues]
* A query string parameter, this is optional, so we leave this out for now
* And finally, your API token

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Base URL" %}

```javascript
https://cricket.sportmonks.com/api/v2.0/
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

An example of a correctly authenticated request would be:

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Request" %}

```javascript
https://cricket.sportmonks.com/api/v2.0/leagues?api_token={API_TOKEN}
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Response" %}

```javascript
{
    "data": [
        {
            "resource": "leagues",
            "id": 3,
            "season_id": 312,
            "country_id": 99474,
            "name": "Twenty20 International",
            "code": "T20I",
            "image_path": "https://cdn.sportmonks.com/images/cricket/leagues/3/3.png",
            "type": "phase",
            "updated_at": "2020-03-09T15:32:38.000000Z"
        },
        {
            "resource": "leagues",
            "id": 5,
            "season_id": 525,
            "country_id": 98,
            "name": "Big Bash League",
            "code": "BBL",
            "image_path": "https://cdn.sportmonks.com/images/cricket/leagues/5/5.png",
            "type": "league",
            "updated_at": "2020-07-15T09:34:23.000000Z"
        },
        {
            "resource": "leagues",
            "id": 10,
            "season_id": 648,
            "country_id": 146,
            "name": "CSA T20 Challenge",
            "code": "T20C",
            "image_path": "https://cdn.sportmonks.com/images/cricket/leagues/10/10.png",
            "type": "league",
            "updated_at": "2020-10-20T08:41:32.000000Z"
        }
    ]
}
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

This request will return all of the leagues eligible for our free plan, which are the **Twenty20 International (league id: 3), CSA T20 Challenge (league id: 10)** and the **Big Bash League** **(league id: 5).**