> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://apidoc.bulkneo.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Quickstart
> Connect a number, create a key, and send your first WhatsApp message.
Five minutes, four steps. You need a BulkNeo account, a phone with WhatsApp on the number you want to send from, and something that can make an HTTP request.
Sign in to the portal and open **Instances**. Press **Create instance**, give the number a label you will recognise — `Sales`, `Support`, `Delivery` — and a QR code appears.
On the phone that owns that WhatsApp number, open **WhatsApp → Settings → Linked devices → Link a device**, and scan the QR on screen.
The status turns to **Connected** within a few seconds of a successful scan. The link stays active the same way WhatsApp Web does — you do not need to keep that page open.
Scan with the phone whose number you want to send from. Whatever number you scan is the number your customers will see the messages coming from.
Open the **API Keys** screen and create a key. Give it a label so you know later which server it lives on.
The key is shown **once**. Copy it straight into your server's environment variables or secret store. We keep only a hash of it, so nobody — including us — can show it to you again. If you lose it, revoke it and create another.
Every connected number has its own `instance_id`. It is shown next to the number on your **Instances** screen, in the **Instance ID** column, with a copy button.
You can also list them from the API:
```bash theme={null}
curl https://api.bulkneo.com/v1/instances \
-H "apikey: YOUR_API_KEY"
```
Each entry has an `instance_id`, your `label`, and `connected` — which tells you whether that number can send right now.
Put your key in the `apikey` header, the `instance_id` of the number to send from, and the recipient in `to`.
```bash cURL theme={null}
curl -X POST https://api.bulkneo.com/v1/messages/text \
-H "apikey: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"instance_id": "YOUR_INSTANCE_ID",
"to": "919876543210",
"text": "Hello from our API"
}'
```
```javascript Node.js theme={null}
const res = await fetch("https://api.bulkneo.com/v1/messages/text", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
apikey: process.env.BULKNEO_API_KEY,
"Content-Type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({
instance_id: process.env.BULKNEO_INSTANCE_ID,
to: "919876543210",
text: "Hello from our API",
}),
});
const body = await res.json();
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`${body.error.code}: ${body.error.message}`);
console.log(body.data.message_id);
```
```python Python theme={null}
import os
import requests
res = requests.post(
"https://api.bulkneo.com/v1/messages/text",
headers={"apikey": os.environ["BULKNEO_API_KEY"]},
json={
"instance_id": os.environ["BULKNEO_INSTANCE_ID"],
"to": "919876543210",
"text": "Hello from our API",
},
timeout=30,
)
body = res.json()
res.raise_for_status()
print(body["data"]["message_id"])
```
A success looks like this:
```json theme={null}
{
"success": true,
"data": {
"instance_id": "3f9c1a2b-7d4e-4c81-9f0a-2b6d5e8c1a34",
"to": "919876543210",
"type": "text",
"status": "sent",
"message_id": "3EB0C1D2F4A5B6C7D8E9",
"provider_status": "PENDING"
},
"request_id": "b1f2c3d4-5e6f-4a7b-8c9d-0e1f2a3b4c5d"
}
```
Keep `data.message_id`. It is what you use later to [reply to](/guides/replies) or [react to](/api-reference/messages/reaction) that message.
## One key, many numbers
This is the one idea worth reading slowly, because every example on this site uses both fields and they do different jobs.
Your **API key** identifies your **account** — it is *who you are*.
Your **`instance_id`** identifies **one of your connected numbers** — it is *which of them the message goes out from*.
Picture a shop with three WhatsApp numbers: one for **Sales**, one for **Support**, one for **Delivery updates**. All three run on **one** key. Each request names the number it should leave from, so the order confirmation goes out from Sales and "your parcel is on its way" goes out from Delivery.
```
Sales instance_id: "3f9c…" ┐
Support instance_id: "a1b7…" ├─ one API key
Delivery instance_id: "c8e2…" ┘
```
No second key, no second account, nothing extra to set up.
Every number keeps its `instance_id` for life. It does **not** change when a number drops off and someone re-scans the QR — so there is nothing to redeploy after a reconnect. See [If your number disconnects](/guides/disconnects).
## Formatting the recipient
`to` is the recipient's number with its country code and no leading zero:
| You have | Send |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------- |
| `98765 43210` (India) | `919876543210` |
| `+91 98765-43210` | `919876543210` or `+919876543210` |
| `098765 43210` | `919876543210` |
Spaces, dashes, brackets and a leading `+` are accepted and stripped for you. What must remain is 6 to 15 digits. A number that fails that check comes back as `422 invalid_recipient`.
Sending to numbers that are not on WhatsApp wastes your allowance and is one of the fastest ways to get a number restricted. [Check a list first](/guides/checking-numbers).
## Where to go next
Images, PDFs, locations, polls and more — twelve types, one pattern.
Which errors to retry, which to alert a human about.