# Quick Start

## Introduction

At its core, Forge is an integration layer built atop Alloy, our no-code workflow automation platform. Forge works by allowing your users to run workflows specific to their accounts without you having to configure and provision logins for them. To do this, we abstract away annoying things like 3rd party app authentication and infrastructure with our APIs.

First things first, you’ll need to [login](https://app.runalloy.com/login) to your Alloy account and hit the “**Switch to Forge**” button which you can also access from here ([app.runalloy.com/forge](https://app.runalloy.com/forge))

You’ll be presented with an interface similar to the one below. Navigate to Account page -> click Partner Settings -> and select Generate API key. Then, copy/paste the API key created. Make sure to save this key in a secure location as you will not be able to recover it and will need to regenerate a new key if you misplace it.

## Get your API keys

Any API request against the Forge API must be authenticated using a Forge API key. Any request that doesn't include an API key will return an error.

You can generate an API key from your Forge Settings page at any time as seen below. Note that once the API key is generated, it cannot be decoded. Therefore, you **must** save the key in a secure location. If you lose the API key, you can regenerate a new one from the Forge Settings page but the previous key will be revoked.

![](/files/OHkp4saG8WTV7LqyaYH1)


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