# Overview
URL: https://musicapi.com/docs/get-started/overview.md

> What MusicAPI is, how MusicAPI Core and MusicAPI Managed Transfers differ, and which one you need.

Product: MusicAPI Core and MusicAPI Managed Transfers. Section: Get started.

MusicAPI connects your users to their music services. One API reads and writes playlists, liked tracks, albums and artists on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Tidal, Amazon Music, Deezer and the other [supported services](https://musicapi.com/docs/get-started/services-and-features.md). It also searches and matches the catalogs of those services, with no connected user.

You use MusicAPI in one of two ways.

## Two products

|                        | MusicAPI Core                                                                | MusicAPI Managed Transfers                                                                             |
| ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| What you get           | A REST API. You build the screens and the transfer logic.                    | A hosted, white-label transfer flow. You send users to a link.                                         |
| Who signs users in     | The hosted sign-in, or your own UI that links to it                          | The hosted wizard, both sides                                                                          |
| Who matches tracks     | You, with the catalog search and match endpoints                             | MusicAPI                                                                                               |
| What your backend does | Calls `/api/{integrationUserUUID}/…` for each read and write                 | Listens to webhooks, reads the Match Results API                                                       |
| Branding               | Your app                                                                     | Your logo, colours, fonts and custom domain on our pages                                               |
| Start here             | [Quickstart: Core](https://musicapi.com/docs/get-started/quickstart-core.md) | [Quickstart: Managed Transfers](https://musicapi.com/docs/get-started/quickstart-managed-transfers.md) |

Both products share one account, one pair of API keys and one hosted sign-in.

## Which one do I need

- **You want users to move their library into your service, and you do not want to build a wizard.** Use Managed Transfers. The flow reads the source library, matches every item, writes it to your service and reports what it could not match.
- **You want library data inside your own product**: show a user's playlists, save tracks to their account, build your own transfer or sync feature. Use Core.
- **You only need catalog data**: search a track on several services, resolve a shared link, read a public playlist. Use the [catalog endpoints](https://musicapi.com/docs/catalog/overview.md) of Core. They need no connected user.

You can start with one and add the other later.

## How a Core integration works

1. **Sign in**: Your user connects a music service on the hosted sign-in.
2. **Callback**: You get the `integrationUserUUID` on your return URL.
3. **API calls**: Your backend calls `/api/{integrationUserUUID}/playlists` and the other library routes.

## How Managed Transfers works

1. **Link**: You send the user to your transfer URL.
2. **Wizard**: The user connects both services and picks the content.
3. **Transfer**: MusicAPI matches and writes every item.
4. **Webhooks**: Your backend gets the result and the unmatched items.

## The base URLs

| Host                       | What it serves                                                                                         |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `https://api.musicapi.com` | The API. Every endpoint in the [API reference](https://musicapi.com/docs/reference.md).                |
| `https://app.musicapi.com` | The dashboard (`/admin`), the hosted sign-in (`/{slug}`) and the transfer wizard (`/{slug}/transfer`). |

## Next steps

- [Get your keys and connect a test user](https://musicapi.com/docs/get-started/quickstart-core.md).
- [Read how the credentials work](https://musicapi.com/docs/get-started/authentication.md).
- Building with an AI coding agent? Give it [the agent guide](https://musicapi.com/docs/ai/ai-coding-agents.md).