> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.reader.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

> The web infrastructure platform for AI. Scrape, crawl, extract, and automate the web from a single API.

Reader is the web infrastructure platform for AI. Scrape, crawl, extract, and automate the web from a single API. Get back clean markdown, structured JSON, HTML, and metadata, or spin up cloud browser sessions with full Playwright/Puppeteer control.

One API key. Four primitives. You point it at a URL, we handle the rest:

* **Rendering** dynamic, JavaScript-heavy sites so you get the page the user sees
* **Bypassing** bot walls automatically. Pick `standard` (default) or `premium` for hostile sites
* **Extracting** main content and stripping navigation, ads, and boilerplate
* **Converting** to clean markdown optimized for language models
* **Automating** with cloud browser sessions for login flows, multi-step navigation, and interactive automation
* **Caching** successful scrapes for 24 hours, so repeat requests are free

## What you can build

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="RAG pipelines" icon="database">
    Scrape docs, blog posts, and knowledge bases into your vector store.
  </Card>

  <Card title="AI agents" icon="robot">
    Give your agent the ability to read the web as a tool call.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Research tools" icon="magnifying-glass">
    Batch scrape hundreds of URLs in parallel and stream results live.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Monitoring" icon="chart-line">
    Crawl competitor sites and extract structured data on a schedule.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Get started in 60 seconds

<Steps>
  <Step title="Sign up free">
    Create an account at [console.reader.dev](https://console.reader.dev). No credit card required - you get **1,000 credits every month** on the free tier.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Grab your API key">
    Open the API Keys page in the dashboard and click **Create API Key**. Copy it - you'll only see it once.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Make your first request">
    Follow the [Quickstart](/home/quickstart) to scrape your first page in under a minute.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Card title="Open Dashboard →" href="https://console.reader.dev" horizontal>
  Sign up free and create your API key in 30 seconds.
</Card>

## How Reader works

Four primitives:

| Endpoint                                     | Primitive   | What it does                                                  |
| -------------------------------------------- | ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `POST /v1/read` with single `url`            | **Read**    | Scrape a page. Returns results synchronously                  |
| `POST /v1/read` with `urls` array            | **Batch**   | Scrape many pages. Returns a `jobId` to poll or stream        |
| `POST /v1/read` with `maxDepth` / `maxPages` | **Crawl**   | Discover links and scrape each page asynchronously            |
| `POST /v1/read` with `extract`               | **Extract** | Pull structured JSON from a page using a schema or prompt     |
| `POST /v1/sessions`                          | **Browse**  | Spin up a cloud browser. Connect Playwright/Puppeteer via CDP |

See [The read primitive](/home/concepts/read-primitive) for the scrape/batch/crawl mental model, or [Browser sessions](/home/concepts/browser-sessions) for interactive automation.

## Why developers pick Reader

* **Four primitives, one platform.** Read, crawl, extract, and browse through one API key, one credit pool. No separate billing tracks or hidden multipliers.
* **Browser automation included.** Full Playwright and Puppeteer compatibility via CDP. Connect your existing scripts to cloud browsers with anti-bot stealth active.
* **Handles the modern web.** Dynamic pages render correctly, bot walls get bypassed using standard or premium proxy modes, and you never touch the underlying infrastructure.
* **Built for LLMs.** Output is clean markdown by default, with optional HTML and metadata. Main content extraction removes boilerplate so your tokens aren't wasted.
* **Free tier is actually free.** 1,000 credits a month, no card required. Enough to build and ship a real prototype.
* **Self-hostable.** The underlying engine is open source and Apache 2.0 licensed. Host it yourself if you need to. [Learn more →](/self-hosted)

## Where to go next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Quickstart" icon="bolt" href="/home/quickstart">
    Make your first scrape in 60 seconds.
  </Card>

  <Card title="The read primitive" icon="lightbulb" href="/home/concepts/read-primitive">
    Understand the mental model behind Reader's single endpoint.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Guides" icon="book" href="/home/guides/getting-started/first-scrape">
    Practical recipes for RAG, agents, production patterns, and more.
  </Card>

  <Card title="API Reference" icon="code" href="/api-reference/authentication">
    Full API spec for every endpoint.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>