Getting Started - Unpod AI

One backend, several doors. Pick the outcome you want; each path is one page and takes minutes.

Choose your path

I want to…	Start here	You need
Place a real phone call with an agent	Quickstart - six SDK calls, nothing to deploy	Platform token + a number
Talk to an agent in the browser	Realtime	A browser - runs in the hosted Playground
Publish an agent to a number, no code	Phone	A Playground account
Run my own Python brain on calls	Run Your Own Brain	SDK key + a number
Call a trained agent like a model, over REST	Chat API	Endpoint key

Not sure? Take the Quickstart - it is the shortest path to something real: your phone rings, an agent speaks, and the transcript comes back in code.

Which credential is which

Unpod’s credentials are not interchangeable:

You are calling	Host	Auth	From
Python SDK REST (agents, numbers, calls)	`api.unpod.ai`	`UNPOD_PLATFORM_TOKEN` + `UNPOD_ORG_HANDLE`, or `UNPOD_API_KEY`	Quickstart → Prerequisites
AgentRunner (your own brain)	the orchestrator	`UNPOD_API_KEY` (`sk_...`)	unpod.ai/api-keys
Chat API (trained agent as a model)	`inference.unpod.ai`	`Authorization: Bearer` endpoint key	Playground → Deploy as Endpoint

The SDK reads all of it from the environment; token auth wins over the API key when both are present. Set whichever matches the path you are on.

Before the first line of code

Why Unpod

The communication backend for agentic apps - the case in two minutes.

How Unpod fits together

The spine, the four layers, and every term defined once.