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

# Getting Started Guide

## What the Covata API can do

The Covata API allows your application to:

* [Authenticate and authorize](/3.2/api/authentication-and-authorisation.md) a Covata user to the Covata Platform,
* [Obtain a cryptographic key](/3.2/api/creating-files-and-folders.md#obtaining-a-cryptographic-key) from the the Covata Platform's Access Service, which is required for encrypting or decrypting a [file's/Secure Object's](/3.2/api/creating-files-and-folders.md#secure-object) data,
* [Initialize a new 'Incomplete' file object](/3.2/api/creating-files-and-folders.md#initializing-a-new-incomplete-file-object) by associating the cryptographic key with this new file,
* [Create a completed file object by encrypting its data locally](/3.2/api/creating-files-and-folders.md#creating-a-completed-file-object-data-encrypted-locally), either for:

  * [Remote storage uploaded](/3.2/api/creating-files-and-folders.md#uploading-a-completed-files-encrypted-data) to and handled by the the Covata Platform's Content Service, or
  * Storage handled independently by your application,
* [Create a completed file object by uploading its unencrypted data](/3.2/api/creating-files-and-folders.md#creating-a-completed-file-object-uploading-unencrypted-data) to the Content Service for encryption, then storage and
* [Create a folder](/3.2/api/creating-files-and-folders.md#creating-a-folder-for-managing-files) for managing files.
* Retrieve a list of information about:

  * All immediate files and folders (i.e. [items](/3.2/api/creating-files-and-folders.md#item)) [of a common parent folder](/3.2/api/retrieving-information-about-items-from-the-platform.md#retrieving-info-about-all-immediate-items-of-a-common-parent-folder),
  * All items [filtered by text search](/3.2/api/retrieving-information-about-items-from-the-platform.md#retrieving-info-about-all-items-filtered-by-text-search),
  * All items [based on ownership or sharing status](/3.2/api/retrieving-information-about-items-from-the-platform.md#retrieving-info-about-items-based-on-ownership-or-sharing-status), or
  * All [ancestral folders](/3.2/api/retrieving-information-about-items-from-the-platform.md#retrieving-info-about-all-ancestral-folders-of-an-item) of a specific file or folder.
* Allow specific people (known as 'collaborators') to access a [file](/3.2/api/sharing-items.md#sharing-a-file-with-collaborators) or a [folder](/3.2/api/sharing-items.md#sharing-a-folder-with-collaborators), as well as decrypt its content,
* [Identify existing collaborators](/3.2/api/sharing-items.md#determining-existing-collaborators-on-an-item) on a file or folder,
* [Modify (i.e. remove or add)](/3.2/api/sharing-items.md#modifying-existing-collaborators-on-an-item) collaborators on a file or folder,

The Covata Platform keeps a record of all files and folders created, as well as information about which users are collaborators on each file or folder.

To perform the activities above, a [Covata user](/3.2/api/authentication-and-authorisation.md) is required to authenticate to the Covata Platform, which permits access to the the Covata Platform's resources (i.e. through Covata API endpoints) that are available to this user.

## Tools for accessing the Covata API 

### cURL

Example API calls used throughout this Getting Started Guide are based on the standard command line tool [cURL](http://curl.haxx.se/), which allows you to construct API requests at the command line to submit to the appropriate endpoints of either the Covata Platform's Access or Content Services.

### Postman - REST Client

The Google Chrome tool [Postman - REST Client](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/postman?hl=en), provides a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows you to construct and save a set of API endpoint requests to submit to the Covata Platform. Postman also allows you to upload data files to submit as part of a request (e.g. binary data as part of a multi-part form data element).

## Getting Started Guide contents

This Getting Started Guide consists of the following sections:

* [Authentication and authorization](/3.2/api/authentication-and-authorisation.md)
* [Creating files and folders](/3.2/api/creating-files-and-folders.md)
* [Retrieving information about items from the Covata Platform](/3.2/api/retrieving-information-about-items-from-the-platform.md)
* [Sharing items](/3.2/api/sharing-items.md)


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