# lucid.page API keys: when you need one and when you don’t

lucid.page works with zero setup: your agent publishes, you get a link, done. So when is it worth minting an API key? Short answer: the moment you want to change anything after publishing.

# What anonymous gets you

Quite a lot, honestly:

• Publishing, up to 10 pages a minute per IP
• Documents up to 1 MB
• Pages that stay up permanently (unless you set a TTL)
• Unlisted or public visibility
• A claim link with every publish, so you can adopt a page later

For one-off shares, throwaway previews, and “publish this so I can send it to someone”, anonymous is genuinely enough. No account, no key management, no secrets in config files.

# What a key adds

An lp_ key turns publishing into ownership:

• Update pages in place. Same URL, new content, every update saved as a revision. This alone is usually the reason.
• Delete pages. Anonymous pages can’t be deleted by anyone.
• Private visibility. Pages only you can read, 404 for everyone else.
• Bundles. Grouping pages into multi-chapter bundles requires ownership of every chapter.
• Listing. list_docs and the dashboard show everything you own in one place.
• Higher limits. 120 publishes a minute per account instead of 10 per IP.

If your workflow is “publish once, share, forget”, skip the key. If your workflow is “publish, then fix the typo, then update it next sprint”, you want one.

# Getting a key

Sign in at lucid.page, go to the dashboard, and mint a key under Settings. It’s shown exactly once, so paste it somewhere safe immediately.

Keys go wherever your agent expects them:

• MCP clients (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code): add ?apiKey=lp_YOUR_KEY to the server URL
• curl and scripts: Authorization: Bearer lp_YOUR_KEY header
• GitHub Action: the api-key input or LUCID_API_KEY env var

# The middle ground: claim links

Every anonymous publish returns a one-time claim link. Open it while signed in and the page moves into your account, retroactively giving you all the ownership powers over it.

This makes “start anonymous, claim the keepers” a legit workflow. Let the agent publish freely, claim the three pages that turned out useful, ignore the rest.

# Checking your limits

Your agent can ask the API directly. The get_limits MCP tool (or GET /api/analytics for the view counts side) tells you where you stand, and with a key attached it also reports your plan. Paid plans raise limits further and unlock the full analytics dashboard, if you ever get to the point of caring about per-page traffic and referrers.

# Worth knowing

• Treat keys like passwords. They can publish and delete as you. Don’t commit them, don’t paste them in chats, use secrets managers in CI.
• Compromised key? Revoke it in the dashboard and mint a new one. Old key dies instantly.
• The claim token is also a secret, at least until it’s used. Anyone holding it can adopt the page.

Related: the ownership model from the reader side is in Your agent published a page. Now what?, and if you want keys mainly for CI, the action’s README covers that setup.