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Beta tester onboarding

Follow this guide to create an account, confirm your email, generate an API key, and run your first extraction in the Playground. The complete flow takes a few minutes and does not require code or direct API configuration.

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Objective

By the end of this guide, you should be able to:

• access a confirmed Messora account;
• create and securely store an API key;
• choose a public URL to test;
• run an extraction in the Playground;
• validate the result, diagnostics, and credit usage.

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Prerequisites

• An email address you can access immediately;
• a password between 12 and 128 characters;
• a public URL to test, such as https://messora.dev;
• an up-to-date browser.

Do not share your password, API key, or verification codes with support or other beta testers.

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Quick flow

1. Create your account at /auth/signup.
2. Confirm your email with the 6-digit code.
3. Open the dashboard at /app.
4. Create an API key under API Keys.
5. Open Playground and select Extract.
6. Enter a public URL and wait for the estimate.
7. Click Extract Data and validate the result.

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1. Create your account

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How to access

Open www.messora.dev/auth/signup.

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Fields

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Steps

1. Enter your email address.
2. Create a password with at least 12 characters.
3. Repeat the password in Confirm password.
4. Read and accept the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Acceptable Use Policy.
5. Click Create account.
6. Wait for the redirect to email confirmation.

The Create account button remains disabled until the required fields and legal acceptance are complete.

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Common states and errors

• Email already registered: use sign in or password recovery instead of creating another account.
• Password too short: enter at least 12 characters.
• Password too long: the limit is 128 characters.
• Passwords do not match: enter exactly the same password in both fields.
• Compromised password: choose another password if Messora reports that it appeared in public data breaches.
• Invalid email: check the address format.
• Network or server error: check your connection and try again later.

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Social sign-in

You can also continue with Google or GitHub after accepting the legal documents. The provider validates the email, but the API key is still created manually under API Keys.

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2. Confirm your email

After signup, Messora creates the session and opens /auth/verify-email.

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How it works

1. Open the inbox for the email used during signup.
2. Find the message from Messora.
3. Copy the 6-digit code.
4. Enter it in Verification code.
5. Click Confirm email.
6. Wait for the success message and redirect to /app.

The code expires after 15 minutes. Each code allows up to five attempts; request a new code after that limit.

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Resend the code

If the email does not arrive:

1. Check spam, promotions, and inbox filters.
2. Click Resend code.
3. Wait for the 60-second countdown before requesting another code.

The first resend is not blocked by the cooldown. Later resends must respect the 60-second interval.

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Why is this step required?

While the email is unconfirmed, Messora blocks consumption operations, including:

• creating or rotating API keys;
• running the Playground;
• authenticated requests using X-API-Key.

Billing, account settings, and password changes may remain accessible, but they do not unlock API usage.

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Common states and errors

• Incorrect code: check all six digits and try again.
• Code expired or invalid: request a new code.
• Too many incorrect attempts: use Resend code.
• Wait before resending: the 60-second cooldown is still active.
• Session expired: return to sign in and authenticate again.

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3. First dashboard visit

After confirmation, you arrive at the dashboard at /app.

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What to check

• First steps: shows the account onboarding progress;
• API Keys: opens key management;
• Usage & Analytics: shows consumption and history;
• Billing: shows the plan and credit options;
• Playground: opens the extraction tools;
• Usage: shows the consumed percentage;
• Subscription: shows the current plan and available credits.

If the account has not completed onboarding, use Open Playground in the First steps card or select Playground in the sidebar.

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4. Create an API key

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How to access

From the dashboard, click API Keys or open www.messora.dev/app/keys. Click New API Key.

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Steps

1. Click New API Key.
2. Enter a label that identifies the use, such as beta-playground or local-test.
3. Click Create key.
4. Copy the key immediately.
5. Store it in a password manager or secret manager.
6. Close the modal only after confirming that the key is stored.

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Important: the key is shown once

The full API key appears only when it is created. After that, the interface shows only its prefix. If you close the modal without copying the key, create another one. Do not try to recover the full value from the table.

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Table columns

An account can have up to 10 active API keys. To create another key after reaching the limit, revoke a key that is no longer needed.

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Best practices

• Create one key per environment or purpose.
• Use labels that explain the context.
• Never put the key in screenshots, tickets, commits, or messages.
• Never send the key to a browser or client-side application.
• Revoke keys that were exposed or are no longer needed.
• When rotating, update the consuming system before removing the old access.

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5. Open the Playground

Open www.messora.dev/app/playground from the sidebar. The Playground opens on Extract, which is the recommended tool for the first run.

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Available tools

For this onboarding, stay on Extract.

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6. Run your first extraction

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Minimal configuration

1. In URL to extract, enter a public URL, for example https://messora.dev.
2. Wait for the estimate to appear.
3. Confirm that your balance covers the run.
4. Keep Markdown selected under Output.
5. Click Extract Data.
6. Wait for the result.

The default Extract mode reports 1 credit per page. The estimate shown by the Playground is the source of truth for the current configuration, especially when structured output or advanced options are enabled.

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Parameters

Click Parameters to open the side drawer. Available controls include:

• API key: attributes the run to a key in usage reports;
• Extraction guidance: adds instructions about how to interpret the page;
• Fact check: limits extraction to values explicitly supported by the page;
• Follow subdomains: follows links on subdomains during multi-page extract;
• Include frames: includes iframe references in Markdown without fetching external frame content;
• Max pages: sets the page limit, from 1 to 10 in the Playground;
• Max depth: limits extract depth;
• Parse PDF: processes discovered PDFs;
• Cache maxAge: sets the scrape cache TTL;
• Tags: adds labels that can be filtered in the dashboard;
• Output: Markdown, JSON, or Raw;
• Render JavaScript: renders pages that depend on JavaScript;
• Main content only: removes peripheral content when supported;
• Timeout: sets the execution timeout;
• Wait after load: waits additional milliseconds after loading.

For the first test, keep the defaults and change only the URL. This makes it easier to determine whether an issue comes from the domain or from an advanced configuration.

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Expected result

A successful run shows:

• Markdown, JSON, or Raw output;
• response time;
• Copy button;
• Download result button;
• credits used;
• View usage link;
• run diagnostics;
• HTTP status;
• engine used;
• requested and analyzed page counts;
• estimated and used credits;
• latency;
• retries;
• final URL.

The expected diagnostic state is Success. The HTTP status is normally 200 for an available page.

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What to record during beta testing

After the first run, record:

• URL tested;
• tool used;
• selected output;
• response time;
• diagnostic status;
• HTTP status;
• credits used;
• final URL, if it differs from the input;
• error message, if any.

Do not include your API key in the report.

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Playground states

Do not treat a failed extraction as a success. Record the displayed message and the target domain for beta triage.

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Beta best practices

• Start with a simple public page before testing complex sites.
• Run one extraction at a time and wait for the final diagnostic.
• Use Markdown for the first test; try JSON after the basic flow works.
• Enable Render JavaScript only when the page depends on browser-loaded content.
• Do not use private URLs, login-protected pages, or third-party personal data.
• Do not attempt to bypass CAPTCHA, WAFs, robots.txt, or target limits.
• Review results for personal data before sharing them.
• Check Usage & Analytics after a successful run.
• Report the domain, message, and approximate time; never send the API key.

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FAQ

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Do I need to create an API key before confirming my email?

No. Confirm your email first. Key creation and rotation are blocked until the account is verified.

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Does the Playground ask me to type the API key?

Not for an authenticated Playground run. The Playground can attribute usage to a key through the Parameters drawer. Code snippets use YOUR_API_KEY as a placeholder for external integrations.

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Where should I store the API key?

Use a password manager or secret manager. For an integration, use a server-side environment variable. Never put the key in versioned code or client-side code.

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What if I close the modal without copying the key?

Create a new API key. The full value is shown only at creation time.

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What if the email code does not arrive?

Check spam and filters, wait a few seconds, and use Resend code. Respect the 60-second cooldown between resends.

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How much does the first extraction cost?

The default Extract mode reports 1 credit per page. The final cost depends on the configuration; always confirm the estimate shown by the Playground before running it.

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Can I test any website?

No. During the beta, use only permitted public URLs and respect target restrictions. linkedin.com and instagram.com (including subdomains) are refused before fetch with 403 / domain_not_supported_in_beta and do not consume credits. The denylist can grow — see Authentication.

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How do I ask for help?

Email customer@messora.dev with the route, target domain, approximate time, tool, HTTP status, and displayed message. Remove passwords, codes, API keys, and personal data from the report.

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Onboarding completion criteria

Onboarding is complete when the beta tester can:

• sign in to /app;
• confirm that the email is verified;
• see an active API key without exposing its full value;
• open /app/playground;
• get an estimate before running;
• execute a public URL;
• see a result with Success status;
• identify credits used and run diagnostics.

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Related

• Introduction
• Quickstart
• Authentication
• API reference: Scrape
• Playground guide: Scrape
• Usage & Analytics
• Billing
• API Keys
• Playground