> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developer.onecodex.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Getting Started > A quick overview of the key concepts underlying the One Codex API Welcome to the **One Codex API**! One Codex is a data platform for microbial genomics, designed for the secure storage, sharing, and reproducible analysis of microbial next-generation sequencing data. Our API powers our [web application](https://app.onecodex.com) and is intended to be simple enough for use in ad hoc bioinformatic analyses, but powerful enough to support integration into existing systems (e.g., LIMS) or extension by building applications directly atop the platform. More concretely, the API allows users to upload NGS data (FASTA or FASTQ files), automatically determine their composition them using our [best-in-class metagenomic classifier and database](http://blog.onecodex.com/2016/04/25/2-0/), start [new analyses such as *in silico* panels and alignments](http://blog.onecodex.com/2016/09/26/running-new-analyses-whole-genome-alignments/), retrieve and build on top of these analyses, and much more. ## Core Concepts Across the API, there are several core concepts which map directly to the endpoints detailed below: * **Samples**: A **Sample** is a collection of genetic sequences (reads or contigs) that can be uploaded for analysis on the One Codex platform. At this time, we support uploading both FASTA and FASTQ files, which can optionally be compressed using `gzip`. Samples are owned by a **User** and may be described with **Metadata** records (both structured and free-form), annotated with **Tags**, and organized and shared via **Projects**. * **Analyses**: An analysis of an uploaded **Sample**. Several types of **Analyses** are supported on the platform today, and range from metagenomic classification ([example](https://app.onecodex.com/analysis/sample)) to panels for anti-microbial resistance ([example](https://app.onecodex.com/markerpanel/sample2)). Types of analyses currently exposed via the API include **Classifications**, **Panels**, and **Alignments**. More are planned for the future. * **Jobs**: Analysis jobs represent an exact execution environment, analytic workflow, and accompanying reference data. **Analyses** are the result of a **Job** running against a specific **Sample**. All **Jobs** on the One Codex platform are strictly versioned and provide strong reproducibility guarantees, ensuring that an analyses of different samples can be readily compared and an analysis of the same sample can be repeated and reliably reproduced. ## API Design & Accessing the API Our API is a RESTful JSON API, and is self-described using [JSON Schema](http://json-schema.org/). We hope that this format combined with an interactive API browser makes exploring and getting started with our API easy. 1317 You can access the API using `cURL`, an HTTP client library in your preferred language, our [Python client library](https://github.com/onecodex/onecodex), or our [command line client](https://github.com/onecodex/onecodex). Finally, if you find any part of the docs to be outdated or unclear, please [drop us a note](mailto:support@onecodex.com) and let us know! We'd also be grateful to hear any suggestions, requests, or other questions you have. You're also always welcome to send us a note via the Chat button on the bottom right of these documentation pages and our API browser.