Quickstart | xAI Docs

Welcome! In this guide, we'll walk you through the basics of using the xAI API, from creating an account to making your first request.

Step 2: Generate an API key

Create an API key via the API Keys page in the xAI Console. Then make it available to your code. Either export it in your terminal:

Bash

export XAI_API_KEY="your_api_key"

Or add it to a .env file in your project directory:

Bash

XAI_API_KEY=your_api_key

The xAI SDKs are configured to automatically read your API key from the XAI_API_KEY environment variable.

Step 3: Install an SDK

Pick your language and install the SDK:

pip install xai-sdk

pip install openai

npm install ai @ai-sdk/xai zod

npm install openai

Step 4: Make your first request

Send a prompt to Grok and get a response:

import os
from xai_sdk import Client
from xai_sdk.chat import user, system

client = Client(api_key=os.getenv("XAI_API_KEY"))

chat = client.chat.create(model="grok-4.3")
chat.append(system("You are Grok, a highly intelligent, helpful AI assistant."))
chat.append(user("What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?"))

response = chat.sample()
print(response.content)

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.getenv("XAI_API_KEY"),
    base_url="https://api.x.ai/v1",
)

completion = client.responses.create(
    model="grok-4.3",
    input=[
        {"role": "system", "content": "You are Grok, a highly intelligent, helpful AI assistant."},
        {"role": "user", "content": "What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?"},
    ],
)

print(completion.output_text)

import { createXai } from '@ai-sdk/xai';
import { generateText } from 'ai';

const xai = createXai({ apiKey: process.env.XAI_API_KEY });

const { text } = await generateText({
  model: xai.responses('grok-4.3'),
  system: 'You are Grok, a highly intelligent, helpful AI assistant.',
  prompt: 'What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?',
});

console.log(text);

import OpenAI from 'openai';

const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: process.env.XAI_API_KEY,
  baseURL: 'https://api.x.ai/v1',
});

const response = await client.responses.create({
  model: 'grok-4.3',
  input: [
    { role: 'system', content: 'You are Grok, a highly intelligent, helpful AI assistant.' },
    { role: 'user', content: 'What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?' },
  ],
});

console.log(response.output_text);

curl https://api.x.ai/v1/responses \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $XAI_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "model": "grok-4.3",
    "input": [
        {"role": "system", "content": "You are Grok, a highly intelligent, helpful AI assistant."},
        {"role": "user", "content": "What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?"}
    ]
  }'

Certain models also support Structured Outputs, which allows you to enforce a schema for the LLM output. For an in-depth guide about using Grok for text responses, check out the Text Generation Guide.

Step 5: Generate an image

Use the Imagine API to generate images from text prompts:

import os
import xai_sdk

client = xai_sdk.Client(api_key=os.getenv("XAI_API_KEY"))

response = client.image.sample(
    prompt="A futuristic city skyline at sunset",
    model="grok-imagine-image-quality",
)

print(response.url)

import os
from openai import OpenAI

client = OpenAI(
    api_key=os.getenv("XAI_API_KEY"),
    base_url="https://api.x.ai/v1",
)

response = client.images.generate(
    model="grok-imagine-image-quality",
    prompt="A futuristic city skyline at sunset",
)

print(response.data[0].url)

import { xai } from '@ai-sdk/xai';
import { generateImage } from 'ai';

const { image } = await generateImage({
  model: xai.image('grok-imagine-image-quality'),
  prompt: 'A futuristic city skyline at sunset',
});

console.log(image.base64);

import OpenAI from 'openai';

const client = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: process.env.XAI_API_KEY,
  baseURL: 'https://api.x.ai/v1',
});

const response = await client.images.generate({
  model: 'grok-imagine-image-quality',
  prompt: 'A futuristic city skyline at sunset',
});

console.log(response.data[0].url);

curl -X POST https://api.x.ai/v1/images/generations \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $XAI_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "model": "grok-imagine-image-quality",
    "prompt": "A futuristic city skyline at sunset"
  }'