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

# Quickstart

> Getting Started with the Stays API

## Overview

The Stays API provides a unified interface to search, book and manage accommodation bookings across millions of properties worldwide. This guide will walk you through integrating our search and booking flow into your product.

### Prerequisites

Before you begin, you'll need to:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion icon="user" title="Create an account">
    Contact your account manager to request access to the Tripedge API. If you don't have a contact at Tripedge, reach out to us at [https://tripedge.com/contact](https://tripedge.com/contact).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion icon="key" title="Get your API key">
    Create a test access token from the "Access tokens" page in your Dashboard. These are your Sandbox credentials.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Integration Steps

There are five main steps to search and book accommodation with the Stays API:

### 1. Search for a Destination

First, search for your desired destination to get location details. When you subsequently search for accommodation results, you'll use the `destinationId` returned in the response.

### 2. Search for Accommodation

Once you have the destination details, search for available properties by providing:

* Number of guests
* Number of rooms
* Check-in and check-out dates
* Search location (coordinates + radius) or specific property IDs

The search response includes a `sessionId` that caches your search results. This enables:

* Instant redisplay of results when users refresh their page
* Server-side filtering and sorting of results by passing the `sessionId` in subsequent requests

### 3. Get Hotel Details

Retrieve detailed information about a hotel from your search results. You'll display hotel images, name, address, amenities, available room types and rates, and other details to the user.

### 4. Create Prebook

Create a pre-booking to verify availability and rates before final booking. Here, you'll need to display the **rate remarks** present in the response to the user, in addition to cancellation policy details and dates.

At this stage, you'll need to specify the payment method:

* `creditCard`: The end user will pay directly with their credit card
* `account`: The booking amount will be deducted from your deposit balance with us

### 5. Create Booking

Complete the booking process by confirming the pre-booking details. The payment will be processed according to the payment method specified in the pre-booking step - either charging the user's credit card or deducting from your account balance.