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

# Introduction

> Evolution API is a comprehensive WhatsApp integration platform supporting multiple messaging services, chatbot platforms, and event streaming systems.

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        <h1 className="text-4xl sm:text-5xl lg:text-6xl font-bold text-white mb-6">
          Evolution API Documentation
        </h1>

        <p className="text-lg sm:text-xl text-white/90 max-w-2xl mb-8">
          Build powerful WhatsApp integrations with multi-tenant architecture, chatbot platforms, and event streaming systems. Connect your applications to WhatsApp using Baileys or the official Business API.
        </p>

        <div className="flex flex-wrap gap-4">
          <a href="/quickstart" className="inline-flex items-center px-6 py-3 rounded-lg bg-white text-[#075E54] font-semibold hover:bg-gray-100 transition-colors">
            Get Started

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          <a href="/api/overview" className="inline-flex items-center px-6 py-3 rounded-lg border-2 border-white/30 bg-white/10 text-white font-semibold hover:bg-white/20 transition-colors">
            API Reference
          </a>
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      </div>

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                <div className="text-white/80 text-sm">Multi-tenant architecture</div>
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                <div className="w-3 h-3 rounded-full bg-[#25D366]" />

                <div className="text-white/80 text-sm">7+ chatbot integrations</div>
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                <div className="text-white/80 text-sm">Event streaming support</div>
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                <div className="text-white/80 text-sm">S3/MinIO media storage</div>
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  <h2 className="text-3xl font-semibold text-gray-900 dark:text-white mb-4">Quick start</h2>
  <p className="text-base text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-400 mb-8">Get your WhatsApp instance running in minutes</p>

  <Steps>
    <Step title="Install Docker">
      Evolution API runs best with Docker. Make sure Docker and Docker Compose are installed on your system.

      ```bash theme={null}
      docker --version
      docker-compose --version
      ```
    </Step>

    <Step title="Clone and configure">
      Clone the repository and set up your environment variables.

      ```bash theme={null}
      git clone https://github.com/EvolutionAPI/evolution-api.git
      cd evolution-api
      cp .env.example .env
      ```

      Edit `.env` and set your `AUTHENTICATION_API_KEY` and database configuration.

      <Note>
        The API key is required for all API requests. Generate a secure random string for production use.
      </Note>
    </Step>

    <Step title="Start the services">
      Launch Evolution API with Docker Compose.

      ```bash theme={null}
      docker-compose up -d
      ```

      The API will be available at `http://localhost:8080`. Check the logs with `docker-compose logs -f`.
    </Step>

    <Step title="Create your first instance">
      Create a WhatsApp instance using the API.

      ```bash theme={null}
      curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/instance/create \
        -H "apikey: YOUR_API_KEY" \
        -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
        -d '{
          "instanceName": "my-instance",
          "qrcode": true
        }'
      ```

      <Accordion title="Example response">
        ```json theme={null}
        {
          "instance": {
            "instanceName": "my-instance",
            "status": "created"
          },
          "qrcode": {
            "base64": "data:image/png;base64,...",
            "code": "1@..."
          }
        }
        ```
      </Accordion>

      Scan the QR code with WhatsApp to connect your instance.
    </Step>
  </Steps>
</div>

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  <h2 className="text-3xl font-semibold text-gray-900 dark:text-white mb-4">Explore by topic</h2>
  <p className="text-base text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-400 mb-8">Discover what you can build with Evolution API</p>

  <CardGroup cols={3}>
    <Card title="WhatsApp integration" icon="message" href="/whatsapp/baileys">
      Connect using Baileys (free) or the official WhatsApp Business API.
    </Card>

    <Card title="Chatbot platforms" icon="robot" href="/integrations/typebot">
      Integrate with Typebot, Chatwoot, Dify, OpenAI, and more.
    </Card>

    <Card title="Event streaming" icon="bolt" href="/events/webhooks">
      Stream events via webhooks, RabbitMQ, Kafka, SQS, or WebSocket.
    </Card>

    <Card title="Instance management" icon="server" href="/concepts/instances">
      Create and manage multi-tenant WhatsApp instances with isolation.
    </Card>

    <Card title="Media storage" icon="database" href="/storage/s3">
      Store media files in Amazon S3 or MinIO with automatic management.
    </Card>

    <Card title="Deployment" icon="docker" href="/deployment/docker">
      Deploy with Docker, configure databases, and scale your infrastructure.
    </Card>
  </CardGroup>
</div>

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  <h2 className="text-3xl font-semibold text-gray-900 dark:text-white mb-4">Key features</h2>
  <p className="text-base text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-400 mb-8">Everything you need to integrate WhatsApp into your applications</p>

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        <div>
          <h3 className="text-lg font-semibold text-gray-900 dark:text-white mb-2">Multi-provider support</h3>
          <p className="text-sm text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-400">Choose between Baileys (free, WhatsApp Web-based) or the official WhatsApp Business API for your use case.</p>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>

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            <path strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round" strokeWidth={2} d="M17 20h5v-2a3 3 0 00-5.356-1.857M17 20H7m10 0v-2c0-.656-.126-1.283-.356-1.857M7 20H2v-2a3 3 0 015.356-1.857M7 20v-2c0-.656.126-1.283.356-1.857m0 0a5.002 5.002 0 019.288 0M15 7a3 3 0 11-6 0 3 3 0 016 0zm6 3a2 2 0 11-4 0 2 2 0 014 0zM7 10a2 2 0 11-4 0 2 2 0 014 0z" />
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        <div>
          <h3 className="text-lg font-semibold text-gray-900 dark:text-white mb-2">Multi-tenant architecture</h3>
          <p className="text-sm text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-400">Complete data isolation between instances with per-tenant authentication and database separation.</p>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>

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          <svg className="w-6 h-6 text-[#25D366]" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 24 24">
            <path strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round" strokeWidth={2} d="M9.663 17h4.673M12 3v1m6.364 1.636l-.707.707M21 12h-1M4 12H3m3.343-5.657l-.707-.707m2.828 9.9a5 5 0 117.072 0l-.548.547A3.374 3.374 0 0014 18.469V19a2 2 0 11-4 0v-.531c0-.895-.356-1.754-.988-2.386l-.548-.547z" />
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        <div>
          <h3 className="text-lg font-semibold text-gray-900 dark:text-white mb-2">Rich integrations</h3>
          <p className="text-sm text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-400">Connect with Typebot, Chatwoot, Dify, OpenAI, Flowise, N8N, and more chatbot and AI platforms.</p>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>

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        <div>
          <h3 className="text-lg font-semibold text-gray-900 dark:text-white mb-2">Event streaming</h3>
          <p className="text-sm text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-400">Receive real-time events via webhooks, RabbitMQ, Apache Kafka, Amazon SQS, WebSocket, or Pusher.</p>
        </div>
      </div>
    </div>
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    <div className="max-w-3xl mx-auto text-center">
      <h2 className="text-3xl font-bold text-gray-900 dark:text-white mb-4">Ready to get started?</h2>

      <p className="text-lg text-gray-600 dark:text-gray-400 mb-8">
        Follow our quickstart guide to create your first WhatsApp instance in minutes.
      </p>

      <a href="/quickstart" className="inline-flex items-center px-6 py-3 rounded-lg bg-[#25D366] text-white font-semibold hover:bg-[#128C7E] transition-colors">
        Get Started

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