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

# Quickstart

> Get started with Sentinel in under 5 minutes

## Get started in three steps

Integrate Sentinel into your application and start tracking API analytics immediately.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create your Sentinel account">
    <a href="https://usesentinel.dev/sign-up">Sign up</a> for a Sentinel account to get started.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create your API key">
    Create your API key from the dashboard and set it to the `SENTINEL_API_KEY`
    environment variable.

    <Warning>
      Store your API key safely. Never commit it to version control.
    </Warning>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Install one of the SDKs">
    Install the Sentinel SDK for your framework, or check our <a href="/api-reference/ingestion/introduction">API reference</a> to manually send events if your framework isn't covered.

    <CardGroup cols={2}>
      <Card title="Elysia" icon="https://mintcdn.com/sentinel-c38bd79c/OYaYDy5p05Fndh-N/images/frameworks/elysia.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=OYaYDy5p05Fndh-N&q=85&s=2f8c143bcdc63d05a1b60b33e8fe3d2d" href="/sdks/nodejs" width="512" height="512" data-path="images/frameworks/elysia.svg">
        Elysia framework integration
      </Card>

      <Card title="Hono" icon="https://mintcdn.com/sentinel-c38bd79c/OYaYDy5p05Fndh-N/images/frameworks/hono.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=OYaYDy5p05Fndh-N&q=85&s=0e77a37f3f38d972cb4ab49ab824ba74" href="/sdks/nodejs" width="76" height="98" data-path="images/frameworks/hono.svg">
        Hono framework integration
      </Card>

      <Card title="Express" icon="https://mintcdn.com/sentinel-c38bd79c/OYaYDy5p05Fndh-N/images/frameworks/express.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=OYaYDy5p05Fndh-N&q=85&s=0b1f7e654cb8a0797db85679e5e5be30" href="/sdks/express" width="24" height="24" data-path="images/frameworks/express.svg">
        Express framework integration
      </Card>

      <Card title="Next.js" icon="https://mintcdn.com/sentinel-c38bd79c/OYaYDy5p05Fndh-N/images/frameworks/nextjs.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=OYaYDy5p05Fndh-N&q=85&s=0741f0791dea3c701ebe1f866c476fc8" href="/sdks/nodejs" width="24" height="24" data-path="images/frameworks/nextjs.svg">
        Next.js framework integration
      </Card>

      <Card title="JavaScript" icon="https://mintcdn.com/sentinel-c38bd79c/OYaYDy5p05Fndh-N/images/frameworks/javascript.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=OYaYDy5p05Fndh-N&q=85&s=094b3eccf97d05b1e1fb355415e3a8e6" href="/sdks/nodejs" width="24" height="24" data-path="images/frameworks/javascript.svg">
        Vanilla JavaScript integration
      </Card>
    </CardGroup>
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Verify it's working

After adding the middleware, make a few requests to your API. You should see events appearing in your Sentinel dashboard within seconds.

<Check>
  Events are automatically batched and sent to the ingestion API, so you may see
  a slight delay before they appear in the dashboard.
</Check>