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

# Getting Started

<Check>
  **Prerequisite**

  You need an account before publishing messages, create one
  [here](https://console.upstash.com).
</Check>

## Introduction

QStash is an HTTP based messaging and scheduling solution for the serverless and
edge runtimes.

* 100% serverless, no stateful connections required. Messages are pushed to your
  API.
* At-least-once delivery guaranteed to any public API
* Pubsub via [topics](/qstash/features/topics)
* [Delay](/qstash/features/delay) message delivery
* Message [deduplication](/qstash/features/deduplication)
* [Scheduling](/qstash/features/schedules) via CRON

## Requirements

### 1. Public API

Make sure you have a publicly available HTTP API that you want to send your
messages to. If you don't, you can use something like
[requestcatcher.com](https://requestcatcher.com/) or
[webhook.site](https://webhook.site/) to try it out.

### 2. Get your token

Go to [Upstash Console](https://console.upstash.com/qstash) and copy the
`QSTASH_TOKEN`.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintlify.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/upstash-vector/img/qstash/rest_token.png" width="649" />
</Frame>

## Publish a message

A message can be any shape or form: json, xml, binary, anything, that can be
transmitted in the http request body. We do not impose any restrictions other
than a size limit of 1 MB (which can be customized at your request).

In addition to the request body itself, you can also send HTTP headers. Learn
more about this in the [message publishing section](/qstash/howto/publishing).

```
curl -XPOST \
    -H 'Authorization: Bearer <QSTASH_TOKEN>' \
    -H "Content-type: application/json" \
    -d '{ "hello": "world" }' \
    'https://qstash.upstash.io/v2/publish/https://<your-api-url>'
```

See more examples in the [example section](/qstash/overall/apiexamples).

## Check Response

You should receive a response with a unique message ID.

```json
{
  "messageId": "msg_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
}
```

## Check Message Status

Head over to [Upstash Console](https://console.upstash.com/qstash) and go to the
`Logs` tab where you can see your message activities.

<Frame>
  <img src="https://mintlify.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/upstash-vector/img/qstash/log.png" width="705" />
</Frame>

Learn more about different states [here](/qstash/howto/debug-logs).