Getting Started with Mantis API

From zero to web perception in 5 minutes. No browser needed.

1 Get Your API Key

curl -X POST https://api.mantisapi.com/signup \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email": "you@example.com"}'

You'll receive your API key in the response and via email.

2 Take a Screenshot

Capture a full-page screenshot of any URL. Returns a PNG image URL.

curl -X POST https://api.mantisapi.com/screenshot \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com"}'

Response:

{
  "status": "ok",
  "screenshot_url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/..../screenshot.png",
  "width": 1280,
  "height": 2400,
  "timestamp": "2026-02-25T12:00:00Z"
}

3 Extract Page Content

Pull structured text, links, and metadata from any webpage.

curl -X POST https://api.mantisapi.com/extract \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com", "format": "markdown"}'

Great for feeding webpage content into your AI agent's context window.

4 AI-Powered Extraction

Ask a question about any webpage and get a structured answer.

curl -X POST https://api.mantisapi.com/extract/ai \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com",
    "prompt": "List the top 5 stories with their titles and point counts"
  }'

The AI reads the page and returns exactly what you asked for — no parsing regex needed.

API Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
`GET`	`/health`	Service status (no auth needed)
`POST`	`/signup`	Create account & get API key
`POST`	`/screenshot`	Capture webpage screenshot
`POST`	`/extract`	Extract text/links/metadata
`POST`	`/extract/ai`	AI-powered content extraction

Use Cases

🤖 AI Agent Web Browsing

Give your AI agent eyes on the web. Use /screenshot for visual context or /extract to feed page content into your agent's prompt.

📊 Market Research Automation

Monitor competitor pricing, track news, or aggregate data from multiple sources — all via API.

🔍 Content Monitoring

Watch for changes on any webpage. Screenshot it on a schedule and compare, or extract specific data points over time.

📝 Lead Generation

Extract contact info, company details, or product data from public webpages for your sales pipeline.

💡 Pro tip: Mantis runs headless Chromium in the cloud — it handles JavaScript-rendered pages, SPAs, and dynamic content that simple HTTP requests miss.

Integration Examples

Python

import requests

API_KEY = "your_api_key"
BASE = "https://api.mantisapi.com"

# Take a screenshot
resp = requests.post(f"{BASE}/screenshot",
    headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY},
    json={"url": "https://example.com"})
print(resp.json()["screenshot_url"])

# Extract with AI
resp = requests.post(f"{BASE}/extract/ai",
    headers={"x-api-key": API_KEY},
    json={
        "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com",
        "prompt": "What are the top 3 stories?"
    })
print(resp.json())

JavaScript / Node.js

const API_KEY = "your_api_key";
const BASE = "https://api.mantisapi.com";

const res = await fetch(`${BASE}/extract/ai`, {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "x-api-key": API_KEY
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    url: "https://example.com",
    prompt: "Summarize this page in 3 bullet points"
  })
});
console.log(await res.json());

Ready to give your agent web perception?