# Welcome to Core API

Commerce Layer Core API is our foundational REST API that powers transactional commerce for international brands. It provides everything you need to make any digital experience shoppable — from multi-currency prices and distributed inventory to localized payment gateways, promotions, orders, subscriptions, and more.

{% hint style="success" %}
**Commerce Layer is free for developers, and it will be forever.** So the best way to get started is to [create an account](https://dashboard.commercelayer.io/sign_up) and try the API.
{% endhint %}

Once you signed up, you have two options to configure your environment:

* Leverage the [setup wizard](https://docs.commercelayer.io/core/onboarding/guided-setup) available in the Dashboard UI. This is the fastest way to add a minimum viable configuration to your environment and be ready to place your first order in a short time.
* Manually create all the required resources in the correct order (based on their mutual relationships) and [configure your organization step-by-step](https://docs.commercelayer.io/core/onboarding/manual-configuration). This could take a while longer, but it's a good opportunity to dig deeper into how Commerce Layer works, learn more about how its data model is structured, and get to grip with a powerful tool like the [Commerce Layer CLI](https://github.com/commercelayer/commercelayer-cli) that will enable you to complete the whole process without leaving the command line.

Take your pick, and let's get started!


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.commercelayer.io/core/onboarding.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.