---
title: Using Sheaf from an agent
description: How an agent finds these docs as markdown, what it needs from a person, and the rules it should follow.
section: Agents
order: 1
---

## Read the docs as markdown

| What | Where |
| --- | --- |
| The agent skill file | [/skill.md](/skill.md). Short, and says how to act. Start here. |
| The index of every page | [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) |
| All of these docs in one file | [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) |
| One page | Add `.md` to its address: `/docs/api/quickstart.md`. The overview is `/docs/index.md`. |
| The same, by header | Request any docs address with `Accept: text/markdown`. |
| The API contract | [/api/openapi.json](/api/openapi.json), readable without a key. |

The markdown is the source these pages are built from, so it is never behind them. Pages are one topic each and short on purpose: fetch the one you need rather than all of them.

## What you need from a person

An **API key** for their organization, which a Manager makes under Settings. See [authentication](/docs/api/authentication). There is no anonymous demo login, and credentials shown elsewhere on the site are placeholders.

Never ask for a person's password, and do not sign up on someone's behalf unless asked to. A key is the credential meant for you.

## The work itself

[Run a workflow](/docs/api/run-a-workflow) on the packet, [poll the case](/docs/api/reading-results) until `run.state` is `report`, then read its documents. Documents you send are real work in that organization: stored, filed and recorded in its ledger under the key's name.

## Rules worth following

- **A 409 with `flags` is not yours to retry.** Pre-flight flagged a file and the case waits for a person. Tell your user which file and why, and give them the `applicationId`.
- **Do not send the same packet twice.** If an answer carries `applicationId`, the case exists. Continue with it.
- **Poll gently.** Every five to ten seconds. A run takes minutes. A key may make 120 requests a minute.
- **Cite pages, not guesses.** Every document carries its file and page span. Quote those when you report a value.
- **Use only what the contract lists.** Endpoint shapes in marketing copy are illustrations.