Authentication

Get your API key

All requests require an API key. Sign up at speaktoscout.com/signup with your Google or GitHub account — no card required.

Your key is available instantly in your dashboard at speaktoscout.com/dashboard. It looks like sk_scout_a1b2c3d4...

Using your key

REST API

Pass your key in the Authorization header:

$
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_scout_your_key_here" \
>
  "https://go.speaktoscout.com/api/v1/neighbourhood?postcode=SW11+5QD"

MCP Server

Set your key as an environment variable:

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{
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  "mcpServers": {
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    "uk-gov-data": {
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      "command": "npx",
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      "args": ["uk-gov-data-mcp"],
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      "env": {
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        "UK_GOV_DATA_API_KEY": "sk_scout_your_key_here"
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      }
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    }
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  }
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}

Check your usage

$
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_scout_your_key_here" \
>
  "https://go.speaktoscout.com/api/v1/usage"

Returns:

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{
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  "email": "you@company.com",
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  "tier": "free",
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  "monthly_limit": 500,
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  "used_this_month": 12,
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  "remaining": 488
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}

Pricing

To upgrade to Pro or Enterprise, contact ben@speaktoscout.com.

Response time

Most requests complete in 5-10 seconds. First-time queries for a new location may take up to 20 seconds while crime data is fetched and cached. Subsequent queries for the same area are faster.

Requests without a key

All requests require a valid API key. Unauthenticated requests return:

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{
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  "error": "API key required. Sign up at speaktoscout.com/signup to get your free key."
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}