Introduction
What you can do with the pfcloud API, the three ways to connect, and a map of these docs.
pfcloud sets up servers over SSH and deploys apps to them. Everything you do in the dashboard can also be done by a program: a script, a CI job, your own website, or an AI assistant.
What you can do
- Add and connect servers, check their health and security, open firewall ports, create databases, manage PHP versions.
- Create sites (Laravel, PHP, static, Next.js, Node, Python, custom apps in any language, Docker, WordPress), turn on HTTPS, set DNS.
- Deploy, roll back, promote a staging environment to production, move a site to another server.
- Read logs, back up and restore databases, read and change
.envfiles, run commands. - Read the team's activity log, invite people.
- Ask to delete things. Deleting always needs a human to approve it in the dashboard.
Three ways to connect
| Way | Use it when | Start here |
|---|---|---|
REST API (/api/v1) |
You write code or scripts. | Quickstart |
MCP server (POST /api/mcp) |
You want Claude, Cursor or another AI tool to work with pfcloud in plain language. | MCP server |
OpenAPI file and llms.txt |
You generate a client, or you give an AI agent the full reference. | OpenAPI and clients |
All three use the same API token (it starts with mf_). An AI tool never gets more rights than the token you give it.
How access works, in one minute
- A person makes a token in the dashboard (API, then Tokens) and ticks the rights ("scopes") it needs.
- The token acts as that person, inside one team. It can never do more than that person can do.
- Four checks run on every request: the token, the plan, the team owner's rules, and the person's own permissions. See Scopes and permissions.
- Deleting is never done by the API. It creates a request that an owner or admin approves. See Deleting safely.
Map of these docs
Getting started
- Quickstart: your first token and first calls.
- Authentication: how tokens work, expiry, IP limits.
- Scopes and permissions: every scope, its risk, and who may use it.
- Requests and errors: ids, pages, errors, retries, rate limits, waiting for slow jobs.
Guides
- Create a site, Deploy and roll back, Servers and health, HTTPS certificates, Backups and restore, .env and commands, DNS and domains, Teams and the audit log, Deleting safely.
Using AI
Reference
- Webhooks, OpenAPI and clients, Troubleshooting.
- API reference, one page per area, written from the OpenAPI file: Servers, Sites, Site services, Site web, Environments, Environment, Logs and commands, Backups, DNS, Team, Recipes, Standby servers, Moving sites.
For AI agents
The same docs are available as plain Markdown: add .md to any page address, or read /llms.txt (index) and /llms-full.txt (everything in one file).