---
title: "How to Set Up the API in a Local Instance"
---

To test the API in your local instance, you have the following pre-requisites:

<Steps>
    <Step title="Clone the cal.com repository">
        Please clone the cal.com repository. You can do it by following the instructions provided in [Installation](/developing/local-development)
    </Step>
    <Step title="Add license key in .env">
        Add a staging license key that goes in as value for `CALCOM_LICENSE_KEY` in your root `.env` file.

        You can use the following as staging license key
        ```
        cal_live_QiMeiCoFjEczVQmY6EJTeiJV
        ```
    </Step>
    <Step title="Start development server and create API key">
        Start the cal.com server using `yarn dev` on localhost and create the test API keys by visiting `/settings/developer/api-keys`
    </Step>
    <Step title="Copy .env.example file">
       Copy the `.env.example` file to `.env` file by running `cp apps/api/v1/.env.example apps/api/v1/.env`from root folder
    </Step>
    <Step title="Start API server and test API">
        Start the API server by running `yarn workspace @calcom/api dev` and start testing your API locally
    </Step>
</Steps>

<Info>By default, the app server runs on port 3000 and the API server runs on port 3003</Info>
