# Portal & API

> Share your approved catalog: a portal site with an inquiry form, plus a read-only API and MCP server for other systems.

Source: https://www.speclatch.com/guide/portal-api
Plan: Growth plan and up.
Last verified: 2026-11-10

## What to know first

- **The portal shows one slice.** Visitors see the Published records of the tables you pick, with their Public fields, images and documents.
- **Three access levels.** **Off**, **Link only** (not listed by search engines) or **Public** (listed and indexed). Your team can always open it.
- **Inquiries land in SpecLatch.** Visitors send messages from the catalog or a product page. Each is kept, and Admin members are notified.
- **A read-only API.** Other systems read your tables and records with an API key. Each key has a visibility ceiling, like a member.
- **AI assistants through MCP.** An AI assistant can answer from your catalog through the MCP server. It sees what its API key sees.

- [Turn the portal on and choose what customers see](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/portal-api/turn-on-and-choose-what-shows): Decide who can reach your catalog site, which tables and products it shows, and which fields sum up each product.
- [Receive and answer inquiries](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/portal-api/inquiries): Let portal visitors send you a message about a product, get notified when one arrives, and answer it from your own mail.
- [Create an API key; connect an AI assistant](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/portal-api/api-keys-and-mcp): Give a website, a script or an AI assistant its own read-only key, choose how much of your catalog it sees, and connect an assistant over MCP.

## Where you see it

- **Portal** in Settings: access, address, tables, languages, inquiries and layout. Admin only.
- **Inquiries**: visitor messages, for Admin and Marketing members.
- **API keys** in Settings: create and revoke keys. Admin only.
- The [developer docs](/developers): the endpoints, and how to connect an AI assistant.

![The Portal access section of the portal settings, with its three access choices and a hint under each](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/portal-api/overview-1.png)

*One choice decides who outside your team can reach the catalog.*

## An example

Take a conveyor maker's 24 in belt conveyor, a Published record. Portal visitors see its belt width, 24 in (610 mm), and max belt speed, 500 fpm (2.54 m/s). Its empty-belt rating, 0.47 HP (0.35 kW), is Internal, so the portal and Public keys omit it. The 36 in model is still In review: off the portal, but readable with an Internal key.

## FAQ

### Which plans include the portal and the API?

The portal, inquiries and the API come with the Growth plan and up. Growth includes one active API key at 120 requests a minute; Professional has no key limit and allows 600 requests a minute. During the trial, a workspace has the Growth plan's features. Starter includes neither the portal nor the API.

### Can the API or an AI assistant change my data?

No. The API answers read requests only, and the MCP server calls the same read endpoints. An assistant can look up tables, records and tags, but changes happen in the app.

### What does an API key see?

Each key has a visibility, chosen by an Admin when the key is created on **API keys**. A Public key sees Published records and Public fields only. A key with a higher visibility also sees Draft and In review records, and fields up to its tier. Use a Public key for anything customer-facing.

### What happens when I turn the portal off?

Visitors see a page saying the catalog is being updated, with your contact email if you set one. Members of your workspace can still open the portal to work on it. API keys keep working.

### Who answers inquiries?

Admin and Marketing members, on **Inquiries**. **Reply** opens your own mail client, so the reply stays in your sent mail. Then click **Mark handled** so the team knows it is covered. To send a copy of each inquiry to a shared inbox, fill in **Also send a copy to** in the portal settings.