Getting Started

Getting Started

This guide walks you through submitting your first experiment on Litmus.

1. Create an Account

curl -X POST https://api.litmus.science/auth/register \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "you@example.com",
    "password": "your-secure-password",
    "name": "Your Name",
    "organization": "Your Organization"
  }'

You'll receive an API key in the response. Store it securely — it's only shown once.

2. Get an Access Token

curl -X POST https://api.litmus.science/auth/token \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "email": "you@example.com",
    "password": "your-secure-password"
  }'

Response:

{
  "access_token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs...",
  "token_type": "bearer"
}

3. Validate Your Experiment

Before submitting, validate your experiment specification:

curl -X POST https://api.litmus.science/validate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "experiment_type": "MIC_MBC_ASSAY",
    "hypothesis": {
      "statement": "Compound X inhibits E. coli growth with MIC ≤ 32 μg/mL"
    },
    "compliance": {
      "bsl": "BSL1"
    }
  }'

4. Get a Cost Estimate

curl -X POST https://api.litmus.science/estimate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "experiment_type": "MIC_MBC_ASSAY"
  }'

Response:

{
  "estimated_cost_usd": {
    "low": 200,
    "typical": 300,
    "high": 400
  },
  "estimated_turnaround_days": {
    "standard": 14,
    "expedited": 7
  }
}

5. Submit Your Experiment

curl -X POST https://api.litmus.science/experiments \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "experiment_type": "MIC_MBC_ASSAY",
    "hypothesis": {
      "statement": "Compound X inhibits E. coli with MIC ≤ 32 μg/mL",
      "null_hypothesis": "Compound X has no antibacterial activity"
    },
    "compliance": {
      "bsl": "BSL1"
    }
  }'

Response:

{
  "experiment_id": "exp_abc123",
  "status": "open",
  "created_at": "2026-01-27T10:00:00Z",
  "estimated_cost_usd": 300,
  "estimated_turnaround_days": 14
}

6. Track Progress

curl https://api.litmus.science/experiments/exp_abc123 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

7. Get Results

Once the experiment is complete:

curl https://api.litmus.science/experiments/exp_abc123/results \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN"

Alternative: Start with a Hypothesis

You can also build experiments from saved hypotheses:

Generate a Hypothesis with Edison

curl -X POST https://api.litmus.science/cloud-labs/edison/start \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "query": "Novel approaches to testing antimicrobial activity",
    "experiment_type": "MIC_MBC_ASSAY"
  }'

Save to Your Hypothesis Library

curl -X POST https://api.litmus.science/hypotheses \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "title": "Antimicrobial activity of Compound X",
    "statement": "Compound X inhibits E. coli growth",
    "experiment_type": "MIC_MBC_ASSAY"
  }'

Convert Hypothesis to Experiment

curl -X POST https://api.litmus.science/hypotheses/hyp_abc123/to-experiment \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "additional_fields": {
      "compliance": {"bsl": "BSL1"}
    }
  }'

Next Steps

IntroductionOverview