# Programmatic Access Overview

ScyllaDB Cloud exposes three ways to automate and manage your clusters
programmatically. This page explains each option and helps you choose the
right tool for your use case.

| Tool                                                                                           | Best For                                            | Key Characteristics                                                     |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| [REST API](https://cloud.docs.scylladb.com/stable/api-docs/create-api-token.md)                | Custom scripts, integrations, and direct HTTP calls | Full coverage of all ScyllaDB Cloud operations; use any HTTP client     |
| [Terraform Provider](https://cloud.docs.scylladb.com/stable/cloud-setup/terraform-provider.md) | Infrastructure as Code (IaC) workflows              | Declarative configuration; integrates with existing Terraform pipelines |
| [MCP Server](https://cloud.docs.scylladb.com/stable/api-docs/mcp.md)                           | AI assistant and agentic workflows                  | Exposes ScyllaDB Cloud as tools that AI models can call directly        |

## REST API

The ScyllaDB Cloud REST API provides programmatic access to every operation
available in the UI — creating clusters, managing users, configuring
connections, and more.

To get started, [create a personal access token](https://cloud.docs.scylladb.com/stable/api-docs/create-api-token.md)
for authentication, then explore the
[API Reference](https://cloud.docs.scylladb.com/stable/api.html).

See also [API Error Codes](https://cloud.docs.scylladb.com/stable/api-docs/api-error-codes.md) for a full list
of error responses.

## Terraform Provider

The ScyllaDB Cloud Terraform Provider lets you manage ScyllaDB Cloud resources
as code alongside the rest of your infrastructure. It is best suited for teams
that already use Terraform for IaC, or for automated provisioning pipelines.

Before using the Terraform Provider, you must create an API access token.
See [Create a Personal Token for Authentication](https://cloud.docs.scylladb.com/stable/api-docs/create-api-token.md).

For full documentation and examples, see the
[ScyllaDB Cloud Provider on the Terraform Registry](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/scylladb/scylladbcloud/latest/docs).

## MCP Server

The ScyllaDB Cloud MCP (Model Context Protocol) server exposes ScyllaDB Cloud
operations as tools that AI assistants and agents can call. It enables natural
language-driven cluster management and is designed for use with AI coding
tools and agentic workflows.

See [ScyllaDB Cloud MCP Server](https://cloud.docs.scylladb.com/stable/api-docs/mcp.md) for setup instructions
and available tools.