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Follow these steps to go from sign-up to a live message on your own WebSocket connection.
1

Create an account

Sign up at app.metar.ws. New accounts start on the free Sandbox plan, no credit card required.
2

Create an API key

Open the Keys page in the portal and generate a key. The key looks like mts_live_... and is shown only once, so store it like a password.
3

Connect and subscribe

Install a WebSocket client and connect to the stream endpoint with your key, then send a subscribe command for the sandbox channel.
Once connected, send:
4

Fire a test alert

Open the Billing page in the portal and press Send test alert. Within a second, a demo METAR observation arrives on your connection, confirming your integration works end to end.
5

Upgrade when ready

Go to Billing then Upgrade to Starter to switch from the sandbox channel to live metar.obs.* data. Existing keys switch plans automatically, so there is no need to re-issue keys or change your reconnect logic.

Next: Authentication

Learn the two ways to present your API key and how to keep it safe.