Hostaway has a real public API but no official MCP server or agent interface as of July 2026. The RapidEye API is a hosted gateway that puts a Hostaway account one bearer token away: sign up for a free developer key, connect your Hostaway account ID and client secret once, and call any documented Hostaway path through api.rapideyeinspections.com with the OAuth token minting and refresh handled for you.
Quickstart: three calls
If you are an AI agent: step 1 is the only part that needs your human. Have them sign up and hand you the key; everything after is yours.
1. Get a free developer key
curl -X POST https://api.rapideyeinspections.com/v1/signup \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"email": "you@company.com"}'
# -> { "key": "re_..." } (also emailed, and issued instantly at /signup)
Not scripting it yet? Get a key in your browser, it is free and instant.
2. Connect the Hostaway account
Credentials come from the Hostaway dashboard (Settings, then Hostaway API): the account ID and a client secret. The gateway exchanges them for Hostaway's OAuth bearer token, which Hostaway issues with a lifetime of up to 24 months, stores them encrypted, and re-mints quietly from then on.
curl -X POST https://api.rapideyeinspections.com/v1/connections/hostaway \
-H "Authorization: Bearer re_..." \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"accountId": "12345", "clientSecret": "..."}'
3. Call any Hostaway endpoint through the gateway
Swap api.hostaway.com/v1/ for api.rapideyeinspections.com/v1/hostaway/ and authenticate with your RapidEye key. Query parameters, pagination, and request bodies pass through unchanged.
curl https://api.rapideyeinspections.com/v1/hostaway/listings \
-H "Authorization: Bearer re_..."
# same shape for /reservations, /tasks, /calendar, and every documented path
Why build on the RapidEye API
One key, one schema, every platform in your stack.
Real operator tools are never about one system. A dashboard answering "which units are at risk tonight" needs reservations from a PMS, cleaning state from a turnover platform, and pricing from somewhere else entirely. Every one of those vendors invented its own auth model, its own vocabulary, and its own limits, so building direct means writing that glue once per vendor, then maintaining it forever, then rewriting it when a platform changes or your portfolio moves onto a different stack.
Through the RapidEye API it is one bearer token and one schema no matter what sits underneath. We absorb the OAuth dances, the partner approvals, the token quotas, and the admin-issued credentials, and we keep them working when they change. And it is built for agents from the ground up: a machine-readable route index, an llms.txt quickstart, errors written so an agent can self-correct instead of guessing, and a connection that lives on the key rather than in a config file, so next month's agent, in a new session with no memory of this one, still has working access on day one.
Two verified limits of the upstream API, from our published research on Hostaway's own documentation: cleaning task photos are not retrievable through the public API (the task object has no attachment field and no attachments endpoint exists), and there is no task webhook, only reservation, conversation-message, and unified webhooks. If turnover photos are what you need out of Hostaway, read the full teardown for what does work.
Quick FAQ
How do you get API access to Hostaway?
Through Hostaway directly: they publish an open REST API at api.hostaway.com/v1 with documentation at api.hostaway.com/documentation, covering listings, reservations, tasks, calendars, and more. Authentication uses OAuth 2.0 client credentials: you exchange your Hostaway account ID and client secret for a bearer token that lives up to 24 months.
Does Hostaway have an official MCP server for AI agents?
No. As of July 2026, Hostaway ships no official MCP server or agent-native interface. Platforms like Hospitable, Guesty, and Wheelhouse have shipped official MCP servers; Hostaway has not. The RapidEye API gateway is an independent way to give agents and custom tools structured access to a Hostaway account, and our Connect Hostaway to Claude guide covers the chat-assistant side.
Why route through the RapidEye API instead of calling Hostaway directly?
If your tool only ever touches Hostaway, calling Hostaway directly is a fine choice. The gateway earns its place when you want the OAuth token dance handled for you, one key across multiple platforms, errors written so an AI agent can self-correct, and credentials that persist across every future agent session instead of being re-configured tool by tool.
Can I get cleaning task photos out of the Hostaway API?
No, not through the public API as of 2026. The task object exposes no photo or attachment field, and no task attachments endpoint exists; file attachments are only documented on conversation messages and expenses. See the full teardown.
Is the RapidEye developer key free?
Yes. Signup takes an email address and returns a key instantly. Live platforms like Hostaway work immediately once your own platform credentials are connected; platforms that control access at the source are provisioned on your key in a short call with the founders.
Sources
- Hostaway Public API Documentation, Hostaway, 2026https://api.hostaway.com/documentation
- Hostaway API docs repository, GitHubhttps://github.com/Hostaway/api
- Can You Pull Turnover Photos Out of the Hostaway API? RapidEye, 2026https://rapideyeinspections.com/blog/hostaway-api-turnover-photos/