# Soundza > Free sound effects, ambience, music beds and music samples, with a REST API and an MCP server for apps and agents. Royalty-free for personal and commercial work under the Soundza Standard License. Soundza is a curated library of thousands of free sounds: transitions, impacts, UI and notification sounds, foley, ambience, game SFX, music beds, and loops, one-shots and vocal chops for producers. Every sound is reviewed and tagged with what it's for, its length and loudness, and, for music, its tempo and key. ## Find audio for a project If someone asks you to find sound effects, ambience, music or samples for their project, you can search Soundza and download the files yourself. 1. Look for a key: SOUNDZA_API_KEY in the environment or in the project's .env. If there is one, go to step 3. 2. No key yet? Sign in. It takes the human one click: Soundza is free, but every call needs an API key tied to a person's account. Get one with a one-click sign-in: 1. Start the sign-in: curl -s -X POST https://api.soundza.com/v1/auth/device -H "content-type: application/json" -d '{"client_name":" on "}' It returns device_code, user_code, verification_uri_complete, expires_in (600 seconds) and interval (5 seconds). 2. Tell the human: "Open and sign in with Google to approve code ." Nothing else is needed from them. 3. Right after telling them, poll every seconds until they approve. Run the polling loop in the foreground and wait for it; don't end your turn while the sign-in is pending (the code lasts 10 minutes). curl -s -X POST https://api.soundza.com/v1/auth/token -H "content-type: application/json" -d '{"device_code":""}' While it returns {"error":"authorization_pending"} keep polling; on "slow_down" wait the "interval" it returns. On approval it returns {"access_token":"sz_live_...","token_type":"Bearer",...} once: access_token is the API key. "expired_token" or "access_denied" means stop (start again only if the human asks). 4. Save the key as SOUNDZA_API_KEY in the project's .env and make sure .env is in .gitignore. Never commit the key or put it in a project-scope .mcp.json. 5. Connect this MCP server with the key (local or user scope), then reload the MCP tools. If soundza is already added without a key, run "claude mcp remove soundza" first. claude mcp add --transport http soundza https://mcp.soundza.com/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer $SOUNDZA_API_KEY" Until the tools load you can call the REST API at https://api.soundza.com/v1 with the header "Authorization: Bearer $SOUNDZA_API_KEY". A person can also create a key at https://soundza.com/developers and set it the same way. 3. Search. Filter by use (below) and duration, then pick by title, description, duration and feel: curl -s "https://api.soundza.com/v1/sounds/search?q=whoosh&use=TRANSITION&max_duration=2" -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOUNDZA_API_KEY" 4. Download each sound you use. download_url answers with a redirect, so follow it: curl -sL -o whoosh.wav "https://api.soundza.com/v1/sounds//file" -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOUNDZA_API_KEY" With the MCP server: search_sounds, then download_sound, which returns a link that needs no header and a ready curl command. 5. Each sound has an attribution line. Adding it to a credits file is appreciated. If your product lets its users choose sounds, show a "Powered by Soundza" link there. ## API - Docs: https://soundza.com/developers - OpenAPI: https://soundza.com/openapi.json - Get a key in the browser: https://soundza.com/developers/keys - REST: https://api.soundza.com/v1, with the header "Authorization: Bearer " - GET /sounds/search: q, use, sample_type, min_duration, max_duration, min_bpm, max_bpm, key, feel (comma-separated), loop_seamless, ucs_category, page, per_page (max 50). Give a q, a filter, or both. - GET /sounds/{id}: one sound - GET /sounds/{id}/file: 302 to a 5-minute link to the full-quality file (usually WAV) - GET /removals?since=: sounds removed since then - Errors: {"error": {"code", "message"}}; codes missing_key, invalid_key, revoked_key, invalid_request, not_found, rate_limited, server_error - MCP (streamable HTTP): https://mcp.soundza.com/mcp, same header. Tools: search_sounds, get_sound, download_sound. claude mcp add --transport http soundza https://mcp.soundza.com/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer $SOUNDZA_API_KEY" - Free keys: 60 searches a minute, 200 downloads an hour, 1000 a day. Every response has X-RateLimit-* headers; a 429 has Retry-After. For more, email admin@soundza.com with your key prefix and what you're building. ### Use classes (the use filter) - TRANSITION: whooshes, swipes, swooshes between shots - IMPACT: cinematic hits, booms, slams, punches - RISER: risers, uplifters, downlifters, tension builds - UI: clicks, taps, toggles, pops, hovers - NOTIFICATION: chimes, pings, success and error tones - AMBIENCE: the sound of a place (room tone, street, forest, rain, crowd murmur) - PAD_DRONE: sustained tonal beds and drones - FOLEY: one everyday action (footsteps, door, keys, paper, pour, applause) - VOCAL: a voice as an effect (laughs, cheers, gasps, shouts) - STINGER: a short musical sting or logo reveal, about 2-6 s - MUSIC: a full mix usable as a background bed - GAME_SFX: pickups, power-ups, jumps, lasers, retro blips - INSTRUMENT_SAMPLE: material for making music (drum hits, one-shots, loops, stems, vocal chops) Only music has bpm and key. ### Guidelines - Show a prominent "Powered by Soundza" link wherever your users choose sounds. Credit in a finished work, like a game's credits screen, is appreciated but not required. - Request a sound's download_url each time it is added to a project. - Previews are for listening. Use downloaded files in finished work. - Don't copy Soundza's core functionality or build a competing sound library or API. - A free key may store up to 500 downloaded sounds. Remove any sound listed in GET /v1/removals, and check it at least monthly. - Respect the rate limits, and ask when you need more. We may suspend or end API access for anyone, at any time, for any reason. The Terms of Service (https://soundza.com/terms) and the Soundza Standard License (https://soundza.com/license) cover the rest. ## Key pages - Homepage: https://soundza.com - Browse all sounds: https://soundza.com/sounds - Free sample packs: https://soundza.com/free-sample-packs - Developers: https://soundza.com/developers - License: https://soundza.com/license - About: https://soundza.com/about - Full catalog and API guide: https://soundza.com/llms-full.txt ## Free tools - Music Reel Maker: https://soundza.com/tools/music-reel-maker — turn a beat, loop or song into 8 ready-to-post vertical reels (9:16 MP4, 1080×1920, 15 or 25 seconds) for Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts, with curated HD video backgrounds and waveform visualizers. Free and no signup; renders in the browser, so audio is never uploaded. No daily render limit. Reels carry a small Soundza watermark that anyone can remove with a checkbox, no account needed. - AI Audio Detector: https://soundza.com/tools/ai-audio-detector — check whether an audio file was AI-generated. ## Sample pack genres - Hip-Hop & Trap: https://soundza.com/free-sample-packs/hip-hop-trap - House & Techno: https://soundza.com/free-sample-packs/house-techno - Lo-fi & Chill: https://soundza.com/free-sample-packs/lofi-chill - Pop: https://soundza.com/free-sample-packs/pop - R&B & Soul: https://soundza.com/free-sample-packs/rnb-soul - DnB & Jungle: https://soundza.com/free-sample-packs/dnb-jungle - Ambient & Experimental: https://soundza.com/free-sample-packs/ambient-experimental - Afrobeats & Amapiano: https://soundza.com/free-sample-packs/afrobeats-amapiano - Reggaeton & Latin: https://soundza.com/free-sample-packs/reggaeton-latin - Film & Game Score: https://soundza.com/free-sample-packs/film-game-score - Rock & Indie: https://soundza.com/free-sample-packs/rock-indie ## Licensing Every sound is free to download and use in personal and commercial work, royalty-free, with no attribution required. Don't resell or redistribute a sound unmodified on its own, and don't use sounds to train AI models. Full terms: https://soundza.com/license