# Addresses API introduction

The Shippo Addresses API is a suite of dedicated tools for managing addresses in your application.

Some applications of the Addresses API include the following.

* Storing, managing, and retrieving addresses.
* Checking addresses to ensure they are valid.
* Parsing and importing an address from a string.


Before you begin, examples in this guide assume you have a [Shippo API token](/docs/guides_general/authentication). In the code examples, when you see `<API_TOKEN>`, replace it with your own token.

When testing and learning, we recommend using a [test token](/docs/guides_general/testing/).