---
title: Authentication with API keys
subtitle: How to authenticate Close API requests using API keys with HTTP Basic Auth.
slug: /api/overview/api-key-authentication
---

API keys are best used for scripts and simple integrations that are internal to
your organization. Alternatively, see [Authentication with OAuth](/api/overview/oauth-authentication)
instead.

## Getting an API key

API keys can be created and managed in your Close account under **Settings** → **Developer** → **API Keys**. 

API keys are scoped to a particular user/organization combination and can be generated and deleted in the Settings page. See [API Keys & OAuth](https://help.close.com/docs/api-keys-oauth) for more information.

## Perform API calls with API key

API keys use
[HTTP Basic client side authentication](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_access_authentication#Client_side).
Basic authentication is a simple authentication scheme built into the HTTP
protocol. To use it, send your HTTP requests with an Authorization header that
contains the word Basic followed by a space and a base64-encoded string composed
of an api key followed by a colon. The API key acts as the username and the
password is always empty. 

### cURL example

Example cURL request with an api key.

```bash
curl https://api.close.com/api/v1/me/ -u yourapikey:
```

Notice the ':' at the end of the api key. This is used because the key is sent
as the username with a blank password.

```
GET /api/v1/me/ HTTP/1.1
Authorization: Basic eW91cmFwaWtleTo=
Host: api.close.com
```

This results in the header `Authorization: Basic eW91cmFwaWtleTo=` sent with the
request as base64-encoded string `yourapikey:` is `eW91cmFwaWtleTo=`

API Base URL: `https://api.close.com/api/v1`