AI engineering glossary · Web APIs HTTP
What is API key?
API key: A secret string issued to a developer and sent with each request to identify the calling project and allow billing and rate limits. It is simple but grants full access to anyone who holds it, so it must be kept out of public code.
API key: an example
Storing OPENAI_API_KEY in an environment variable and sending it in a header instead of pasting it into a GitHub repository.
Related terms
More Web APIs HTTP terms
- API pagination
- API versioning
- Authentication
- Authorization
- Authorization code flow
- Basic authentication
- Bearer token
- Cache-Control
Where you learn it
API key is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.