---
title: "Authentication"
description: "To access the Tilebox API, you must authenticate your requests. This guide explains how authentication works, focusing on API keys used as bearer tokens."
image: "https://tilebox.com/images/tilebox-docs-social-preview.png"
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://tilebox.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Authentication

import { CodeGroup } from "@docs/components/ui/code-group";

import { Frame } from "@docs/components/ui/frame";

## Creating an API key

To create an API key, log into the [Tilebox Console](https://console.tilebox.com). Navigate to [Settings → API Keys](https://console.tilebox.com/settings/api-keys) and click the "Create API Key" button.

:::note
Keep your API keys secure. Deactivate any keys if you suspect they have been compromised.
:::

	<img src="/docs/assets/console/api-keys-light.png" alt="Tilebox Console" className="dark:hidden"  />
	<img src="/docs/assets/console/api-keys-dark.png" alt="Tilebox Console" className="hidden dark:block" />

## Set up environment variable

Set `TILEBOX_API_KEY` in your shell environment (optional but recommended). That way, the [CLI](/docs/cli) and SDK clients automatically pick it up.

The following commands persist the variable for future terminal sessions and also make it available in the current session.

```bash title="Bash"
echo 'export TILEBOX_API_KEY="<tbx-api-...>"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
```

```zsh title="Zsh"
echo 'export TILEBOX_API_KEY="<tbx-api-...>"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
```

```fish title="Fish"
set -Ux TILEBOX_API_KEY "<tbx-api-...>"
```

```powershell title="PowerShell"
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("TILEBOX_API_KEY", "<tbx-api-...>", "User")
$env:TILEBOX_API_KEY = "<tbx-api-...>"
```

Open a new terminal after setting the variable to confirm your shell loads it automatically.

## Manual SDK authentication

In case you didn't configure your shell environment, you can also pass your API key as the `token` parameter when creating an instance of the SDK clients.

```python title="Python"
from tilebox.datasets import Client as DatasetsClient
from tilebox.workflows import Client as WorkflowsClient

datasets_client = DatasetsClient(token="<tbx-api-...>")
workflows_client = WorkflowsClient(token="<tbx-api-...>")
```

```go title="Go"
import (
	"github.com/tilebox/tilebox-go/datasets/v1"
	"github.com/tilebox/tilebox-go/workflows/v1"
)

datasetsClient := datasets.NewClient(datasets.WithAPIKey("<tbx-api-...>"))
workflowsClient := workflows.NewClient(workflows.WithAPIKey("<tbx-api-...>"))
```

:::tip
If you set your API key as an environment variable named `TILEBOX_API_KEY`, you can skip the token parameter when creating a client.
:::

Source: https://tilebox.com/docs/authentication/index.mdx