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

# Authentication

> Authenticate product API requests with an API key on your Account.

All `/v1/*` endpoints require an API key sent in the `x-api-key` header.

```bash theme={null}
curl https://api.nephia.cc/v1/account/credits \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY"
```

## API keys

* Created and revoked from the dashboard **API Keys** page
* Owned by your **Account** (billing tenant)
* Up to **5** active keys per Account
* Stored hashed server-side — the full secret is shown only at creation

<Warning>
  Treat API keys like passwords. Do not commit them to git or expose them in client-side code.
</Warning>

## Dashboard vs product API

| Surface                          | Base path | Auth                                 |
| -------------------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------ |
| Product API (this documentation) | `/v1/*`   | `x-api-key` header                   |
| Dashboard API                    | `/api/*`  | Session cookie (not documented here) |

Sign-in (Google or sign-in link) is only required to access the dashboard and manage keys — not for machine-to-machine calls.