Client-side Keys
How to create and use client-side API keys
Create a Client-side Key
Navigate to the API Keys section of the developer console and click the “Create new key” button in the client-side keys section.
Setting Authorized Origins
Client-side keys are exposed in the application and thus require additional security measures. The minimum requirement is to whitelist URLs that requests can be sent from. In development you’ll need to add the local domain you test your application from. This is commonly http://localhost
followed by a port number such as 3000
, 5173
, etc. For example, when developing with NextJS, the default origin you need to authorize is http://localhost:3000
.
When you create a production API key you will need to authorize your production domain to use the API key. You can add multiple authorized domains for an API key to make requests from.
Type in the domain that you want to authorize and then click the ”+ Add origin” button.
Select Scopes
Within the modal that opens, toggle the required scopes you want to enable. You may need to expand an accordion for the product area you’re working on to expose additional scope options.
For more information on API Key scopes visit the scopes page or the API Reference.
JWT Authentication
Finally, select the option to require a JWT if your application or use case requires it. Enabing this setting will require that users are authenticated to permit API requests.
If you choose to enable the JWT Authentication for your client-side API key, there are additional configurations that must be made. You can choose between Crossmint authentication (easiest), third party auth providers such as Dynamic, Auth0, Stytch, Privy or Firebase (medium), or integrating with custom solutions where you generate your own JWTs (advanced).
You can find more information and guidance in the JWT Authentication section.
Using a Client-side Key
There are a few different approaches to using a client-side key. The most common option is passing it to the init
function for a supported SDK. There are also some cases where you’ll pass the key as a header in a raw API call from custom code, similar to how a server-side key works.
Initializing an SDK
The most common way you’ll leverage a client-side API key is by passing it to the init
function for a supported SDK. See the examples below.
Direct API Call From Client
The Headless NFT Checkout is one example where you may be writing custom API calls from your application to create orders. In this case, you set the client-side API key as a header named X-API-KEY
, much like you would when making a server-side API call.