Where do I find my API key? How do I authenticate?

When an API key is needed and when it one not

Most usage of csvbase will never need an API key.

If you are just using GET on public tables there is no need to supply an API key. You do not even have to register.

If you are doing write operations - eg PUT (create/overwrite), POST (append) or DELETE (self-explanatory) then you do need to provide an API key.

If the table is private then even GET requests require an API key.

Where to find your API key

Your API key is on your user page - https://csvbase.com/<your-username> (but visible only to you).

It's a 32 character string and looks like this: 0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef.

Basic Auth

csvbase authentication is done via HTTP Basic Auth.

Your username is your username.

Your API Key is your password. Please do not put your site password in the password field.

Usually, tools that you use allow you to supply a table URL that includes the username and password. For example:

https://calpaterson:0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef@csvbase.com/calpaterson/countries

Occasionally, some tools will have a separate field where you enter the username and password.

The ~/.netrc file

On unix systems, you can put your username and API key into your ~/.netrc file. Many tools will pick up credentials in this file and use them automatically.

Curl will use credentials from this file if you pass the -n argument.

Here is a sample file:

machine csvbase.com
  login calpaterson
  password 0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef