# Your First API Key

Every request to the ApexVerify API must be authenticated with an API key. This guide walks you through creating your account, generating your first key, and verifying it works — in under 2 minutes.

<Note>
  ApexVerify uses a custom HTTP header for authentication: `X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY`. Include this header on every API request. Requests without a valid key return `401 Unauthorized`.
</Note>

***

## Steps

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create your account">
    Go to [apexverify.com](https://apexverify.com) and sign up for a free account. You'll receive a confirmation email — click the link to activate.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the Dashboard">
    Log in at [app.apexverify.com](https://app.apexverify.com). The dashboard is your control center for API keys, batches, credit usage, and settings.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Generate your API key">
    Navigate to **Settings → API Keys** and click **Generate New Key**.

    Give the key a descriptive label (e.g. `production`, `dev-local`, or `ci-pipeline`) so you can identify it later. Copy the key immediately — it is only shown once.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Test your key">
    Run the following request to confirm the key is working. It fetches your current credit balance:

    ```bash
    curl -X GET https://api.apexverify.com/v1/account/credits \
      -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"
    ```

    A successful response looks like this:

    ```json
    {
      "email_credit": 1000.0,
      "phone_credit": 500.0
    }
    ```

    If you receive `401 Unauthorized`, double-check that the key was copied correctly and the header name is exactly `X-Api-Key`.
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

<Warning>
  **Never expose your API key in client-side code, public repositories, or unsecured environments.** Treat it like a password. If a key is compromised, revoke it immediately from the Dashboard and generate a replacement.

  See [Creating Additional API Keys](/tutorials/additional-keys) for key rotation best practices.
</Warning>

***

## What's Next?

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Your First Upload" icon="fa-regular fa-folder-arrow-up" href="/quickstart/first-upload">
    Learn how to upload a TXT file of emails or phone numbers to create your first batch.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Your First Verification" icon="fa-regular fa-square-check" href="/quickstart/first-verification">
    Walk through the complete lifecycle from upload to exported results.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>