---
title: "Create an API key"
canonical_url: https://docs.zvid.io/docs/dashboard/api-keys/
source: docs/dashboard/api-keys.md
content_revision: 6338386a1dd87e4a
---

# Create an API key

An API key lets an application or automation authenticate requests to your Zvid account without using your sign-in password.

## When to use it

Create a key for a server application, SDK, or Zvid community node in n8n. For an AI client that supports OAuth, you can instead [sign in to Zvid through MCP](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/dashboard/integrations-mcp-n8n/#authorize-an-mcp-client).

## Before you begin

Sign in and complete your [account verification and profile](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/dashboard/getting-started-account/). Have a secure place ready to store the key, such as your application's secret settings.

## Create and copy a key

**Location:** **Dashboard → API Keys**.

1. Select **API Keys** in the left sidebar, or open [API Keys](https://app.zvid.io/api-keys).
2. Click **Create API key**.

![Zvid API Keys page with the Create API key button.](https://docs.zvid.io/img/dashboard-guide/api-keys-create-button.png)

3. In **Create API Key**, enter an **API Key Name**, such as `Production automation`. Use a different name for each active key.

![Create API Key dialog with an empty API Key Name field, Cancel, and Create API Key.](https://docs.zvid.io/img/dashboard-guide/api-keys-create-dialog.png)

4. Click **Create API Key**.
5. In **API Key Created**, click the copy icon labeled **Copy API key**.
6. Store the complete value in your application's secret settings, then click **Done**.

> **Copy the key before closing**
The complete `zvid_…` value appears only when the key is created. Afterward, the list displays a masked prefix. You cannot recover a lost secret; create a replacement and [delete the old key](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/dashboard/api-keys-delete/).

## What happens next

The key appears as a card with its name, creation date, and masked value. Send the complete key in the `x-api-key` header when calling compatible endpoints at `https://api.zvid.io`.

Follow [Authentication](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/authentication/) for request examples, or [Quick Start](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/quick-start/) to submit your first API render. Creating a key does not render media; subsequent render requests use your account's credits and limits.

## Important notes

- Store keys in server-side secrets or integration credentials. Do not put them in browser code, public repositories, logs, or screenshots.
- The dashboard does not provide a permissions, expiry, rename, or usage-report form for each key. Additional key-management operations are described in the [API reference](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/endpoints/list-api-keys/).
- A rate-limit warning can appear on a key card. For the actual response and recovery guidance, use [API error and retry guidance](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/operations/errors-and-retries/) rather than treating the warning as a quota setting.

## Troubleshooting

### A key with this name already exists

**Cause:** Another active key uses the same name.

**Solution:** Choose a unique name, for example `Production automation September`, and create again.

### The key does not authenticate

**Solution:** Confirm that you copied the complete secret rather than its masked prefix, that it has no extra spaces, and that the request sends `x-api-key`. A deleted key cannot be reused. See [Authentication](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/authentication/).

### Copying to the clipboard fails

Select and copy the full value directly from **API Key Created** before closing it. If you have already closed it without saving the key, create a replacement.

## Related documentation

- [Delete or replace an API key](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/dashboard/api-keys-delete/)
- [Add a webhook](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/dashboard/webhooks/)
- [Configure MCP and n8n](https://docs.zvid.io/docs/dashboard/integrations-mcp-n8n/)