---
title: Authenticating to make calls to one of the platform REST APIs
description: Introductory guidance on calling and retrieving REST APIs
---

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# Authenticating to make calls to one of the platform REST APIs

## Introductory guidance on calling and retrieving REST APIs

 

**Read this article to understand how to:**

- Connect your Content Catalyst platform with other business-critical systems
- Improve the end-user experience and organisational processes with seamless integrations with 3rd party tools

 

To view the available endpoints, head to the **API and Integration Documentation** section via the admin area and select '**V1 Documentation**'.

 

![](https://guide.contentcatalyst.com/hs-fs/hubfs/API%20Menu%20Admin%20-png.png?width=555&height=637&name=API%20Menu%20Admin%20-png.png)

 

 

![](https://guide.contentcatalyst.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Aug-26-2025-01-42-32-6321-PM.png?width=670&height=210&name=image-png-Aug-26-2025-01-42-32-6321-PM.png)

 

🔔**See**: [API: Application Programming Interfaces](https://guide.contentcatalyst.com/api-application-programming-interfaces-overview?hsLang=en) article to familiarise yourself with API's in Content Catalyst. 

### API authentication

We're introducing API Keys as a new authentication method for the Content Catalyst API, replacing the current POST /authenticate with username/password method.

API Keys give you more control over who has access to use the Content Catalyst API suite.

We aren't just changing the authentication method, but have introduced some additional benefits and controls around who can use the Content Catalyst API.

#### Control and management

- Managed permission to create API Keys and visibility on who can create them.
- Up to 6 API Keys per user, each with a lifetime of up to 2 years.
- Create, delete, enable, or disable via the user profile page or API

#### Simpler to use

- No more password authentication, Basic header encoding, or token caching.
- Simply use `X-Api-Key $mykey` as a header

 

### Controlling who has access to API keys.

Who can generate API keys is set by a preference.  Like other preferences it can be set site-wide (not recommendedmended for API keys), at the account level, and at the user level.

For example to allow everyone in the Content Catalyst Limited account to generate API keys, you would set the preference in the preference area for that account:

 

![](https://guide.contentcatalyst.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-03-2026-02-27-50-4230-PM.png?width=670&height=328&name=image-png-Nov-03-2026-02-27-50-4230-PM.png)

Once enabled, a user may generate API Keys via their user profile page:

![](https://guide.contentcatalyst.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-03-2026-02-31-50-7230-PM.png?width=562&height=588&name=image-png-Nov-03-2026-02-31-50-7230-PM.png)

The API management page allows you to create, manage and delete API Keys:

![](https://guide.contentcatalyst.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-Nov-03-2026-02-33-20-3217-PM.png?width=670&height=402&name=image-png-Nov-03-2026-02-33-20-3217-PM.png)

API keys can only be read once at the time of creation.  Store them in a secure pace for use.

 

Any enabled key which isn't expired can be used to authenticate API calls using the header `X-Api-Key $mykey`. This replaces using the base 64 encoded POST /authenticate token in the `Authentication: Basic $encodedToken` header.

API Keys are available to try now. The POST /authenticate method will be retired in February 2027.

🔔 You can find further examples and information on the administrator portal, under Technical documentation. Select the **HTTP APIs** section and read the section on Authentication.

 

**🔔 For testing purposes, you can base64 encode strings online using:**

https://www.base64encode.org/

 

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