n8n-docs/docs/api/authentication.md

description, contentType

description	contentType
Authentication for n8n's public REST API.	howto

API authentication

n8n uses API keys to authenticate API calls.

/// info | Feature availability The n8n API isn't available during the free trial. Please upgrade to access this feature. ///

Create an API key

1. Log in to n8n.
2. Go to Settings > n8n API.
3. Select Create an API key.
4. Copy My API Key and use this key to authenticate your calls.

Call the API using your key

Send the API key in your API call as a header named X-N8N-API-KEY.

For example, say you want to get all active workflows. Your curl request will look like this:

# For a self-hosted n8n instance
curl -X 'GET' \
  '<N8N_HOST>:<N8N_PORT>/<N8N_PATH>/api/v<version-number>/workflows?active=true' \
  -H 'accept: application/json' \
  -H 'X-N8N-API-KEY: <your-api-key>'

# For n8n Cloud
curl -X 'GET' \
  '<your-cloud-instance>/api/v<version-number>/workflows?active=true' \
  -H 'accept: application/json' \
  -H 'X-N8N-API-KEY: <your-api-key>'

Delete an API key

1. Log in to n8n.
2. Go to Settings > n8n API.
3. Select Delete next to the key you want to delete.
4. Confirm the delete by selecting Delete Forever.