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.

Create an API key

1. Log in to n8n.
2. Go to Settings > API.
3. Select Create an API key.

Delete an API key

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

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>'