Authentication

Every request needs an API key, sent as a bearer token:

Authorization: Bearer ps_live_your_key_here

Keys are ps_live_ followed by 32 letters and digits. There is no separate test mode: the free demo key is a normal key with a small one-off allowance.

Getting a key

• Keys are created on the API page (or your subscription page) by a signed-in account with a confirmed email address.
• Creating a key, and buying an API plan, require accepting the API & Data Licence (current version 2026-10-02). When the licence changes, you are asked to accept the new version the next time you create a key or subscribe.
• The full key is shown once, when it is created. We store only a fingerprint of it, so we cannot show it again. Lost it? Create a new one.

How many keys

• Free demo: 1 active key.
• Any paid API access (API Starter, API Pro, National, the Leads plan or Portfolio Monitor): up to 5 active keys.
• The allowance belongs to the account, not the key: every key on the account draws on the same records. Use separate keys for separate systems so you can revoke one without stopping the others.

Keeping keys safe

• Call the API from your server. Never put a key in a web page, a mobile app or a public repository: anyone holding it uses your allowance.
• Keep keys in environment variables or a secrets manager.
• Revoke a key on the API page the moment it may have leaked. Revoked keys stop working straight away (401).

Rotating a key

• On a paid plan: create a new key, deploy it, check requests succeed, then revoke the old key.
• On the demo, with one key: revoke the old key first, then create the new one.

Authentication errors