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- New navigation for Unleash Concepts - Updated and restructured activation strategies and related concepts
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215 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
---
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title: API Tokens and Client Keys
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pagination_next: reference/front-end-api
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---
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For Unleash to be of any use, it requires at least a server and a [consuming client](../reference/sdks). More advanced use cases may call for multiple clients, automated feature flag updates, the [Unleash proxy](../reference/unleash-proxy) and [Unleash proxy clients](../reference/sdks#front-end-sdks), and more. To facilitate communication between all these moving parts, Unleash uses a system of API tokens and client keys, all with a specific purpose in mind.
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This document details the three kinds of tokens and keys that you will need to fully connect any Unleash system:
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- [Admin tokens](#admin-tokens) for updating resources in Unleash (**Deprecated**) We recommend you use [Personal Access Tokens](#personal-access-tokens) instead.
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- [Client tokens](#client-tokens) for connecting server-side client SDKs and the Unleash proxy to the Unleash server
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- [Proxy client keys](#proxy-client-keys) for connecting proxy client SDKs to the Unleash proxy.
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## API tokens
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:::tip
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This section describes what API tokens are. For information on how to create them, refer to the [how-to guide for creating API tokens](../how-to/how-to-create-api-tokens).
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:::
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Use API tokens to connect to the Unleash server API. API tokens come in four distinct types:
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- [Admin tokens](#admin-tokens) (**Deprecated**)
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- [Personal access tokens](#personal-access-tokens)
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- [Client tokens](#client-tokens)
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- [Front-end tokens](#front-end-tokens)
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All types use [the same format](#format) but have different intended uses. Admin and client tokens are _secrets_ and should _not_ be exposed to end users. Front-end tokens, on the other hand, are not secret.
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### The parts of an API token {#token-data}
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Admin, client and front-end tokens contain the following pieces of information:
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| Name | Description |
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| --- | --- |
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| Token name (sometimes called "username") | The token's name. Names are **not** required to be unique. |
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| Type | What kind of token it is: admin, client, or front-end. |
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| Projects | What projects a token has access to. |
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| Environment | What environment the token has access to. |
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Personal access tokens follow their own special format, and only contain an optional description for the token and an expiry date.
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### API token visibility
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:::note Availability
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**Version**: `4.22+`
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:::
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By default, only admin users can create API tokens, and only admins can see their values.
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However, any [client](#client-tokens client tokens) and [front-end tokens](#front-end-tokens) that are applicable to a project, will also be visible to any members of that project that have the `READ_PROJECT_API_TOKEN` permission (all project members by default).
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Similarly, any project members with the `CREATE_PROJECT_API_TOKEN` permission can also create client and front-end tokens for that specific project ([how to create project API tokens](../how-to/how-to-create-project-api-tokens)).
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### Admin tokens
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:::warning
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Admin tokens are deprecated. Use other tokens types:
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- With [Open Source](https://www.getunleash.io/pricing) and [Pro](../availability#plans), use [personal access tokens](#personal-access-tokens).
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- With [Enterprise](https://www.getunleash.io/pricing), use [service accounts](./service-accounts).
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:::
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**Admin tokens** grant _full read and write access_ to all resources in the Unleash server API. Admin tokens have access to all projects, all environments, and all root resources (find out more about [resources in the RBAC document](../reference/rbac#core-principles)).
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### Personal access tokens
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**Personal access tokens** are a special form of admin tokens and grant access to the same resources that the user that created them has access to. These permissions are dynamic, so if a user's permissions change through addition of a custom role, the token will likewise have altered permissions.
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When you use a personal access token to modify resources, the events record the token creator's name for that operation.
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Personal access tokens with a lifetime **will stop working after the expiration date**.
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Use personal access tokens to:
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- Provide more fine-grained permissions for automation than an admin token provides
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- Give temporary access to an automation tool
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:::info On token expiration
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It is possible to set a token's expiration date to **never**. However, a token that doesn't expire brings with it a few security concerns. We recommend that you use tokens with expiration dates whenever possible.
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:::
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Do **not** use personal access tokens for:
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- [Client SDKs](../reference/sdks): You will _not_ be able to read flag data from multiple environments. Use [client tokens](#client-tokens) instead.
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- Write custom Unleash UIs: Personal access tokens may expire and their permissions may change. It's better to use [admin tokens](#admin-tokens) tokens instead.
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### Client tokens
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**Client tokens** are intended for use in [server-side client SDKs](../reference/sdks#server-side-sdks) (including the Unleash Proxy) and grant the user permissions to:
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- Read feature flag information
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- Register applications with the Unleash server
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- Send usage metrics
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When creating a client token, you can choose which projects it should be able to read data from. You can give it access to a specific list of projects or to all projects (including projects that don't exist yet). Prior to Unleash 4.10, a token could be valid only for a _single project_ or _all projects_.
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Each client token is only **valid for a single environment**.
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Use client tokens:
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- In [server-side client SDKs](../reference/sdks#server-side-sdks)
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- To connect [the Unleash Proxy](../reference/unleash-proxy) to the Unleash API
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Do **not** use client tokens in:
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- [Front-end SDKs](../reference/sdks#front-end-sdks). You will _not_ be able to connect to the Unleash server due to CORS restrictions. To connect front-end SDKs, choose one of the following options:
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- Enable the [Unleash front-end API](./front-end-api) and create a [front-end token](#front-end-tokens).
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- Configure an [Unleash Proxy](../reference/unleash-proxy) and use [Proxy client keys](#proxy-client-keys).
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### Front-end tokens
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**Front-end tokens** are used with [front-end SDKs](../reference/sdks#front-end-sdks) when used with the [Unleash front-end API](./front-end-api). They grant the user permission to:
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- Read the enabled flags for a given context
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- Register applications with the Unleash server
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- Send usage metrics
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As with [client tokens](#client-tokens), front-end tokens can read data from one, multiple, or all existing projects.
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Each front-end token is only **valid for a single environment**.
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Use front-end tokens in:
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- [Front-end SDKs (also known as _proxy clients_)](../reference/sdks#front-end-sdks).
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Do **not** use front-end tokens in:
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- [Server-side SDKs](../reference/sdks#server-side-sdks). The format is different, so they won't work correctly.
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### Format
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API tokens come in one of two formats. When we introduced [environments](./environments) in Unleash 4.3, we updated the format of the tokens to provide more human-readable information to the user. Both formats are still valid (you don't need to update a working token of the old format) and are described below.
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#### Version 1
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The first version of API tokens was a 64 character long hexadecimal string. Example:
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```
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be44368985f7fb3237c584ef86f3d6bdada42ddbd63a019d26955178
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```
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#### Version 2
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API tokens consist of three parts:
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1. Project(s)
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2. Environment
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3. Hash
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The parts are separated by two different separators: A colon (`:`) between the project(s) and the environment, and a full stop (`.`) between the environment and the hash.
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The **project(s)** part is one of:
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- The id of a specific project, for example: `default`. This indicates that the token is **only valid for this project**.
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- A pair of opening and closing square brackets: `[]`. This indicates that the token is **valid for a discrete list of projects**. The list of projects is not shown in the token.
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- An asterisk: `*`. This indicates that the token is **valid for all projects (current and future)**.
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The **environment** is the name of an environment on your Unleash server, such as `development`.
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The **hash** is 64 character long hexadecimal string.
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Personal access tokens do not contain project or environment information, since they mimic the user that created them. Instead, the token starts with the string `user`.
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Some example client tokens are:
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- A token with access to flags in the "development" environment of a single project, "project-a":
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```
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project-a:development.be44368985f7fb3237c584ef86f3d6bdada42ddbd63a019d26955178
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```
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- A token with access to flags in the "production" environment multiple projects:
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```
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[]:production.be44368985f7fb3237c584ef86f3d6bdada42ddbd63a019d26955178
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```
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- A token with access to flags in the "development" environment of all projects:
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```
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*:development.be44368985f7fb3237c584ef86f3d6bdada42ddbd63a019d26955178
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```
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- A personal access token:
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```
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user:be7536c3a160ff15e3a92da45de531dd54bc1ae15d8455c0476f086b
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```
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## Proxy client keys {#proxy-client-keys}
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Use proxy client keys to connect [Proxy client SDKs (front-end SDKs)](../reference/sdks#front-end-sdks) to the [Unleash Proxy](../reference/unleash-proxy). As opposed to the [API tokens](#api-tokens), Proxy client keys are _not_ considered secret and are safe to use on any clients (refer to the [the proxy documentation for more about privacy](../reference/unleash-proxy#we-care-about-privacy)). They do _not_ let you connect to the Unleash server API.
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Proxy client keys are arbitrary strings that you _must_ provide the Unleash proxy with on startup. They can be whatever you want and you **create them yourself**.
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:::info Creating proxy client keys
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To designate a string as a proxy client key, add it to the `clientKeys` list when starting the proxy, as mentioned in the [_configuration_ section of the Unleash proxy documentation](../reference/unleash-proxy#configuration). Connecting clients should then specify the same string as their client key.
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:::
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Unleash does not generate proxy client keys for you. Because of this, they have no specific format.
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Use Proxy client keys to:
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- Connect [Proxy client SDKs](../reference/sdks#front-end-sdks) to the [Unleash Proxy](../reference/unleash-proxy)
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- Connect your own custom Proxy clients (or pure HTTP requests) to the Unleash Proxy
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Do **not** use Proxy client keys to:
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- Connect to the Unleash API. It will not work. Use an appropriate [API token](#api-tokens) instead.
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