Authentication

How to authenticate your API requests

API Key Authentication

All RAIL API requests require an API key in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

Security Best Practices

•Never expose API keys in client-side code - Always call from your backend
•Use environment variables - Store keys in .env files, never hardcode
•Add .env to .gitignore - Never commit API keys to version control
•Revoke compromised keys immediately - Generate new keys if exposed

Environment Variables

Python

# .env file
RAIL_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

# In your code
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os

load_dotenv()
api_key = os.getenv("RAIL_API_KEY")

Node.js

// .env file
RAIL_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

// In your code
require('dotenv').config();
const apiKey = process.env.RAIL_API_KEY;

Error Responses

Status	Error	Solution
`401`	Missing API key	Include Authorization header
`401`	Invalid API key	Check key validity
`403`	Revoked API key	Generate a new key