---
title: Use API key authentication with the Search API
slug: '105'
canonical_url: https://docs.coveo.com/en/105/
collection: build-a-search-ui
source_format: adoc
---
# Use API key authentication with the Search API
The simplest way to authenticate HTTP requests made from a Coveo-powered [search interface](https://docs.coveo.com/en/2741/) is to pass an API key as a bearer token in the `Authorization` header of each Search API and Usage Analytics Write API call.
This authentication method requires you to expose a Coveo API key in client-side code.
As such, it's only legitimate if both of the following conditions are satisfied:
* The API key you use only grants minimum [privileges](https://docs.coveo.com/en/228/).
* The search interface only queries public content.
If your search interface can query secured content, you **must** implement the [search token authentication](https://docs.coveo.com/en/56/) method instead.
## Step 1: Create an API key
In the [Coveo Administration Console](https://docs.coveo.com/en/183/), [create an API key](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1718#create-an-api-key) using the **Anonymous search** [template](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1718#api-key-templates).
> **Warning**
>
> This API key will be exposed in client-side code.
> Never use one of the templates tagged as **Must remain private** if you know that your key will be exposed.
You should also select a [search hub](https://docs.coveo.com/en/1342/) when you configure this API key.
A _search hub_ is an arbitrary string that identifies the search interface from which API requests are being made.
For example, if you're creating an API key for a public documentation search page, you could use `Public docs search` as the search hub.
## Step 2: Configure the search interface
How you set the API key in a search interface depends on the library with which the search interface is built.
### Atomic library
In a search interface built with the [Coveo Atomic library](https://docs.coveo.com/en/lcdf0264/), set the API key when calling the [`initialize`](https://docs.coveo.com/en/atomic/latest/reference/components/atomic-search-interface#initialize) method on the [`atomic-search-interface`](https://static.cloud.coveo.com/atomic/v3/storybook/index.html?path=/docs/atomic-search-interface\--docs) component.
You should also set the [`search-hub`](https://docs.coveo.com/en/atomic/latest/reference/components/atomic-search-interface#properties) attribute to the correct value on the `atomic-search-interface` component.
```html
```
### Headless library
In a search interface built with the [Coveo Headless library](https://docs.coveo.com/en/lcdf0493/), set the API key and search hub in the [`configuration`](https://docs.coveo.com/en/headless/latest/reference/interfaces/Search.SearchEngineConfiguration.html) object when initializing your engine.
```typescript
import { buildSearchEngine, getSampleSearchEngineConfiguration } from '@coveo/headless';
export const headlessEngine = buildSearchEngine({
configuration: {
search: {
searchHub: "Public docs search"
},
organizationId: "mycoveoorganization",
accessToken: "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-g7h8-i9j0-k11l12m13n14",
}
});
```
### JavaScript Search Framework
In a search interface built with the [Coveo JavaScript Search Framework](https://docs.coveo.com/en/187/), set the API key when calling the [`configureCloudV2Endpoint`](https://coveo.github.io/search-ui/classes/searchendpoint.html#configurecloudv2endpoint) method on the [`SearchEndpoint`](https://coveo.github.io/search-ui/classes/searchendpoint.html) class.
You should also set the [`data-search-hub`](https://coveo.github.io/search-ui/components/analytics.html#options.searchhub) attribute to the correct value on the [`CoveoAnalytics`](https://coveo.github.io/search-ui/components/analytics.html) component.
```html