Authentication

Getting Your API Key

1. 1Create an account or sign in if you already have one.
2. 2Go to your Dashboard.
3. 3Click "Generate API Key" to create your key.
4. 4Copy your key and store it securely. You won't be able to see it again.

Using Your API Key

Include your API key in the X-API-Key header with every request:

X-API-Key: yt_sub_your_api_key_here

Example Request

curl -X POST https://api.ytsubs.dev/api/v1/extract \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: yt_sub_your_api_key_here" \
  -d '{"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ"}'

API Key Format

API keys follow this format:

yt_sub_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

• •yt_sub_ prefix identifies it as a SubKit API key
• •Followed by 32 random alphanumeric characters
• •Total length: 39 characters

Security Best Practices

• ✓Store your API key in environment variables
• ✓Use .env files for local development (add to .gitignore)
• ✓Use secrets management in production (e.g., Vercel, Railway, AWS Secrets)
• ✓Regenerate your key immediately if it's exposed
• ✗Never include your API key in client-side code
• ✗Never commit your API key to Git repositories

Authentication Errors

If authentication fails, you'll receive a 401 Unauthorized response:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "UNAUTHORIZED",
    "message": "Invalid or missing API key",
    "docs_url": "/docs/errors#unauthorized"
  }
}

Common causes:

• •Missing X-API-Key header
• •Typo in the API key
• •Key was regenerated (old key no longer valid)
• •Key was revoked

See the error reference for more details.