API keys

API keys authenticate programmatic access to your organization, from the REST API, CI pipelines, and scripts. Manage them on the API Keys page.

Creating a key

1. Go to API Keys and click Create key.
2. Give it a descriptive name (for example ci-deploy).
3. Pick an expiry, never, 7, 30, 90, or 365 days.
4. Copy the key immediately: it starts with mcp_ and is shown only once.

Using a key

Send it as a bearer token (an x-api-key header works too):

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer mcp_..." \
  https://cloud.mcp-use.com/api/v1/servers

See the APIs section for the full REST API reference.

CLI authentication

For interactive use, the CLI doesn't need an API key, mcp-use login opens a browser flow (or a device-code flow on headless machines) and stores a session. Use API keys for non-interactive environments like CI.

Security

• Scope each key to one purpose and name it accordingly, so revoking is painless.
• Prefer expiring keys; rotate non-expiring keys periodically.
• Treat keys like passwords, keep them in your CI secret store, never in the repository.