[role="xpack"]
[[security-api-create-api-key]]
=== Create API key API
++++
<titleabbrev>Create API keys</titleabbrev>
++++

Creates an API key for access without requiring basic authentication.

[[security-api-create-api-key-request]]
==== {api-request-title}

`POST /_security/api_key`
`PUT /_security/api_key`

[[security-api-create-api-key-prereqs]]
==== {api-prereq-title}

* To use this API, you must have at least the `manage_api_key` cluster privilege.

[[security-api-create-api-key-desc]]
==== {api-description-title}

The API keys are created by the {es} API key service, which is automatically enabled
when you configure TLS on the HTTP interface. See <<tls-http>>. Alternatively,
you can explicitly enable the `xpack.security.authc.api_key.enabled` setting. When 
you are running in production mode, a bootstrap check prevents you from enabling 
the API key service unless you also enable TLS on the HTTP interface. 

A successful create API key API call returns a JSON structure that contains the
API key, its unique id, and its name. If applicable, it also returns expiration
information for the API key in milliseconds. 

NOTE: By default, API keys never expire. You can specify expiration information
when you create the API keys. 

See <<api-key-service-settings>> for configuration settings related to API key
service.


[[security-api-create-api-key-request-body]]
==== {api-request-body-title}

The following parameters can be specified in the body of a POST or PUT request:

`name`::
(Optional, string) Specifies the name for this API key.

`role_descriptors`::
(Optional, array-of-role-descriptor) An array of role descriptors for this API
key. This parameter is optional. When it is not specified or is an empty array,
then the API key will have a _point in time snapshot of permissions of the 
authenticated user_. If you supply role descriptors then the resultant permissions
would be an intersection of API keys permissions and authenticated user's permissions
thereby limiting the access scope for API keys.
The structure of role descriptor is the same as the request for create role API.
For more details, see <<security-api-put-role, create or update roles API>>.

`expiration`::
(Optional, string) Expiration time for the API key. By default, API keys never
expire.


[[security-api-create-api-key-example]]
==== {api-examples-title}

The following example creates an API key:

[source,console]
------------------------------------------------------------
POST /_security/api_key
{
  "name": "my-api-key",
  "expiration": "1d", <1>
  "role_descriptors": { <2>
    "role-a": {
      "cluster": ["all"],
      "index": [
        {
          "names": ["index-a*"],
          "privileges": ["read"]
        }
      ]
    },
    "role-b": {
      "cluster": ["all"],
      "index": [
        {
          "names": ["index-b*"],
          "privileges": ["all"]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}
------------------------------------------------------------
<1> optional expiration for the API key being generated. If expiration is not
 provided then the API keys do not expire.
<2> optional role descriptors for this API key, if not provided then permissions
 of authenticated user are applied.

A successful call returns a JSON structure that provides
API key information.

[source,console-result]
--------------------------------------------------
{
  "id":"VuaCfGcBCdbkQm-e5aOx", <1>
  "name":"my-api-key",
  "expiration":1544068612110, <2>
  "api_key":"ui2lp2axTNmsyakw9tvNnw" <3>
}
--------------------------------------------------
// TESTRESPONSE[s/VuaCfGcBCdbkQm-e5aOx/$body.id/]
// TESTRESPONSE[s/1544068612110/$body.expiration/]
// TESTRESPONSE[s/ui2lp2axTNmsyakw9tvNnw/$body.api_key/]
<1> unique id for this API key
<2> optional expiration in milliseconds for this API key
<3> generated API key

The API key returned by this API can then be used by sending a request with a
`Authorization` header with a value having the prefix `ApiKey` followed
by the _credentials_, where _credentials_ is the base64 encoding of `id` and `api_key` joined by a colon.

[source,shell]
--------------------------------------------------
curl -H "Authorization: ApiKey VnVhQ2ZHY0JDZGJrUW0tZTVhT3g6dWkybHAyYXhUTm1zeWFrdzl0dk5udw==" http://localhost:9200/_cluster/health
--------------------------------------------------
// NOTCONSOLE