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All Publive API requests require authentication via HTTP Basic Auth. Both the Content Delivery Service (CDS) and Content Management Service (CMS) use the same method, with a separate set of credentials for each.

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CDS and CMS credentials

You have separate credentials for reading and writing, so a key used in your frontend can’t be used to change your content. Your account shows credentials for the APIs you have enabled.
If you set up your account before 7 October 2026, nothing changes and your current setup keeps working. You can optionally switch your frontend to a CDS key.

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How to Get Your API Credentials

  1. Navigate to Publive Dashboard.
  2. Go to Configurations
  3. Click on API Developer Hub
  4. Click the View API credentials button.
  5. Find the CDS or CMS credentials, depending on which API you’re calling.
  6. Your API Key is the username for Basic Auth.
  7. Your API Secret is the password for Basic Auth.
  8. Your Publisher ID is visible here.
If you don’t have login credentials for the dashboard, please contact us at thepublive.com/contact-us.

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How Does Publive Authentication Work?

You authenticate by sending an Authorization header with every request. The value is the word Basic followed by a Base64-encoded string of your API Key and API Secret joined by a colon.

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Generate your token

Encode the credentials for the API you’re calling, CDS or CMS, using the command line:
This outputs a token like <BASE64_AUTH_TOKEN>. Use this value in your requests.
You can also try API calls directly from these docs — the interactive playground on every API page lets you enter your API Key and API Secret, and it constructs the Authorization header for you automatically.

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Example request

For CMS API requests that send data, also include the Content-Type header:

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Authentication errors

If authentication fails, the API returns a 401 Unauthorized response:
Common causes:
  • Missing Authorization header
  • Incorrectly encoded Base64 token
  • Invalid or expired API credentials
On accounts set up from 7 October 2026, a write request made with CDS credentials returns a 403 Forbidden response. Make the request from your server with your CMS credentials instead.
Security best practices:
  • Never expose CMS credentials in client-side JavaScript
  • Use CDS credentials (read-only) for public-facing applications and reserve CMS credentials for server-side operations
  • Use environment variables to store credentials
  • Rotate API keys periodically

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API users and team membership

API users are members with access to the API Developer Hub. They do not appear in the team member listing under Settings → Team and cannot be selected in contributor fields or any other member selector across the dashboard.

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Publisher ID

Every API endpoint requires your <PUBLISHER_ID> in the URL path:
Your Publisher ID is a unique numeric identifier assigned to your organization. You can find it in your Publive Dashboard URL.
Last modified on July 21, 2026