All API requests must be authenticated using an API key. Without a valid key, every request will return a 401 Unauthorized error.
Your API key
Each account has a unique API key. To retrieve yours, log in and visit the API page.
Keep your key private. Treat it like a password. Do not include it in client-side code, public repositories, or log files.
Passing your key
Include your API key as an access_token query parameter on every request. How you append it depends on whether other parameters are already present in the URL.
Query string syntax: Use
? to begin the query string when access_token is the only parameter. Use & to chain it when other parameters come first.Document requests
access_token is the only parameter, so the query string begins with ?.
https://service.betterregulation.com/api/document/38001?access_token=[your-api-key]Search requests
Other parameters come first, so access_token is appended with &.
https://service.betterregulation.com/api/v1/search?title=article&access_token=[your-api-key]Authentication errors
If your key is missing, malformed, or invalid, the API will return a 401 Unauthorized response. See the Error Handling page for details on the error response format.
Generating a new key
You can generate a replacement key at any time from the API page.
Your previous key is invalidated immediately. Update any existing integrations before generating a new key to avoid service interruption.