---
title: "Get API keys"
description: "Request access with the form or a NimbusMint Discord ticket; we issue a private key for your server."
canonical: "https://docs.nimbusmint.bot/get-keys/"
---
> Index: https://docs.nimbusmint.bot/llms.txt

# Get API keys

There is no self-serve sign-up. The NimbusMint team reviews each request and issues keys itself; nothing on this
site creates a key.

1. **Ask for access**, either way works:
   - fill in the [access request form](https://nimbusmint.bot/request-access/), or
   - open a ticket in the NimbusMint Discord ([TODO: Discord invite link]).
2. **Tell us:**
   - your name and company;
   - your site or app URL;
   - what you want to build (the use case) and the request volume you expect;
   - the **egress IP addresses** of every server that will call the API, for the key's
     [IP allowlist](https://docs.nimbusmint.bot/authentication.md#ip-allowlist) (up to 16 public addresses or ranges; IPv4 no wider than `/24`, IPv6 no wider than `/48`);
   - the **scopes** you need. v1 has one: `read:hits`;
   - a technical contact we can reach about the key, outages and rotations.
3. **Receive your private key out of band.** We send it through a private channel agreed in the ticket,
   never in a public channel. The secret is **shown once**: put it in your server's secret store straight away.

> **Keys expire after one year:** Every private key expires at most one year after it is issued. We tell you the date when we issue it; ask for
> a new key a few weeks before and [rotate](https://docs.nimbusmint.bot/authentication/key-rotation.md).

> **Never post a key in Discord:** Not in the ticket, not in a DM, not in a screenshot. If a key is exposed anywhere, tell us and we revoke it
> within 10 seconds.

Next: [make your first request](https://docs.nimbusmint.bot/quick-start.md).