Every request to Hive requires an API key. One key works across all access methods.

Get Your API Key

Go to /dashboard/keys
Enter your email address
Click the magic link sent to your inbox
Copy the key shown on the dashboard

No password or credit card required to get started.

Using Your Key

REST API

Pass the key as a request header. Authorization: Bearer is the recommended form; x-api-key is accepted as a legacy alias.

Authorization: Bearer (recommended):

bash

curl -X POST https://mcp.hiveintelligence.xyz/api/v1/execute \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_HIVE_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"tool": "get_price", "args": {"ids": "bitcoin", "vs_currencies": "usd"}}'

x-api-key (also supported):

bash

curl -X POST https://mcp.hiveintelligence.xyz/api/v1/execute \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_HIVE_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"tool": "get_price", "args": {"ids": "bitcoin", "vs_currencies": "usd"}}'

Both authenticate identically. Prefer Bearer — it's the standard HTTP auth scheme and works out of the box with most clients, proxies, and SDKs.

MCP Clients

Pass the key as an environment variable in your MCP client config:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "hive-intelligence": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "hive-intelligence"],
      "env": {
        "HIVE_API_KEY": "YOUR_HIVE_API_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

The MCP server reads HIVE_API_KEY at startup and attaches it to all outbound requests automatically.

JavaScript SDK

Pass the key at client initialization:

javascript

import { HiveSearchClient } from 'hive-intelligence';

const client = new HiveSearchClient({
  apiKey: process.env.HIVE_API_KEY,
});

Store keys in environment variables. Never hardcode them in source files.

Key Management

From /dashboard/keys you can:

Create multiple keys - one per project or environment (development, staging, production)
Revoke a key - instantly invalidates all requests using that key
Track usage - see request counts and last-used timestamps per key

Revoking a key takes effect immediately. Any in-flight requests using a revoked key will receive a 403 response.

Rate Limits

Each API key has its own rate limit quota based on your plan. See Rate Limits for the full breakdown by plan tier and per-provider limits.