# Authentication

To use the 1099Policy API you need to authenticate requests using API keys. Sign up for a developer account to view and manage your API keys from the 1099Policy Dashboard. [https://dashboard.1099policy.com/signup](https://dashboard.1099policy.com/signup)

Your API tokens should be guarded closely. As a reminder, do not share your secret API keys in publicly accessible areas such as GitHub or client-side code, for example. Instead use environment variables, web server settings, startup script, or a configuration file that is excluded from your version control.

Test mode secret keys have the prefix `t9k_test_` and live mode secret keys have the prefix `t9k_live_`.

All API requests must be made over HTTPS. Calls made over plain HTTP will fail. API requests without authentication will also fail.

## Example
```curl
 curl \
 -X GET https://api.1099policy.com/api/v1/contractors \
 -H "Authorization: Basic t9k_test_wvnsjtZ8aMlbfGbIm0"
```