Authentication

Every request carries one bearer credential: an API key, or an OAuth access token. An API key works on https://api.outcrawl.ai/v1 and on the MCP server alike. An OAuth token works where it was issued for: the token outcrawl login gets calls the API, and the token an MCP client gets calls the MCP server. This page is about the HTTP header itself; for signing in to the console, see console authentication.

	API key (`ock_...`)	OAuth access token (`oat_...`)
Where it comes from	Console → API keys	Signing in: `outcrawl login`, or an MCP client’s first use
Lifetime	Long-lived, until revoked	1 hour, refreshes for 30 days while in use
Best for	Your own applications, scripts, CI, anything headless	An interactive CLI or MCP client signed in as you
Works on	The API and the MCP server	The one it was issued for: the API (CLI) or the MCP server (MCP clients)
Scope	The workspace it was created in	The one workspace you picked at sign-in
Stops working when	You delete it in the console	It expires, you sign out (`outcrawl logout`), or you are removed from the workspace; removal cuts it off at once

curl https://api.outcrawl.ai/v1/scrape \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ock_YOUR_KEY_ID.YOUR_SECRET" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com"}'

curl https://api.outcrawl.ai/v1/scrape \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer oat_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com"}'

Both SDKs and the curl examples throughout these docs use an API key, the simplest path for code you write yourself. Use OUTCRAWL_API_KEY for CI and anything headless; it also takes priority over a stored CLI login, so a script always gets a predictable credential regardless of who is signed in on that machine.

In the SDKs

Both SDKs send this header for you. Construct the client with no key and it reads OUTCRAWL_API_KEY from the environment; pass one in (apiKey in TypeScript, api_key in Python) and that key is used instead. With neither, the constructor throws a TypeError that names the variable, before any request is made.

import { Outcrawl } from '@outcrawl/sdk';

const oc = new Outcrawl(); // reads OUTCRAWL_API_KEY
const withKey = new Outcrawl({ apiKey: 'ock_YOUR_KEY_ID.YOUR_SECRET' }); // or pass the key in

import asyncio
from outcrawl import Outcrawl

async def main() -> None:
    async with Outcrawl() as oc:  # reads OUTCRAWL_API_KEY
        ...

    async with Outcrawl(api_key="ock_YOUR_KEY_ID.YOUR_SECRET") as oc:  # or pass the key in
        ...

asyncio.run(main())

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In the SDKs

​In the SDKs

In the SDKs