# Authentication

To authenticate against the API, we use the OAuth2 federation system. This means that in order to make requests to the API, you need to have an access token for authentication. 

First of all, we will need the values of `client_id` and `client_secret`, which can be obtained from our [dashboard](https://dashboard.transparentcdn.com/user/profile). Click on your username, to view your user profile, there you'll able to obtain the required API keys.

Take note of the values that appear, as we will need them for the following steps:

Here is an example, with fake data of the entire process of obtaining the access token (API\_TOKEN).

> client\_id: 0b58b22d51a2d68Ffdf17b 
>
> client\_secret: 0f3b38f9721211e848e39be374a4c1431386abdfe86 
>
> company\_id: 42

With this information, the first step is to make a call to the API to obtain the authorization token. This may vary depending on the programming language used, here is a basic example using cURL.

```sh
curl -XPOST -d "client_id=0b58b22d51a2d68df17b&client_secret=0f3b38f9701e848e39be374a4c1431386abdfe86&grant_type=client_credentials" https://api.transparentcdn.com/v1/oauth2/access_token/
```

This request will return a result in JSON format, similar to this:

```json
{
  "access_token": "58530ad8f1879786dbfad7Gh1a3b94c1dae1070280fdb",
  "token_type": "Bearer",
  "expires_in": 36000,
  "refresh_token": "63553322177e88fHa8Kb25b122542e35733ce2a9cc24",
  "scope": "read write"
}
```

The field `access_token` is essential to continue making requests to the API. All requests that include the header "Authorization: Bearer " will be authenticated with the user who requested the access\_token. For example, a request similar to the one shown below will return a JSON object with the user stored in our systems.

```
curl -v -H 'Authorization: Bearer 58530ad8f1879786dbfad7Gh1a3b94c1dae1070280fdb' https://api.transparentcdn.com/v1/companies/current_user/
```


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.transparentedge.eu/guides/api/authentication.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.