API Keys, Explained
How AppSnap API keys work, how they're stored, and how to create, use, and revoke one safely.
What an API key is for
An API key lets you call AppSnap tools programmatically — from a script, a CI job, or your own application — instead of clicking through the UI every time.
How keys are stored
When you create a key, AppSnap shows you the full value exactly once. After that, only a short prefix (enough to tell your keys apart) is ever displayed again — the full key is hashed and the hash is what's stored, not the key itself.
This is deliberate: even if the database were ever exposed, the keys inside it couldn't be reconstructed. If you lose a key, the fix is the same either way — revoke it and create a new one.
Creating and revoking a key
Open Manage Account from the header, go to API Keys, give the key a name that describes where it'll be used ("CI pipeline", "Production server"), and copy the value somewhere safe immediately.
If a key is compromised or no longer needed, revoke it from the same page — revoked keys stop working immediately and can't be un-revoked.
- Name keys by where they're used, not what they do
- Store the value in a secrets manager, not a repo
- Revoke a key the moment you suspect it leaked
Frequently Asked Questions
No — only the prefix is shown afterward. If you've lost the value, revoke the key and create a new one.