up vote 5 down vote favorite
2
share [g+] share [fb]

I have an application I'm developing that's pure javascript and consumes the Stack API. My API key is embedded in the source which anyone could read. Is this safe?

link|improve this question
feedback

1 Answer

up vote 5 down vote accepted

Yes.

Your API key identifies your application for stat tracking purposes more-so than security purposes. It is safe to leave in a plain text, user readable, format.

link|improve this answer
that's what I figured, since it's being passed around in querystring and headers. Thanks for confirming. – Soviut Jun 4 '10 at 5:50
2  
@Soviut - no problem. I've realized that maybe we shouldn't have called it a "key" (in v1, anyway) but we're stuck with the terminology now. Maybe "app id" would have been better... – Kevin Montrose♦ Jun 4 '10 at 7:18
feedback

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged