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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?

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1 Answer

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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.

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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
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@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

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