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Authentication

Keyless endpoints, API tokens, and scopes — how INBIO API requests authenticate.

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INBIO has two tiers of API access, and the first one needs no credentials at all.

Keyless endpoints — no auth

These work without an account, a key, or a token:

Endpoint What it does
POST /api/shorten Shorten a URL
GET /api/qr Generate a styled QR code

Send nothing but the request. Abuse is controlled with rate limits, not accounts.

API tokens — the full REST API

Everything under https://in.bio/api/v1 uses bearer tokens:

Authorization: Bearer <token>
Accept: application/json
  1. Create an account at in.bio/register. API access is included in the Pro and Business plans.
  2. Go to Settings → API tokens and create a token, selecting the scopes it should carry.
  3. Keep it secret — tokens are shown once. Revoke and re-create if leaked.

Scopes

Token abilities act as scopes; a token can only do what was selected at creation:

Scope Grants
links:read List/read links, QR codes, folders, tags
links:write Create, update, delete, enable/disable, bulk create
analytics:read Per-link analytics

Requests missing a scope return 403 with error.type = "scope" and the required scope named in the response.

Errors you’ll meet

Status Meaning
401 Missing or invalid token
403 error.type=plan Your plan doesn’t include API access
403 error.type=scope Token lacks the required scope
404 Resource doesn’t exist — or isn’t yours (never 403)

For AI agents

Agents authenticate exactly the same way — a human creates the token, the agent sends the header. The MCP server forwards your Authorization header to the API, and machine-readable instructions live at in.bio/auth.md. There is no OAuth flow and no programmatic registration — that’s deliberate, and documented honestly.

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