> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://developers.laws.africa/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://developers.laws.africa/get-started/authentication.md).

# Authentication and API keys

Calls to the Laws.Africa APIs must be authenticated with an API token.

1. Sign up for a Laws.Africa platform account at <https://platform.laws.africa/>.
2. Create or copy your API token from <https://platform.laws.africa/api-keys/>.
3. Include the token in the `Authorization` header for API requests.

```http
Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN>
```

For example:

```bash
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN>" \
  https://api.laws.africa/ai/v1/knowledge-bases
```

{% hint style="info" %}
Keep your API token private. Do not commit it to source control or expose it in browser-side code.
{% endhint %}

Your API token is tied to your platform account. Your active plan and services control which Knowledge Bases, countries, localities and Content API endpoints the token can access. See [manage your plan and subscription](/get-started/manage-your-plan.md) for plan, country and usage management.

If you are logged into your platform account, you can also browse some API endpoints directly in your web browser.


---

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

```
GET https://developers.laws.africa/get-started/authentication.md?ask=<question>
```

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