> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://documentation.sayari.com/api/key-concepts/authentication/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://documentation.sayari.com/_mcp/server.

# Authentication

## Overview

The Sayari API uses OAuth 2.0 client credentials flow with JWT access tokens for authentication.

## Getting an Access Token

Use your client credentials to obtain a bearer token via the [authentication endpoint](/api/api-reference/auth/get-token):

**`Token Request`**

```bash title="Token Request"
curl --request POST \
     --url https://api.sayari.com/oauth/token \
     --header 'accept: application/json' \
     --header 'content-type: application/json' \
     --data '{
  "client_id": "$CLIENT_ID",
  "client_secret": "$CLIENT_SECRET", 
  "audience": "sayari.com",
  "grant_type": "client_credentials"
}'
```

**`Token Response`**

```json title="Token Response" {1-3}
{
  "access_token": "YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN",
  "expires_in": 86400,
  "token_type": "Bearer"
}
```

## Using Your Token

Include the access token in the `Authorization` header for all API requests:

**`Authenticated Request`**

```bash title="Authenticated Request"
curl 'https://api.sayari.com/search/entity?q=china' \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN"
```

## Token Management

* **Lifetime**: Tokens expire after 24 hours
* **Storage**: Store tokens securely; never expose in client-side code

> Access the Sayari API using JWT bearer tokens