Authentication

Every request to the Compressor API must include a valid API Key. This key uniquely identifies your account and grants access to all compression, optimization, and storage features. Requests without proper authentication — or made over unsecured channels — are rejected automatically.

The API supports two authentication methods: HTTP Basic Auth and Bearer Tokens. You may choose either depending on your stack, tooling, or preferred style.

HTTP Basic Authentication

With Basic Auth, you provide your API Key as the username. A password is not required, but many HTTP clients require the colon suffix to indicate an empty password.

curl -u your-api-key: https://api.compressor.app/1.0/account

This method is convenient in command-line tools and simple scripts, as no additional headers are required.

Bearer Token Authentication

Alternatively, you may authenticate using the Authorization header. This approach is the most common in backend services, serverless functions, and production environments.

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer your-api-key" https://api.compressor.app/1.0/account

Bearer authentication keeps credentials tidy and integrates well with most HTTP libraries out of the box.

Verifying Your Credentials

You can confirm that your API Key is valid by calling the Account endpoint:

GET https://api.compressor.app/1.0/account

A successful response indicates that authentication is configured correctly. If the key is missing, malformed, or revoked, the API will return an HTTP 401 Unauthorized status code with an explanatory error message.

HTTPS Required

All API calls must be made over HTTPS. Requests sent over unencrypted HTTP—or requests missing authentication entirely—are blocked for security reasons. This ensures your credentials, payloads, and output files remain protected at all times.

Notes for cURL Users

• The -u flag passes Basic Auth credentials
• Appending a colon to your API Key your-api-key: prevents cURL from prompting you for a password
• Avoid storing API keys in shell history; consider environment variables or secret managers