Authentication

Authenticate requests using an API key.

All requests to the Current Weather Data API require an API key.

Get an API key

If you don’t have an API key yet:

1. Sign in to your account.
2. In the top menu, click your name > My API keys.

Make sure your API key is Active.

Use your API key

Include your API key in every request using the appid parameter.

Example:

curl "https://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather?lat=48.85&lon=2.35&units=metric&appid=YOUR_API_KEY"

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual API key.

Security best practices

• Do not hardcode your API key in client-side code
• Store it in an environment variable
• Never commit your API key to version control

Example using an environment variable:

export OPENWEATHER_API_KEY=your_api_key_here

curl "https://api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather?lat=48.85&lon=2.35&units=metric&appid=$OPENWEATHER_API_KEY"

Common issues

Error	Cause	Solution
401 Unauthorized	Missing, invalid, or inactive API key	Check your appid value, activation status, and request format