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HTTP status: 401 · Title: “Authentication required”

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When it fires

The X-API-Key header is present but does not match the expected kash_(live|test)_<32 alphanumeric> shape.

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Why it happens

  • Leading or trailing whitespace, for example a trailing newline from a copy-paste.
  • The wrong environment variable was substituted, such as a session token or a bare UUID instead of a Kash API key.
  • A logging or proxy layer truncated the header value.

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How to fix

  • The format is kash_<env>_<32 alphanumeric>: base62 (A-Z, a-z, 0-9), with no dashes or underscores after the prefix. The <env> segment is live or test.
  • live keys work against production (https://api.kash.bot/v1); test keys work against staging (https://api-staging.kash.bot/v1). Don’t mix them.
  • If the key comes from an environment variable, check the substitution: echo $KASH_API_KEY | head -c 16 should print kash_live_… or kash_test_….