# Authentication

Column uses [basic auth](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Authentication) to authenticate the API. You can create `sandbox` and `production` keys in the developer dashboard. Live production keys are prefixed with `live_` and test sandbox keys are prefixed with `test_`.

Use your API key as the basic auth password. The username should be left blank (notice the colon sign before api-key that must be included). All requests must be made over `https`.

```shell
curl -u :<YOUR API KEY> https://api.column.com
```

We do have the ability to whitelist access to the API from specific IP ranges. If this is of interest to you, we're happy to chat.