# Authentication

*How to authenticate your API requests*

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## Overview

The zipmend API uses bearer tokens to securely identify and authorize your requests. Your token is issued by zipmend and provided to you directly — there is no authentication endpoint to call. Include it in the `Authorization` header of your API requests.

cURL
```shell cURL
Authorization: Bearer {TOKEN}
```

All endpoints that require authentication will return a **401 Unauthorized** status code and the following response if a valid token is not provided:

JSON
```json JSON
{
    "message": "Unauthenticated!"
}
```