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Authentication

The Tella API uses Bearer token authentication. Every request must include your API key in the Authorization header.

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Getting your API key

  1. Sign in to Tella
  2. Navigate to Settings > API Keys
  3. Click Create key
  4. Copy and securely store your key
API keys are shown only once when created. If you lose your key, you’ll need to generate a new one.

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Using your API key

Include your API key in the Authorization header of every request: 
Authorization: Bearer tella_pk_xxxxx...

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Example request

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer tella_pk_your_api_key" \
  https://api.tella.com/v1/videos

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API key format

Tella API keys follow this format: 
tella_pk_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Prefix: tella_pk_ (identifies it as a Tella public API key)
  • Suffix: 32 random alphanumeric characters

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Security best practices

  • Don’t commit API keys to version control
  • Don’t include them in client-side code
  • Use environment variables to store keys
# Set the environment variable
export TELLA_API_KEY="tella_pk_your_api_key"

# Use it in your code
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TELLA_API_KEY" \
  https://api.tella.com/v1/videos
Generate new API keys periodically and revoke old ones. This limits the impact if a key is compromised.
Create separate API keys for development, staging, and production environments.

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Error responses

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401 Unauthorized

Returned when the API key is missing or invalid: 
{
  "error": "unauthorized",
  "description": "Invalid API key"
}
Common causes:
  • Missing Authorization header
  • Incorrect API key format
  • Revoked or expired API key

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403 Forbidden

Returned when the API key doesn’t have permission for the requested resource: 
{
  "error": "forbidden",
  "description": "Access denied to this resource"
}

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Revoking API keys

To revoke an API key:
  1. Go to Settings > API Keys
  2. Find the key you want to revoke
  3. Click Revoke
Revoked keys immediately stop working for all requests.