Getting 401 Unauthorized , Invalid Key when creati...
# supporta
anisrixyz
05/23/2025, 2:49 PMI am getting the {"message":"Invalid Key. Hot tip, you may be using the private key instead of the public key, or vice versa.","error":"Unauthorized","statusCode":401} when attempting to create a call. My curl request is same as mentioned on this page https://docs.vapi.ai/calls/websocket-transport and i am providing the correct public key from my dashboard. Then I even tried using the 'Try It' option on https://docs.vapi.ai/api-reference/calls/create page but when i get the same 401 error. I am on free plan at the moment and have credits. I am not using any integrations, its a pure curl request from my command line. Please help.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1375485862313197659/1375485862648873111/Screenshot_2025-05-23_at_8.15.24_PM.png?ex=68328548&is=683133c8&hm=f2aeb79cb78000a1d5d8779d960bec7222cb6d27a97b7797ae1e959ae440e222&
v
Vapi Support Bot
05/23/2025, 2:51 PMYou are getting a 401 Unauthorized error because either your API key is incorrect or your request body is missing required fields.
Make sure you use your API key (not a public/private key) from the Vapi dashboard, and your request body should include at least the assistant and transport, like this:
Copy code
bash
curl 'https://api.vapi.ai/call' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
"assistant": { "assistantId": "YOUR_ASSISTANT_ID" },
"transport": { "provider": "vapi.websocket" }
}'Vapi Support Bot
05/23/2025, 2:51 PMIt looks like the Vapi API expects an API token (not a public or private key) in the Authorization header. Please ensure you are using the API token from your dashboard, not a public/private key, like this:
Copy code
bash
curl -X POST https://api.vapi.ai/call \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{}'k
Kyle
05/24/2025, 7:12 AMYou will need to use Private API key to solve it.