# Authentication

The MadKudu Legacy API uses HTTP Basic Auth and requires using HTTPS on all API calls.

Your API Key should be used as the basic auth username. You do not need to provide a password.

For example, if your user’s API key was `ABCD1234`, you need to Base64 encode the string `ABCD1234:` (Please note the colon at the end) and prepend the string `Basic`\`. In this case, this would result in a final header of:

`Authorization: Basic QUJDRDEyMzQ6`

## Ping API endpoint

> Test endpoint to verify API connectivity and authentication. Returns status 'ok' if the authorization is valid.

```json
{"openapi":"3.1.0","info":{"title":"MadKudu Legacy API","version":"0.0.0"},"tags":[{"name":"Utilities"}],"servers":[{"url":"https://api.madkudu.com","description":"Legacy API server","variables":{}}],"security":[{"BasicAuth":[]}],"components":{"securitySchemes":{"BasicAuth":{"type":"http","scheme":"Basic"}},"schemas":{"Services.Utilities.PingResponse":{"type":"object","required":["status"],"properties":{"status":{"type":"string","enum":["ok"],"description":"Status of the API"}},"description":"Ping response"},"Common.Errors.AuthenticationError":{"type":"object","required":["message"],"properties":{"message":{"type":"string","description":"Error message"}},"description":"Authentication error"},"Common.Errors.RateLimitError":{"type":"object","required":["message"],"properties":{"message":{"type":"string","description":"Error message"},"details":{"type":"string","description":"Rate limit details"}},"description":"Rate limit exceeded error"},"Common.Errors.InternalServerError":{"type":"object","required":["message"],"properties":{"message":{"type":"string","description":"Error message"}},"description":"Internal server error"}}},"paths":{"/v1/ping":{"get":{"operationId":"Utilities_ping","summary":"Ping API endpoint","description":"Test endpoint to verify API connectivity and authentication. Returns status 'ok' if the authorization is valid.","parameters":[],"responses":{"200":{"description":"The request has succeeded.","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/Services.Utilities.PingResponse"}}}},"401":{"description":"Access is unauthorized.","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/Common.Errors.AuthenticationError"}}}},"429":{"description":"Client error","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/Common.Errors.RateLimitError"}}}},"500":{"description":"Server error","content":{"application/json":{"schema":{"$ref":"#/components/schemas/Common.Errors.InternalServerError"}}}}},"tags":["Utilities"]}}}}
```


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://developers.madkudu.com/legacy-api/authentication.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.