Get an API key

NT uses bearer-token authentication. You issue a key — with newt login or in the console — and the newt library presents it on every connection. Revoke a key in the console and the connections it backs start refusing new calls within seconds.

What a key looks like

NT keys carry a recognisable prefix:

nt_a1b2c3d4e5f60718293a4b5c6d7e8f9011223344

The nt_ prefix identifies the key as an NT API key. The 40-character hex suffix is the secret. Treat the whole string as a password: it grants the holder the right to spend inference time against the account that issued it.

How a key is presented

The newt library reads NT_API_KEY from the environment and presents it on every connection. In code:

from newt import Robot

robot = Robot()  # uses NT_API_KEY from env

Or, explicitly:

robot = Robot(api_key="nt_...")

On the wire, the key travels as a standard bearer token on the WebSocket handshake:

Authorization: Bearer nt_a1b2c3d4...

If you're hitting the endpoint without the SDK, that's the header to set.

What happens on revocation

When you revoke a key in the console, NT's inference endpoint stops honouring it on the next handshake.

AuthError can fire in two places:

• At Robot() construction — the SDK validates your key against the registry before opening any WebSocket. A bad, revoked, or malformed key fails here in about a second, with a hint that valid keys start with nt_. This is the earliest and most common failure point.
• At the WebSocket handshake — if a key is revoked mid-session, the next connection attempt fails at the handshake. The key is verified once, at handshake, and never re-checked after that, so an already-open connection keeps running until it closes on its own.

from newt import Robot, AuthError

try:
    robot = Robot()
    for chunk in robot.run("pick up the cup", stream=True):
        ...
except AuthError:
    # Key is invalid, revoked, or absent.
    ...

AuthError is the only auth-related exception the SDK raises. It covers wrong key, revoked key, and missing key — the error message distinguishes them; the type does not.

Where to go next

• Issue, list, or revoke a key. See Key management.
• Get a key from the console. Open the console and click Create key.