# Sign-in and API keys

Two ways for a program to be you: a sign-in in the browser, which MCP clients do for you, or an API key, for scripts, cloud sessions and the CLI.

## Signing in

An MCP client that supports sign-in – Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Cursor, Codex – opens a Pirate Skills page the first time a tool needs you. The page names the app that is asking; you check it and click **Allow**. The public tools work before that.

For client builders: the server's sign-in is described at [/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp](https://pirateskills.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp), and [auth.md](https://pirateskills.com/auth.md) explains it in words.

## What an API key does

A key is you, for a program. A script, a cloud session or the CLI sends it, and Pirate Skills treats the call as coming from you: it can read your wallet, access, profile and bookings, register you for a free event or cancel it, join Forge sessions, book an hour with Ben with one of your diamonds, and start a checkout link.

## What it can never do

- Pay. A checkout is a Stripe link you open and complete yourself.
- See anybody else's data. No tool takes another person's id or email.
- Open the admin tools.
- Run for free. Each tool call costs 1 gold from your wallet, so you can see every call in your history.

## Make one, keep it safe

1. Sign in and open [Settings](https://pirateskills.com/lab/settings) → **Manage account** → **API keys**.
2. Add a key with a name you will recognise and an expiry. Copy it – it is shown once.
3. Store it as `PIRATESKILLS_API_KEY` in your environment or secret store, never in code.
4. Revoke it in the same place the moment you stop using it or it leaks.

> Use a key under your own account. Organisation keys are refused.

## Sending it

```bash
-H "Authorization: Bearer $PIRATESKILLS_API_KEY"
```

The optional `x-agent-client` header names your client, so the person sees it in their wallet history.

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Source: https://pirateskills.com/docs/sign-in · All docs: https://pirateskills.com/docs.md · Short overview: https://pirateskills.com/llms.txt