API keys enable access to Anthropic Services, but they can pose significant security risks if not handled properly. Your API key is a digital key to your account. Much like a credit card number, if someone obtains and uses your API key, they incur charges on your behalf. This article outlines best practices for managing API keys to ensure they remain secure and prevent unauthorized access and charges to your API/Console account.
Common Risks and Vulnerabilities
One of the most frequent causes of API key leaks is accidental exposure in public code repositories or third-party tools. Developers often inadvertently commit plaintext API keys to public GitHub repositories or input them into third party tools, which can lead to unauthorized access and potential abuse of the associated accounts.
Best Practices for API Key Security
1. Never Share Your API Key
Keep it confidential: Just as you wouldn't share your personal password, don't share your API key. If someone needs access to the API, they should obtain their own key.
Don’t share your key in public forums: Don't include your API key in public discussions, emails, or support tickets, even between you and Anthropic.
Exercise caution with third-party tools: Consider that when you upload your API Key to third-party tools or platforms (such as an web-based IDE, Cloud Provider, or CI/CD platform), you are giving the developer of that tool access to your Anthropic account. If you don’t trust their reputation, don’t trust them with your API key.
When using a third-party provider, always add your API key as an encrypted secret. Never include it directly in your code or configuration files.
2. Monitor Usage and Logs Closely
For Custom Rate Limit API orgs: Implement usage and spend limits in your account settings.
These limits act as a safeguard against unexpected usage due to leaked keys or errant scripts.
For Standard Rate Limit API orgs: Enable and configure auto-reload settings in your account.
This feature allows you to set a threshold at which your account will automatically charge the card on file to replenish usage credits.
Carefully consider auto-reload limits. While they ensure continuous service, they also act as a safeguard against unexpected high usage that could result from leaked keys or mistakes in your code.
3. Securely Handling API Keys with environment Variables and Secrets
A best practice for safely handling API Keys is to use environment variables to securely inject and share environment variables. When you deploy your application to a cloud environment, you can use their secret management solution to securely pass the API key to your application via an environment variable without inadvertently sharing your API key.
If you are storing secrets locally using dotenv, you must add your .env files to your source control ignore file (e.g., .gitignore for git) to prevent inadvertently distributing sensitive information publicly. In cloud environments, prefer encypted secret storage instead of dotenv files.
Python example:
1. Create a .env file in your project directory.
2. Add your API key to the .env file:
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-api-key-here
3. Install the python-dotenv package:
pip install python-dotenv
4. Load the API key in your Python script:
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os
load_dotenv()
my_api_key = os.getenv("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY")
5. If you are deploying your application to a cloud hosting environment, refer to your cloud provider’s documentation on how to add your Anthropic API Key and share it with your application (AWS, GCP, Azure, Vercel, Heroku). Some providers offer multiple ways to securely inject environment variables into your app.
4. Rotate API Keys Regularly
Regularly rotate your API keys on a consistent schedule (for example, every 90 days) by creating new ones and deactivating old ones. This routine helps minimize potential risks if a key is ever compromised.
5. Use separate keys for different purposes
If possible, use different API keys for development, testing, and production environments. This way, you can correlate your usage to different internal use cases. If your API Key is compromised, this allows you to quickly disable just that use case and limit any potential damage.
6. Scan Repositories for Secrets
Regularly check your source control repositories for accidentally committed secrets.
Use SAST tools like Gitleaks (https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks) to scan your repositories for accidentally committed secrets.
Integrate secret scanning into your CI/CD pipeline to catch any secrets before they are pushed to the main branch..
By incorporating regular secret scanning into your development workflow, you can catch and prevent the accidental exposure of API keys and other sensitive information in your code repositories.
7. Use a Secure Key Management System (KMS)
As organizations scale and the number of API keys and other secrets increases, managing these sensitive credentials securely becomes more challenging. This is where Key Management Systems (KMS) come into play. A KMS provides a centralized solution for storing, accessing, and managing secret keys, including API keys.
Benefits of Using a KMS
Centralized Security: Store all your secrets in one secure, encrypted location.
Access Control: Implement fine-grained access controls to determine who can view or use specific keys.
Audit Trails: Track all access and changes to your secrets for compliance and security purposes.
Key Rotation: Easily rotate keys on a regular basis to enhance security.
Integration: Many KMS solutions integrate with popular cloud platforms and development tools.
Anthropic's Partnership with GitHub for API Key Protection
Anthropic has partnered directly with GitHub to provide an extra layer of protection for our users through GitHub's Secret scanning partner program. This partnership offers proactive security measures to prevent the misuse of accidentally exposed API keys:
GitHub actively scans public repositories for exposed Anthropic API keys.
If an Anthropic API key is detected in a public GitHub repository, GitHub immediately notifies Anthropic.
To prevent potential abuse, Anthropic automatically deactivates the exposed API key.
The affected user receives a detailed email notification from Anthropic about the incident.
What should I do if I suspect my API key has been compromised?
If you suspect that your API key may be compromised, we recommend revoking the key immediately. You can do so by logging into your Anthropic account, going to the API keys page from your profile, clicking the meatball menu (i.e. the three horizontal dots) next to the key in question, and selecting ‘Delete API Key.’ More information can be found here.
API key security is an ongoing process that requires vigilance and regular review of your security measure. By following these best practices, you can significantly reduce the risk of API key leaks and unauthorized access.