generated: '2026-08-09'
method: searched
source: https://docs.chargeafter.com/reference/authentication
docs: https://docs.chargeafter.com/reference/authentication
summary:
  types:
  - apiKey
  - http
  api_key_in:
  - header
  oauth2_flows: []
  model: >-
    A single static bearer credential sent in the Authorization header. ChargeAfter provisions two keys per
    environment — a public API key for client-side SDK use and a private API key for server-to-server calls.
    There is no OAuth 2.0 flow, no token exchange, and no scope surface on the payments API. All requests
    must be made over HTTPS; a missing, incorrect, or outdated key returns HTTP 401.
credentials:
- name: Public API key
  usage: client-side
  description: Used by the ChargeAfter JavaScript SDK in the browser. Safe to expose in public code.
- name: Private API key
  usage: server-side
  description: >-
    Used for backend REST calls. Must be stored securely on the server and never exposed to the client;
    it performs API requests without restriction.
environments:
- name: production
  base_url: https://api.chargeafter.com
  keys: production key pair
- name: sandbox
  base_url: https://api-sandbox.ca-dev.co
  keys: sandbox key pair
- name: uat
  base_url: https://api-uat.ca-dev.co
  keys: UAT key pair
schemes:
- name: apiKey
  type: apiKey
  in: header
  parameter: Authorization
  description: >-
    Declared as an apiKey scheme in the OpenAPI, but the documented wire format is
    `Authorization: Bearer <PRIVATE_API_KEY>` — the spec models a bearer credential as an apiKey header.
  sources:
  - openapi/chargeafter-charge-api-openapi.yml
  - openapi/chargeafter-checkout-application-status-openapi.yml
  - openapi/chargeafter-checkout-application-token-openapi.yml
  - openapi/chargeafter-checkout-session-accounts-openapi.yml
  - openapi/chargeafter-checkout-session-openapi.yml
  - openapi/chargeafter-consumer-api-openapi.yml
  - openapi/chargeafter-consumer-credit-lookup-openapi.yml
  - openapi/chargeafter-consumer-details-openapi.yml
  - openapi/chargeafter-disputes-management-lenders-openapi.yml
  - openapi/chargeafter-distribution-api-openapi.yml
  - openapi/chargeafter-funding-api-openapi.yml
- name: bearerAuth
  type: http
  scheme: bearer
  description: ChargeAfter API uses bearer authentication.
  sources:
  - openapi/chargeafter-consumers-management-openapi.yml
- name: Bearer
  type: http
  scheme: Bearer
  bearerFormat: bearerFormat
  description: >-
    Capitalized `Bearer` scheme value — a spec defect; RFC 7235 scheme names in OpenAPI `http` schemes are
    lowercase. Wire behaviour is identical to bearerAuth.
  sources:
  - openapi/chargeafter-omni-link-openapi.yml
notes:
- >-
  Three different security-scheme shapes (`apiKey` in header, `bearerAuth`, `Bearer`) describe one credential
  across ChargeAfter's twelve published definitions. The apiKey scheme's own description says the key is
  "provided in the `apiKey` HTTP header", which contradicts both its own `name: Authorization` and the
  documented `Authorization: Bearer` form.
- >-
  A separate OAuth 2.0 authorization server is published on the marketing site at
  https://chargeafter.com/.well-known/oauth-authorization-server with `scopes_supported: [mcp]`. It fronts a
  WordPress MCP endpoint, not the payments API — see mcp/chargeafter-mcp.yml.
x-evidence:
- url: https://docs.chargeafter.com/reference/authentication
  http_status: 200
  fetched: '2026-08-09'
- url: https://docs.chargeafter.com/reference/api-environments
  http_status: 200
  fetched: '2026-08-09'