API key

An API key is a secret string that authenticates a client. Because it needs no interactive verification like a username and password, it is used in automation and integration scenarios.

Its simplicity is also its weakness: anyone holding the key has as much access as that key permits. There is no second factor.

Key management is therefore a security topic. Where the key is stored, who can see it, and how often it is rotated directly determine the risk level.

The most frequent leak path is the code repository. Writing a key into a configuration file and committing it leaves a permanent trace in history; deleting it later is not enough — the key must be replaced.

The second path is logging. A system that records request headers verbatim records the key too, making it visible to everyone with log access.

The third is sharing. Sending a key over a messaging app or email leaves it permanently in that channel. Issuing a separate key is the right alternative to sharing one.

Issuing a separate key per integration is the baseline practice. A leak then affects only that integration, and revoking it leaves the others working.

Holding keys in environment variables or a secret management system is safer than writing them to a file. That structurally removes the repository leak risk.

Periodic rotation belongs in the plan too. If a key never changes, everyone who ever had access still has it; staff changes accumulate that risk over time.

A useful way to evaluate api-key is to follow one real question from the source document to the final answer. Record which file was selected, what context reached the model, and what a reviewer would need to verify. This turns a definition into an operational check and makes the result comparable across teams.

The same check should include ownership and change management. Decide who updates the relevant documents, how an outdated result is reported, and which access boundary applies. KobiGPT can provide the assistant and the cited document context, but the organisation still owns the source material, permissions, and the decision made from the answer.