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Authentication

Using API Tokens in LM Studio

Requires LM Studio 0.4.0 or newer.

LM Studio supports API Tokens for authentication, providing a secure and convenient way to access the LM Studio API.

Require Authentication for each request

By default, LM Studio does not require authentication for API requests. To enable authentication so that only requests with a valid API Token are accepted, toggle the switch in the Developers Page > Server Settings.

Info

Once enabled, all requests made through the REST API, Python SDK, or Typescript SDK will need to include a valid API Token. See usage below.

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Enable authentication to require valid API tokens for all requests

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Managing tokens in the server settings

Creating API Tokens

To create API Tokens, click on Manage Tokens in the Server Settings. It will open the API Tokens modal where you can create, view, and delete API Tokens.

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API Tokens Modal

Create a token by clicking on the Create Token button. Provide a name for the token and select the desired permissions.

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Creating an API Token

Once created, make sure to copy the token as it will not be shown again.

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API token created

Configuring API Token Permissions

To edit the permissions of an existing API Token, click on the Edit button next to the token in the API Tokens modal. You can modify the name and permissions of the token.

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Editing an API Token

API Token Usage

Using API Tokens with REST API:

The example below requires allowing calling servers from mcp.json to be enabled and the tiktoken MCP in mcp.json.

curl -X POST \
  http://localhost:1234/api/v1/chat \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LM_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "ibm/granite-4-micro",
    "input": "What is the first line in the tiktoken documentation?",
    "integrations": [
      {
        "type": "plugin",
        "id": "mcp/tiktoken",
        "allowed_tools": [
          "fetch_tiktoken_documentation"
        ]
      }
    ]
  }'

Using API Tokens with Python SDK

To use API tokens with the Python SDK, see the Python SDK guide.

Using API Tokens with TypeScript SDK

To use API tokens with the TypeScript SDK, see the TS SDK guide.

This page's source is available on GitHub