Authentication

Authentication

NASA APIs use API keys for access control. The SDK supports two authentication modes.

DEMO_KEY (Default)

Without any configuration, the SDK uses NASA’s DEMO_KEY. This is fine for testing but has strict limits:

• 30 requests per hour
• 50 requests per day
• Per IP address

// No configuration needed - DEMO_KEY is used automatically
client := nasa.NewClient()

API Key

Register for a free key at api.nasa.gov and configure it via environment variable or code.

Environment variable (recommended):

export NASA_API_KEY="your-registered-key"

package main

import (
  "context"
  "fmt"
  "log"
  "os"

  "github.com/peteretelej/nasa"
)

func main() {
  client := nasa.NewClient(
    nasa.WithAPIKey(os.Getenv("NASA_API_KEY")),
  )

  apod, err := client.APOD.Today(context.Background())
  if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
  }
  fmt.Println(apod.Title)
}

A registered key allows 1,000 requests per hour.

Which APIs Need Keys?

API	Requires Key	Base URL
APOD	Yes (api.nasa.gov)	api.nasa.gov
NEO (NeoWs)	Yes (api.nasa.gov)	api.nasa.gov
DONKI	Yes (api.nasa.gov)	api.nasa.gov
Image Library	No	images-api.nasa.gov
SSD/CNEOS	No	ssd-api.jpl.nasa.gov
EONET	No	eonet.gsfc.nasa.gov

The Image Library, SSD, and EONET services work without any API key configuration.