About Authentication
View as MarkdownHow GoDaddy API authentication works — credential types, PAT scopes, and account eligibility requirements.
Overview
GoDaddy APIs support Bearer authentication through scoped Personal Access Tokens (PATs). Domains v3 requires a PAT.
The legacy sso-key credential remains required for Auctions and supported for Domains v1/v2. It is scheduled for Domains deprecation and does not work with v3.
Go to How to Authenticate for credential setup.
Credential types
| Credential | Format | Works with | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal Access Token (PAT) | Authorization: Bearer $GODADDY_PAT | Domains v3, Hosting, Shopping, and other PAT-enabled APIs; not accepted by Auctions | Recommended |
| Classic Developer Key | Authorization: sso-key $GODADDY_KEY:$GODADDY_SECRET | Auctions API (required); Domains v1/v2 | Deprecated for Domains (through 2026); required for Auctions |
The Shopping API accepts PATs for direct API integrations.
A PAT has capability scopes, an optional expiration, and independent revocation. For most integrations, choose a PAT with the minimum required scopes.
Account requirements
Some operations require the account to meet specific eligibility rules regardless of credential type. A valid credential on an ineligible account is still refused with a 403 Forbidden response and an Error code that distinguishes the reason from a missing scope. Check the code field on the response body, not just the HTTP status, to determine the reason. Go to Handle errors for the full error envelope and status code reference.
| Operation group | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Domain management (list, DNS, contacts, renewals, lock, privacy) | Account holds at least one domain, OR is on a plan that grants management access. |
| Registration, renewal, transfer (any operation that costs money in production) | Account has a valid billing method on file or a funded Good as Gold balance. Go to Set up a payment profile. |
PAT scopes
A PAT is scoped to specific capabilities at generation time. Each scope enables a set of operations on a specific resource. A write scope satisfies read operations for the same resource; a read scope is refused on writes. Go to Generate a PAT for step-by-step instructions.
Commerce
Commerce APIs use the same PAT and grant model as Domains. When you generate a token, the Commerce categories display in the scope picker next to Domains & DNS. These cover catalog, orders, customers, tax, transactions, store, and channel operations. Select a category or expand it to grant a subset (for example commerce.order:read, commerce.product:write). Go to Commerce API scopes for the complete scope-to-endpoint reference.
Domains
When you generate a token, the Domains & DNS bundle in the scope picker selects all scopes below. You can expand it to grant a subset instead.
| Scope | Required to |
|---|---|
domains.domain:read | Read domain records, availability, suggestions, quotes, and operations |
domains.domain:create | Register domains |
domains.domain:update | Modify domain settings |
domains.domain:delete | Delete or cancel domains |
domains.dns:update | Create, update, and delete DNS zone records |
domains.nameserver:update | Replace authoritative nameservers for a domain |
domains.host:update | Modify domain host records |
domains.forward:update | Configure domain forwarding |
domains.contact:update | Update registrant, admin, or tech contacts |
domains.transfer:execute | Initiate an inbound domain transfer |
domains.transfer:update | Modify a transfer in progress |
| Scope | Required to |
|---|---|
email.mailbox:read | List and look up email mailboxes |
email.mailbox:create | Create email mailboxes |
Shopping
| Scope | Required to |
|---|---|
shopping.catalog:read | Search products, look up variants by ID, retrieve product detail |
shopping.checkout:execute | Create, retrieve, update, and complete checkout sessions |
shopping.order:read | Retrieve completed order detail |
Go to About the Shopping API for Shopping authentication and header requirements.
For hosting.* scopes used by the Hosting API, go to Hosting core concepts for the full scope list.
Agent & Automation Notes
domains.domain:read, commerce.store:read, shopping.catalog:readRelated
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