> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rixapi.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is an Admin Key

> A long-lived credential that lets scripts manage your own account. It is not a key for calling models.

An Admin Key lets scripts manage **your own account** programmatically: check your balance, export call logs, analyse usage, and rotate API keys.

<Warning>
  **An Admin Key cannot call models.** It and an API key are two different credentials, and using the wrong one fails immediately.

  |                | API key        | Admin Key             |
  | -------------- | -------------- | --------------------- |
  | Prefix         | `sk-ep-`       | `sk-admin-`           |
  | Purpose        | Calling models | Managing your account |
  | Endpoints      | `/v1/...`      | `/api/...`            |
  | Consumes quota | Yes            | No                    |
</Warning>

## Create one

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Admin Keys page">
    Sign in to the [console](https://platform.ephone.ai) and pick **Build → Admin Keys** in the sidebar.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name it and pick scopes">
    Give it a name you will recognise, such as "reconciliation script". Then tick **only the scopes this script actually needs** — the three ticked by default are all read-only. See [Scopes](/docs/en/admin-key/scopes).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose an expiry">
    7, 30, 90 or 365 days, a custom number of days, or never expires.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Save the value immediately">
    The full value is shown once. After you close the dialog it cannot be viewed again — only its hash is stored.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Authentication

Put the Admin Key in the `Authorization` header:

```bash theme={null}
curl https://api.ephone.ai/api/user/self \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk-admin-your-key"
```

Responses use a standard JSON envelope:

```json theme={null}
{
  "success": true,
  "message": "",
  "data": { "username": "...", "balance": "12.3456", "...": "..." }
}
```

When `success` is `false`, `message` carries a readable reason and some errors also include a `code`.

## Hard limits

What an Admin Key can do is entirely determined by the scopes you tick. On top of that there are three boundaries **no scope can cross**:

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="No admin console" icon="lock">
    Every admin, agent and supplier endpoint is refused, regardless of the account's role. An administrator's Admin Key is still limited to user-side actions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="No account security changes" icon="shield">
    Password changes, account deletion, two-factor, Passkey, phone and email binding, identity verification — all refused.
  </Card>

  <Card title="No money, no key plaintext" icon="ban">
    Top-ups, withdrawals, payment methods and invoice submission are refused, and the plaintext of an existing API key can never be retrieved.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Lifecycle

* **Limits**: at most 10 active Admin Keys per account, and at most 5 created per day.
* **Editable**: name and scopes can be changed after creation. **Expiry cannot** — create a new key to change it.
* **Revocable**: revoke one key, or all of them at once. Revocation is immediate and irreversible.
* **A password change kills them all**: changing your account password immediately invalidates **every** Admin Key you own, including ones set to never expire.

## If you suspect a leak

<Steps>
  <Step title="Revoke immediately">
    Use "Revoke all" on the Admin Keys page. It also signs you out on every other device.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the audit log">
    Open **Build → Audit Log** to see when the key was first used and from which IP addresses.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a fresh one">
    Recreate it with narrower scopes and a shorter expiry, ticking only what the script really uses.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  The system records an audit entry when a key repeatedly hits its boundary. Sustained refusals usually mean one of two things: the script is configured with the wrong scopes, or the key is in the hands of someone who does not know its limits.
</Note>