Create an API key
An API key lets another tool (Zapier, your accountant's dashboard, a custom report) read or write your Lime Papaya data with your permission and within limits you choose. Keys are named, scoped, revocable, and shown exactly once.
Who can do this: Owner, Admin, or Manager.
Create a key
- In the left sidebar, click Settings, then open the API tab.
- In the Create a key card, give it a Key name that says who uses it ("Zapier," "Bookkeeper").
- Pick the Scopes: Full access, or tick only the areas this tool needs. Fewer boxes is better.
- Click Create key.
- The Copy your new key now card appears once. Copy it and put it where the connecting tool wants it. When you leave the page, the key can't be shown again.
Revoke a key
- On the API keys list, find the key by name.
- Click Revoke. It stops working immediately and shows a Revoked tag. The tool using it starts getting errors, which is the point.
Example. Golden Coast's bookkeeper wants appointment and payment data for month-end. The owner creates a key named "Bookkeeper," ticks only the reporting-relevant scopes, and sends it over a password manager share. In March the bookkeeper changes firms; one Revoke closes the door.
Common questions
- I lost the key before saving it? It can't be re-shown. Revoke it and create a fresh one; two minutes, zero risk.
- Full access or scoped? Scoped, almost always. Full access is for tools you'd trust with everything, which is a short list.
- Where does someone technical find the API itself? The key is what you manage here; point your integrator at your Lime Papaya address for the interface documentation.
- How many keys should I have? One per tool, named for the tool. Sharing one key across tools means one revocation breaks everything at once.
Good to know
- Keys act with your business's data; treat them like passwords (password manager, never a text message).
- Revoking is instant and always safe: worst case, a tool stops until you issue it a new key.