API Tokens

API tokens (Bearer tokens) enable you to access Netdata resources programmatically. These tokens authenticate and authorize API requests, allowing you to interact with Netdata services securely from external applications, scripts, or integrations.

:::important

API tokens never expire but should be managed carefully as they grant access to your Netdata resources.

:::

Token Generation

Location

You can access token management through the Netdata UI:

Click your profile picture in the bottom-left corner
Select "User Settings"
Navigate to the API Tokens section

Available Scopes

You can limit each token to specific scopes that define its access permissions:

Scope	Description	API Access
`scope:all`	Grants the same permissions as the user who created the token. Use case: Terraform provider integration.	Full access to all API endpoints
`scope:agent-ui`	Used by Agent for accessing the Cloud UI	Access to UI-related endpoints
`scope:grafana-plugin`	Used for the Netdata Grafana plugin to access Netdata charts	Access to chart and data endpoints
`scope:mcp`	Used to connect MCP clients (Claude Desktop, Cursor, etc.) to Netdata Cloud MCP for AI-assisted monitoring	Access to MCP server endpoints

API Versions

Netdata provides three API versions that you can access with API tokens:

v1: The original API, focused on single-node operations
v2: Multi-node API with advanced grouping and aggregation capabilities
v3: The latest API version that combines v1 and v2 endpoints and may include additional features

Common Endpoints

With appropriate API tokens, you can access endpoints including:

/api/v2/nodes - Node information
/api/v2/data - Multi-dimensional data queries
/api/v2/contexts - Context metadata
/api/v2/weights - Metric scoring/correlation
/api/v2/q - Full-text search
/api/v1/info - Agent information
/api/v1/charts - Chart information
/api/v1/data - Single node data queries

:::info

Currently, Netdata Cloud is not exposing the stable API.

:::

Example Usage

Get the Netdata Cloud space list

console

curl -H 'Accept: application/json' -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" https://app.netdata.cloud/api/v2/spaces

Get node information

console

curl -H 'Accept: application/json' -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" https://app.netdata.cloud/api/v2/nodes

Query metric data

console

curl -H 'Accept: application/json' -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" https://app.netdata.cloud/api/v2/data?contexts=system.cpu&after=-600

Get context information

console

curl -H 'Accept: application/json' -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" https://app.netdata.cloud/api/v2/contexts