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Avalara AvaTax API Authentication

How to authenticate Avalara AvaTax API requests: one Bearer API key plus a connectionId. MindCloud stores your credentials — no auth headers to build.

Every Avalara AvaTax API request through MindCloud needs two things: a MindCloud API Key and a connectionId for your Avalara AvaTax account. This page covers both, plus exactly how to send them, so you do not need to visit any other page to get authenticated.

Steps to authenticate

  1. Create a MindCloud account at app.mindcloud.co if you do not already have one.
  2. Generate a MindCloud API Key in API Keys. This is the Bearer token you send on every request. Keep it on your server.
  3. Create a Avalara AvaTax connection in Connections. Avalara AvaTax uses a username and password. You enter them when you create the connection — MindCloud stores them securely so your requests never carry raw credentials.
  4. Copy the connection’s connectionId — you will send it on every request alongside your MindCloud API Key.

How requests are authenticated

Authentication has two layers. Your MindCloud API Key authenticates the request to MindCloud, sent as a Bearer token in the Authorization header. The connectionId selects the connected Avalara AvaTax account that should run the action. MindCloud stores and refreshes the Avalara AvaTax credentials behind that connection, so you never send provider tokens with your requests.

Pass connectionId in the query string for GET and DELETE actions, and in the JSON body for POST, PUT, and PATCH actions.

For example, calling Test Connection with an Avalara AvaTax connection looks like this:

curl --request POST \
  --url "https://connect.mindcloud.co/v2/universal/apps/avalara/actions/test-connection/run" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $MINDCLOUD_API_KEY" \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{
  "connectionId": "$CONNECTION_ID",
  "arguments": {}
}'

The Authorization: Bearer <your MindCloud API Key> header authenticates you to MindCloud; the connectionId tells MindCloud which Avalara AvaTax account to run the action against. Missing or invalid Authorization returns 401, and a missing or mismatched connectionId returns 400.

How to connect Avalara AvaTax

You need an Avalara AvaTax account with REST v2 access. This connection uses Basic authentication.

  1. Choose your AvaTax environment

    Use Sandbox for testing or Production for live traffic. In MindCloud, set the Environment field to the matching AvaTax REST base URL.

  2. Generate or confirm your Avalara credentials

    If customers will set up this connector themselves, Avalara recommends Account ID and License Key. Sign in to the AvaTax Website as an account administrator, open Settings, and choose Reset License Key. If your team uses user credentials instead, prepare the username and password for the same environment.

  3. Enter the values in MindCloud

    Select the Environment URL first, then enter your Basic-auth credential pair in the connection form. MindCloud will send those values as a Basic Authorization header to AvaTax REST v2.

  4. Run Test Connection

    Use the Test Connection action after saving the connection. Avalara documents the Ping endpoint as the connectivity check used to verify network reachability and credential recognition.

Keep your key safe

Keep your MindCloud API Key on your server; do not ship it in browser code, mobile apps, public repositories, or logs. Anyone with the key can call the Universal API as your MindCloud account, across every connection you have created.