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Big Cartel API Authentication

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

Every Big Cartel API request through MindCloud needs two things: a MindCloud API Key and a connectionId for your Big Cartel 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 Big Cartel connection in Connections. Big Cartel 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 Big Cartel account that should run the action. MindCloud stores and refreshes the Big Cartel 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 Get Account with an Big Cartel connection looks like this:

curl --request POST \
  --url "https://connect.mindcloud.co/v2/universal/apps/bigCartel/actions/get-account/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 Big Cartel account to run the action against. Missing or invalid Authorization returns 401, and a missing or mismatched connectionId returns 400.

Connect your private Big Cartel store

You need your Big Cartel store subdomain and the password for that store.

  1. Find your store subdomain

    Use the part before .bigcartel.com from your store URL as the connection username.

  2. Use your store password

    Enter the same password you use for that Big Cartel store as the connection password.

  3. Save the connection

    After saving, the app can call the Account API to confirm the account id for the store.

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.