Buy Me a Coffee API Authentication

How to authenticate Buy Me a Coffee API requests: one Bearer API key plus a connectionId. MindCloud stores your API key securely — set it once, never resend it.

Every Buy Me a Coffee API request through MindCloud needs two things: a MindCloud API Key and a connectionId for your Buy Me a Coffee 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

Create a MindCloud account at app.mindcloud.co if you do not already have one.
Generate a MindCloud API Key in API Keys. This is the Bearer token you send on every request. Keep it on your server.
Create a Buy Me a Coffee connection in Connections. Buy Me a Coffee uses an API key. You generate the key in your Buy Me a Coffee account, then paste it in when you create the connection — MindCloud stores it securely and never returns it in a response.
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 Buy Me a Coffee account that should run the action. MindCloud stores and refreshes the Buy Me a Coffee 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 List Onetime Supporters with an Buy Me a Coffee connection looks like this:

curl --request POST \
  --url "https://connect.mindcloud.co/v2/universal/apps/buyMeACoffee/actions/list-onetime-supporters/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 Buy Me a Coffee account to run the action against. Missing or invalid Authorization returns 401, and a missing or mismatched connectionId returns 400.

Get your Buy Me a Coffee access token

You need access to the Buy Me a Coffee account whose memberships, supporters, and extras you want to read.

Sign in to the Buy Me a Coffee developer dashboard
Open the Buy Me a Coffee developer portal and sign in with the account you want to connect.
Generate a personal access token
In the developer dashboard, click Generate my token, enter a name for the token, and create it. Copy the token immediately because the docs say it is shown only once.
Paste the token into MindCloud
When MindCloud asks for your Access Token, paste the personal access token you just created.

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.