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Mailchimp API Authentication

How to authenticate Mailchimp API requests: one Bearer API key plus a connectionId. MindCloud runs the OAuth flow and refreshes Mailchimp tokens for you.

Every Mailchimp API request through MindCloud needs two things: a MindCloud API Key and a connectionId for your Mailchimp 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 Mailchimp connection in Connections. Mailchimp uses OAuth. When you create the connection, you are redirected to sign in to Mailchimp and approve access — MindCloud stores the resulting tokens and refreshes them automatically, so your integration never has to.
  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 Mailchimp account that should run the action. MindCloud stores and refreshes the Mailchimp 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 Audiences with an Mailchimp connection looks like this:

curl --request GET \
  --url "https://connect.mindcloud.co/v1/universal/mailChimp/latest/actions/list-audiences" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $MINDCLOUD_API_KEY" \
  --get \
  --data-urlencode "connectionId=$CONNECTION_ID"

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

Connect Mailchimp OAuth 2

Use a Mailchimp account that can register OAuth apps and prepare the redirect URI used by your MindCloud connection.

  1. Register your app in Mailchimp

    In Mailchimp, open Registered Apps and create a new app for this integration.

  2. Copy client_id and client_secret

    After creating the app, copy the client_id and client_secret values from the Mailchimp app page.

  3. Find your server prefix

    Enter your Mailchimp data center prefix (for example us19). You can find it in your Mailchimp URL or API key suffix (-us19).

  4. Set the redirect URI in Mailchimp

    Configure the redirect URI in your Mailchimp app settings to match the URI shown in MindCloud before connecting.

  5. Authorize access

    Click Connect in MindCloud and approve access on Mailchimp’s OAuth consent screen.

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.