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Pinata API Authentication

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

Every Pinata API request through MindCloud needs two things: a MindCloud API Key and a connectionId for your Pinata 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 Pinata connection in Connections. Pinata uses an API key. You generate the key in your Pinata account, then paste it in when you create the connection — MindCloud stores it securely and never returns it in a response.
  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 Pinata account that should run the action. MindCloud stores and refreshes the Pinata 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 Authentication with an Pinata connection looks like this:

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

Create a Pinata JWT

You need access to the Pinata App and permission to create API keys.

  1. Open API Keys in the Pinata App

    Sign in to the Pinata App, then open API Keys from the left sidebar.

  2. Create a new key

    Click New Key, choose the scopes needed for the Pinata actions you want to run, give the key a name, and create it.

  3. Copy the JWT into the MindCloud connection

    Copy the JWT immediately and paste it into the connection's API key field in MindCloud.

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.