New 42-day free trial
Smarty

We brought out the big guns in the way of our Development Team Lead, Kent Gividen, in a webinar all about authenticating your APIs. He went over some of his most useful tips and tricks that he uses to ensure APIs are authenticated. Was it helpful? You betcha. You wanna get the SparkNotes? Read on.

Common and not-so-common APIs to know about

Kent began by outlining the APIs that he has run into the most in his years as a developer. Some of them he dug into a little deeper than others, but these are all useful to be aware of.

  • REST
    • XML
    • JSON
  • SOAP
    • XML
    • WSDL
  • RPC
  • Proprietary
  • Socket

For the rest of the session he focused on the REST APIs as those are the most common from an HTTP perspective.

Advantages between API and SDK

You can work with APIs raw, and there are benefits to doing so. However, you may find that using an SDK is much easier.

With an SDK you’ll most likely experience a faster startup, you can use one that is code specific, and there may be features built in such as multi-threading, batch modes, and more. You can see a list of Smarty’s SDKs here.

With a raw API you’ll get much more control over how it is implemented, even if that makes your setup a little more tedious. You’ll also be able to use any code base supporting HTTP, which is basically all of them.

Different types of authentication

The key to authentication is security. Keeping that in mind you’ll want to know the difference between Embedded keys, which is client side and mobile app focused, or Secret keys which is using a server side key that you do not want to share with people.

You can also use the increasingly popular OAuth, but Kent didn't cover that too deeply. But essentially it’s allowing you to use your login for some services on other services, like logging in with your Google account.

Other considerations

When you’re using an API you’ll want to make sure you’re using HTTPS with TLS for encryption. You may also want to consider rate limiting. Other things that are becoming more common are nonce, or expiring keys, and proxy servers for additional off-site security. You can pick from several different proxy server options including HA Proxy, Auth0, Okta, etc. This will help you provide an API to your customer that is secure.

Tips and tricks for testing authentication

Kent went through several different tips and tools that he uses to authenticate his APIs. He dives into detail in the recording, but we’ll list a few of them here:

  • curl
  • postman
  • SoapUI
  • Use environment variables for config files
  • shell / command line
  • st / sd / sl

He gave examples of many of these so if you’re curious about any of them you can check out the 6:40 mark in the recording.

Try it yourself

The latter half of the webinar was filled with fantastic examples and demonstrations of the different ways to authenticate APIs. This is difficult to represent in text, so you’ll probably just want to watch the recording below.

However, if you’d like to try setting up some address validation via an API, you can check 1,000 addresses for free by signing up for a free trial of the Smarty tools, and you can use the API—or any of our SDKs—even on those 1,000 lookups!

Webinar recording

Subscribe to our blog!
Learn more about RSS feeds here.
rss feed icon
Subscribe Now
Read our recent posts
Get the most out of US Address Verification: Are you using the 55 points of metadata?
Arrow Icon
If you’re using Smarty’s US Address Verification, you're already sitting on a treasure trove of up to 55 points of metadata, already included in every response. Sure, it cleans and standardizes your addresses like a pro, but that’s just the beginning. Without any upcharges, you can use metadata to make your systems smarter, streamline your operations, and sharpen your marketing and business decisions. Whether you're focused on fraud prevention, operational efficiency, compliance, logistics, or customer experience, Smarty’s metadata delivers powerful insights to your tech stack that will help you rise above your competitors.
Smarty announces virtual user conference: Save the date for Pinpoint, by Smarty
Arrow Icon
OREM, UT, August 18, 2025—Smarty®, the leader in address data intelligence, is inviting developers, data decision-makers, and certified address nerds to join our first-ever 2-day virtual user conference: Pinpoint. This interactive online event will begin on November 11, 2025, and bring together a verifiably fun mix of industry experts, technical deep dives, and business-boosting insights. Participants will walk away with a better understanding of how address validation, geocoding, data enrichment, and autocomplete can solve their toughest data challenges—and maybe even score some sweet prizes while they’re at it.
How address data became Fabletics's (and others') secret sauce
Arrow Icon
Address data accuracy isn't just about getting mail delivered. Having quality address data will directly impact revenue, compliance, and customer experience. In a recent webinar, we explored real-world case studies showing how companies across industries leverage address verification and geocoding to solve expensive problems and unlock new opportunities. Healthcare data: Compliance and accuracy at scaleCuratus, a healthcare data provider, faced a critical challenge with provider directory accuracy.

Ready to get started?