--- title: Authentication --- No authentication is required when accessing Ollama's API locally via `http://localhost:11434`. Authentication is required for the following: * Running cloud models via ollama.com * Publishing models * Downloading private models Ollama supports two authentication methods: * **Signing in**: sign in from your local installation, and Ollama will automatically take care of authenticating requests to ollama.com when running commands * **API keys**: API keys for programmatic access to ollama.com's API ## Signing in To sign in to ollama.com from your local installation of Ollama, run: ``` ollama signin ``` Once signed in, Ollama will automatically authenticate commands as required: ``` ollama run gpt-oss:120b-cloud ``` Similarly, when accessing a local API endpoint that requires cloud access, Ollama will automatically authenticate the request: ```shell curl http://localhost:11434/api/generate -d '{ "model": "gpt-oss:120b-cloud", "prompt": "Why is the sky blue?" }' ``` ## API keys For direct access to ollama.com's API served at `https://ollama.com/api`, authentication via API keys is required. First, create an [API key](https://ollama.com/settings/keys), then set the `OLLAMA_API_KEY` environment variable: ```shell export OLLAMA_API_KEY=your_api_key ``` Then use the API key in the Authorization header: ```shell curl https://ollama.com/api/generate \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $OLLAMA_API_KEY" \ -d '{ "model": "gpt-oss:120b", "prompt": "Why is the sky blue?", "stream": false }' ``` API keys don't currently expire, however you can revoke them at any time in your [API keys settings](https://ollama.com/settings/keys).