API Key

Getting Your API Key

1. Go to the HeyGen API dashboard.
2. Navigate to Settings → API → API token.
3. Click to generate your API key.

Important: You cannot view your API key after leaving the page. When you generate it, copy and save it somewhere secure immediately. Regenerating a new key will invalidate the previous one.

Configuring Your API Key

Environment variable (recommended)

export HEYGEN_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

.env file

If your project uses a .env file (common with Node.js, Python, or frameworks like Next.js):

HEYGEN_API_KEY=your-api-key-here

Claude Code

If you're using Claude Code or any terminal-based workflow, set the key in your shell before starting:

export HEYGEN_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"
claude  # or whatever command starts your session

Alternatively, add it to your shell profile (~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc) so it persists across sessions:

echo 'export HEYGEN_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

HeyGen Skills (in Claude)

When using HeyGen through the Skills integration in Claude's computer environment, the API key is read from the environment. Make sure HEYGEN_API_KEY is set before the skill executes any API calls.

Using the Key in Requests

All HeyGen API requests authenticate via the X-Api-Key header:

curl -X GET "https://api.heygen.com/v2/avatars" \
  -H "X-Api-Key: $HEYGEN_API_KEY"

const response = await fetch("https://api.heygen.com/v2/avatars", {
  headers: { "X-Api-Key": process.env.HEYGEN_API_KEY },
});

import os, requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.heygen.com/v2/avatars",
    headers={"X-Api-Key": os.environ["HEYGEN_API_KEY"]}
)

Security Best Practices

• Never commit your API key to version control. Add .env to your .gitignore.
• Never expose the key in client-side / browser code. Always call the API from a backend or server environment.
• Rotate your key periodically via the API dashboard.
• Monitor usage in your API dashboard