Base64 API Credentials: HTTP Basic Auth Encoding Explained
HTTP Basic Auth encodes credentials as Base64. Learn the format, why it's not encryption, when to use it, and how to handle it safely in APIs.
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Tags: encoding, api, base64
Base64 API Credentials: HTTP Basic Auth Encoding Explained HTTP Basic Authentication is one of the oldest and most widely used authentication schemes. It uses Base64 encoding to transmit credentials in the header. Understanding exactly how it works — and its security implications — is essential for any developer working with APIs. How HTTP Basic Auth Works The mechanism is defined in RFC 7617. It works like this: Concatenate the username and password with a colon: Base64-encode the resulting string Prepend to the encoded value Set this as the header on every request Decoding gives . That's the complete specification. There is no encryption, no signing, no nonce — just Base64 encoding of the credentials. Encoding Credentials In the Browser (JavaScript) The pattern is necessary to handle…
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