Create an API key

Get a usk_live_ key for the Unison Brain API — via the dashboard, CLI, or the headless email-OTP API.

Every call to the Brain API authenticates with a usk_live_... bearer token. Pick whichever path fits your workflow.

Option 1 — Dashboard (fastest)

Go to app.unisonlabs.ai, sign up or log in, and copy your key from Settings → API Keys.

Option 2 — CLI

npm install -g @unisonlabs/cli
unison auth login

unison auth login runs the email-OTP flow interactively (no browser required) and stores the key for subsequent CLI and SDK calls.

Option 3 — Headless email-OTP API

For CI, Docker builds, or any environment where you can't open a browser.

Step 1 — Provision

curl -X POST https://brain.unisonlabs.ai/v1/auth/provision \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"email": "you@example.com"}'

{
  "apiKey": "usk_live_...",
  "workspaceId": "ws_...",
  "status": "unverified",
  "emailSent": true
}

The key is returned immediately and works at once (unverified, with usage caps). Store it now — it is shown only once.

Step 2 — Verify (lifts the caps)

Enter the 6-digit code from the email:

curl -X POST https://brain.unisonlabs.ai/v1/auth/verify \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"email": "you@example.com", "code": "123456"}'

The workspace becomes durable and usage caps are lifted.

Set the environment variable

export UNISON_TOKEN=usk_live_...

All SDKs, the CLI, and the MCP server read UNISON_TOKEN by default. For CI, set it as a repository secret.

Next steps

Full auth reference: Auth & keys
Using a key in headless / machine-to-machine contexts: Headless machine auth
Start using your key: Add your first memory