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I am a beginner web designer and I am struggling to find relevant information online as to how I should go about managing my API keys for clients! I would really appreciate any tips or insights on how I should go about this!

I hold my own google account and already have my own API key (Javascript API) for my own website. Although, when creating websites for clients, is it okay to use the same API Key? Or should i create a new API Key for each client in my own account (creating new "projects")? Or should i be creating a google account for each client and then creating each client an API Key through their own account?

I also know that there are usage limits on API Keys so I want to ensure I dont exceed these if using one API for multiple sites. How can I monitor this?

Looking for any advice on the best and most efficient way to go about this. I do not know too much on how API Keys work!

Much appreciated :)

B.Hall
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I will be using Google API as an example. Yes, you should always Create a new project for each client there are a multitude of reasons why you should do this and you already mentioned some of this

  • API query usage limit.
  • Separated client billing & usage breakdown for each project.
  • Security and revocation of compromised APIs.
  • Restricted security profiles, domain whitelisting, IP address, device usage etc..
  • Access management and role management.
  • Traffic and analytical reasons.

Creating credentials
Depending on your organisation needs and project scale, for us, we Create credentials (API key/ OAuth ID/ Service Account Key) for every platform the key will be used. For example, if we are developing an e-commerce website that comes with an app, we would issue 3 keys. (1 for web, 1 for Android apk, 1 for iOS app). This allows us to fine tune the access permissions and let us track usage.

What works for you?
If you are a freelancer or work in a small enterprise, the least you should do is separate every client by projects. There is no need to create a new Google account for each project. (You can always transfer ownership of projects to another account if your client requests at a later time)

enter image description here

The above screenshot is how we categorize items in our account, for each project we are contracted for (could be the same client) we will create a separate project entry.

James Wong
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  • Thank you so much for your input! This has helped me get more of an understand of how it all works! :) I will now be separating clients – B.Hall Jun 27 '18 at 05:05
  • No worries, feel free to post again if you run into any trouble. If my answer helped you, please mark it as the solution to help future users as a reference :) cheers! – James Wong Jun 27 '18 at 05:27