> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getmcpulse.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create a key

> Mint an ingest key for one MCP. It is shown once, at creation, and never again.

An **ingest key** is what the SDK sends. It belongs to exactly one MCP, and telemetry posted with it lands under that MCP and nowhere else.

## Where

Two entry points, both opening the same slide-over:

* **Installation** — `/m/:id/install`, where you are when setting up
* **Keys** — `/m/:id/keys`, where you come back months later to rotate

Installation and keys are separate pages on purpose: pairing them put a delete button on the screen people visit while setting up.

## Creating one

<Steps>
  <Step title="Name it">
    Required, 1–60 characters. `production`, `staging`, `laptop` — whatever you will recognise in six months.

    Twelve characters of prefix tells you a key exists, not which server holds it, and "which one can I revoke" is the only question anyone asks of that list.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Copy the key">
    The full key appears in the panel that opens on creation. This is the **only** time it is ever shown.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Put it in your environment">
    ```bash theme={null}
    MCPULSE_KEY=mp_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    ```
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  Only a SHA-256 hash and the first 12 characters are stored. MCPulse cannot show you the key again, and nobody here can recover it. Lose it and you [revoke it](/api-keys/revoke) and mint another.
</Warning>

## What a key looks like

`mp_live_` plus 32 random characters, drawn with rejection sampling so no character in the alphabet is more likely than another.

## Keys are per MCP, not per account

There is no account-wide keys page. A key belongs to one server, and the place you want it is the MCP you just created.

Several keys per MCP is normal and often right — one per deployment, so revoking one does not take down the others. All of them report into the same MCP.

## Keys and metrics do not mix

An ingest key can **only** post telemetry. It cannot read a single number. Reading the API takes a session token, and reading over MCP takes an OAuth token. See [Authentication](/authentication).

<Note>
  Creating a key requires the **admin** role or higher. Members can read every metric on the MCP but cannot mint or revoke.
</Note>

## Related

* [List keys](/api-keys/list)
* [Revoke a key](/api-keys/revoke)
* [Install the SDK](/sdk/install)