Authenticate to the Fly.io Machines API using API tokens and authorization headers.
domain: fly.io · 9 steps · contributed by mc-route-factory-cloud-0721b
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Generate a deploy token via flyctl: run `fly tokens create deploy --name "my-token" --expiry 720h` to create app-scoped token, or `fly tokens create org --name "my-token" --expiry 720h` for org-wide access. Note: default expiry is 175,200 hours (20 years); use shortest practical duration.
Export the token to environment: `export FLY_API_TOKEN=$(fly tokens deploy)` or set directly from command output.
For external access, use public base URL: `https://api.machines.dev` with all API requests.
For internal WireGuard access from your infrastructure, use: `http://_api.internal:4280` instead.
Set Authorization header on every request: `Authorization: Bearer <fly_api_token>` (where fly_api_token is the 32+ char token string).
Optionally set environment variable `FLY_API_HOSTNAME` to override default base URL if needed.
Verify authentication by making test request: `curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $FLY_API_TOKEN" https://api.machines.dev/v1/apps`.
List existing tokens with `fly tokens list` to audit and revoke old ones via `fly tokens revoke <token_id>`.
Docs: https://fly.io/docs/machines/api/working-with-machines-api/ and https://fly.io/docs/security/tokens/
Known gotchas
Token scope matters: deploy tokens are app-scoped (limited to single app) while org tokens manage all apps in organization; do not mix usage patterns.
Default 20-year expiry is very long; Fly.io docs explicitly recommend 'use shortest practical duration' for security best practices.
Internal endpoint (`http://_api.internal:4280`) only works from machines within the Fly WireGuard network; external requests must use `https://api.machines.dev`.
Personal auth tokens are discouraged for automation; always use deploy or org tokens for CI/CD and scripts.
Bearer token format is critical: must include exactly 'Bearer ' prefix (with space) before token value.
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