Overview
GDELT Cloud supports multiple authentication methods depending on your use case:Session Authentication
Session authentication is used when accessing GDELT Cloud through the web dashboard.How It Works
1
Login
Navigate to gdeltcloud.com/auth/sign-in and enter your credentials.
2
Session created
Upon successful login, a secure session cookie is created and stored in your browser.
3
Automatic authentication
All dashboard features and internal API calls are automatically authenticated using this session.
Sessions use secure browser cookies and include automatic token refresh for seamless long-term use.
Session Security
- Sessions expire after 7 days of inactivity
- HTTPS-only cookies prevent interception
- CSRF protection on all state-changing operations
- Optional two-factor authentication (coming soon)
API Key Authentication
API keys provide programmatic access to the Developer API. Use/api/v2/* for new integrations; /api/v1/* remains supported for existing direct API users.
V2 Event, Story, and Entity list calls default to the exact past 24 hours. Narrow with developer-facing filters such as category, subcategory, country, region, continent, date windows up to 30 days, sort, and pagination.
Key Format
gdelt_sk_a1b2c3d4e5f6... (64 hex chars after the prefix)
Usage
Include the key as a Bearer token in every request:Query Units
Direct API and direct MCP calls are charged as user-controlled integrations. Hosted GDELT Cloud agents are charged as backend orchestrations:Authentication Errors
Generate and manage API keys in Dashboard → Settings → API Keys. See API Keys for full details.