> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://trigger-docs-max-duration.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# API keys

> How to authenticate with Trigger.dev so you can trigger tasks.

### Authentication and your secret keys

When you [trigger a task](/triggering) from your backend code, you need to set the `TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY` environment variable.

Each environment has its own secret key. You can find the value on the API keys page in the Trigger.dev dashboard:

![How to find your secret key](https://mintlify.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/trigger-docs-max-duration/images/api-keys.png)

### Automatically Configuring the SDK

To automatically configure the SDK with your secret key, you can set the `TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY` environment variable. The SDK will automatically use this value when calling API methods (like `trigger`).

```bash .env
TRIGGER_SECRET_KEY="tr_dev_…"
```

You can do the same if you are self-hosting and need to change the default URL by using `TRIGGER_API_URL`.

```bash .env
TRIGGER_API_URL="https://trigger.example.com"
```

The default URL is `https://api.trigger.dev`.

### Manually Configuring the SDK

If you prefer to manually configure the SDK, you can call the `configure` method:

```ts
import { configure } from "@trigger.dev/sdk/v3";
import { myTask } from "./trigger/myTasks";

configure({
  secretKey: "tr_dev_1234", // WARNING: Never actually hardcode your secret key like this
  baseURL: "https://mytrigger.example.com", // Optional
});

async function triggerTask() {
  await myTask.trigger({ userId: "1234" }); // This will use the secret key and base URL you configured
}
```