Bearer Token

Bearer token authentication sends a token in the Authorization header using the Bearer scheme. It is the most common auth method for modern APIs, covering JWT tokens, OAuth access tokens, and service account keys.

Setup

1. Open a request and click the Auth tab.
2. Select Bearer Token from the type dropdown.
3. Paste your token into the Token field.

Nouto adds the Authorization header automatically on every request.

How It Works

The token is sent as-is in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...

No encoding or transformation is applied. The token you enter is exactly what the server receives.

Variable Support

The token field accepts {{variable}} syntax:

{{ACCESS_TOKEN}}
{{JWT_TOKEN}}
{{SERVICE_KEY}}

Using an environment variable lets you rotate tokens without editing individual requests. Set the variable in your active environment and all requests using {{ACCESS_TOKEN}} pick up the new value immediately.

Common Use Cases

JWT tokens: Paste the full JWT string. For tokens obtained via OAuth flows, use OAuth 2.0 instead, which handles token fetching and refresh automatically.

Static API tokens: Many services issue long-lived tokens (GitHub personal access tokens, Stripe secret keys, etc.). Store these in a secret environment variable and reference them with {{variable}}.

Short-lived tokens: If your token expires frequently, consider using a pre-request script to fetch a fresh token and store it in a variable before each request.

cURL Export

Bearer auth is included when you copy a request as cURL:

curl https://api.example.com/resource \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGci...'