Using Basic Authentication in HTTP Request Actions

When working with APIs, Basic Authentication is a common option for authenticating HTTP requests. This article covers how to include the Basic Authentication credentials within an HTTP Request Action. 

Base64 Method

This method is the most secure as it does not store the credentials in plain text.

In the headers section of the HTTP Request Action, add the credentials formatted as follows: 

Authorization: Basic <credentials>

Where <credentials> is the Base64 encoding of the username and password joined by a single colon :.

Generating a Base64 Encoded String

There are many methods of generating a Base64 encoded string. One option is to visit base64encode or Basic Auth generator. 

Plain Text Method

This method is the least secure as stores the credentials in plain text.

To use this method, simply change the URL itself, adding the credentials formatted as follows: 

http://username:password@example.com/