Control your API access with scoped credentials that restrict usage to specific domains and operations. AhaSend offers two types of scoped credentials, each with different capabilities and use cases.
Enhanced Security: Scoped credentials reduce attack surface by limiting potential damage if a credential is compromised.

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Types of Scoped Credentials

AhaSend provides two distinct credential types with different scoping capabilities:

Sending Credentials

SMTP & API v1/v2 sending keysDomain-scoped credentials for email sending operations only

API v2 Keys

Full API access keysAdvanced scoping with both domain restrictions and operation permissions

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Sending Credentials (Domain Scoping)

Sending credentials are created from the Credentials tab and are designed specifically for email sending operations. These include SMTP credentials, API v1 keys, and API v2 sending keys.

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Global vs. Scoped Sending Credentials

Global Credentials (Default):
  • Access: Can send from any verified domain in your account
  • Use case: General-purpose credentials for multi-domain applications
  • Risk: Higher impact if compromised
Domain-Scoped Credentials:
  • Access: Limited to specific domains you select
  • Use case: Application-specific credentials or domain isolation
  • Risk: Limited damage potential if compromised
Principle of Least Privilege: Always scope credentials to the minimum domains required for your use case.

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Creating Scoped Sending Credentials

Screenshot of the credentials dashboard

Access Credentials Tab

Navigate to sending credentials:
  1. Log in to your AhaSend dashboard
  2. Click Credentials in the main menu
  3. Click + Add Credential button

Configure Credential Details

Set up credential information:
  • Type: Choose SMTP, API v1, or API v2
  • Name: Enter a descriptive name
  • Mode: Select Production or Sandbox

Define Domain Scope

Restrict to specific sending domains:Global Access:
  • Leave Scope set to “Global” (default)
  • Allows sending from any verified domain
Domain-Specific Access:
  1. Select “Scope to specific domains”
  2. Click checkboxes for authorized domains
  3. Choose one or multiple domains as needed

Create Credential

Generate your scoped credential:
  1. Click “Create Credential”
  2. Copy the generated credentials immediately
  3. Store securely in your application
Propagation Time: Changes to sending credentials can take up to 1 minute to propagate across all servers.

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API v2 Keys (Advanced Scoping)

API v2 keys are created from Account Settings → API Keys and provide full access to the AhaSend API v2 with granular permission and domain scoping.

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Advanced Scoping Capabilities

API v2 keys support both domain restrictions and operation-level permissions: Domain Scoping:
  • Restrict API operations to specific domains
  • Control which domains the key can manage or send from
Permission Scoping:
  • Granular control over API operations (read, write, delete)
  • Resource-specific access (messages, domains, webhooks, statistics)
  • Hierarchical permission inheritance

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Creating API v2 Keys

Access API Keys Settings

Navigate to API key management:
  1. Log in to your AhaSend dashboard
  2. Go to Account Settings
  3. Click API Keys in the sidebar
  4. Click + Create API Key button

Configure Basic Settings

Set up API key details:
  • Name: Enter a descriptive name
  • Description: Optional description of the key’s purpose

Set Permission Scopes

Define what operations the key can perform:Configure specific API operation permissions based on your requirements. Common scope categories include:
  • Account Management: accounts:read, accounts:write
  • Message Operations: messages:send:all, messages:read:{domain}
  • Domain Management: domains:read, domains:write
  • Webhook Control: webhooks:write:all, webhooks:delete:{domain}
Detailed Scoping: See our complete API scopes reference for all available permissions and syntax.

Apply Domain Restrictions

Optionally limit to specific domains:You can further restrict the API key to operate only on specific domains within your account, providing an additional layer of security.

Create and Save

Generate your API v2 key:
  1. Review the configured scopes and restrictions
  2. Click “Create API Key”
  3. Copy the generated key immediately
  4. Store securely in your application

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How Sending Credential Scoping Works

When you use a domain-scoped sending credential, AhaSend validates the sending domain: SMTP Credentials:
  • Validates: MAIL FROM address domain
  • Checks: Domain is in the credential’s authorized list
  • Action: Refuses connection if unauthorized
API v1/v2 Sending:
  • Validates: from.email domain in request payload
  • Checks: Domain scope against the API key
  • Action: Rejects request if domain is not authorized

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Sending Credential Error Messages

When using credentials outside their domain scope:
SMTP Connection Rejected:
authz_id 'YOUR_USERNAME' is not authorized to send as tenant 'YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID' or from this domain
API v1 Request Error:
{
  "status": "API Key is not scoped for this domain"
}
API v2 Request Error:
{
  "message": "this api key is not authorized to send messages from the domain 'example.com'"
}

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API v2 Key Validation

API v2 keys undergo comprehensive validation for each request: Permission Validation:
  • Operation Check: Verifies the key has permission for the requested operation
  • Resource Access: Ensures access to specific resources (domains, webhooks, etc.)
  • Hierarchy Enforcement: Respects scope hierarchy and inheritance rules
Domain Validation:
  • Resource Domain: Checks if the key can access resources for the specified domain
  • Sending Domain: Validates sending permissions for message operations

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API v2 Key Error Messages

When using API v2 keys outside their defined scope:
Insufficient Permissions:
{
  "error": "Insufficient permissions",
  "message": "API key lacks required scope: messages:send:all"
}
Resource Access Denied:
{
  "error": "Access denied",
  "message": "API key not authorized for this resource"
}
Domain Not Authorized:
{
  "message": "this api key is not authorized to send messages from the domain 'example.com'"
}

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Advanced Permission Scoping

For granular control over API operations, API v2 keys support detailed permission scopes:

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Common Scope Categories

  • Account Management: accounts:read, accounts:write
  • Message Operations: messages:send:all, messages:read:{domain}
  • Domain Management: domains:read, domains:write
  • Webhook Control: webhooks:write:all, webhooks:delete:{domain}
  • Statistics Access: statistics-transactional:read:all

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Scope Types

  • Static Scopes: Fixed permissions like accounts:read
  • Global Scopes: Domain-wide access with :all suffix
  • Domain-Specific: Restricted to particular domains using {domain} syntax
Detailed Documentation: For complete scope definitions, validation rules, and examples, see our API Scopes Reference.

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Benefits and Best Practices

Scoped credentials provide significant advantages regardless of type:

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Security Benefits

Minimize compromise impact:
  • Limit potential damage from stolen credentials
  • Reduce attack surface with principle of least privilege
  • Prevent unauthorized access to sensitive domains
Granular access management:
  • Separate credentials for different applications
  • Team-specific permissions and domain access
  • Environment-specific scoping (staging vs. production)
Prevent configuration mistakes:
  • Block accidental sending from wrong domains
  • Catch misconfigurations early in development
  • Protect production domains from test applications
Simplified credential administration:
  • Clear understanding of credential capabilities
  • Easy revocation of specific domain access
  • Organized credential structure for complex setups

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Implementation Best Practices

Design your scoping approach:
  • Application-specific keys: One key per application or service
  • Environment separation: Different keys for staging, production
  • Domain isolation: Separate keys for different business domains
  • Minimal permissions: Grant only necessary scopes
Maintain credential security:
  • Regular audit of active credentials and their scopes
  • Rotate credentials periodically
  • Remove unused or outdated credentials
  • Monitor for scope violation errors in logs
Integrate scoping into development:
  • Use scoped credentials in development environments
  • Test scope restrictions before production deployment
  • Document credential requirements for each application
  • Implement proper error handling for scope violations

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Common Use Cases

Multi-Tenant SaaS

Customer domain isolationCreate domain-scoped credentials for each customer’s subdomain, preventing cross-customer access

Microservices Architecture

Service-specific credentialsEach microservice gets credentials scoped to its required domains and operations

Marketing & Transactional

Purpose-based separationSeparate credentials for marketing emails vs. transactional notifications

Third-Party Integrations

External service limitationsProvide limited-scope credentials to external services and partners

API Scopes Reference

Complete guide to permission scopes and validation rules

API Authentication

API authentication methods and best practices

SMTP Credentials

Creating and managing SMTP sending credentials