Authentication and ownership¶

Use your real MetaRPC owner API key for every SDK request. Keep it on your server, in an environment variable or secret store. TRIAL is not an owner identity for a copier.

Transport	What to send	What the server uses
REST	`ApiKey: <owner key>`; also the route's required `userKey` or `managerKey`	Route-specific checks; guarded record reads and writes recognize `ApiKey`
gRPC	`apikey` metadata on every call, plus `user_key` in the protobuf body	Customer RPCs validate the body owner key; Start also validates account ownership
WebSocket	`ApiKey` on the HTTP upgrade request to `/OnTradeLog?id=...`	The copier ownership check runs before the upgrade

HTTP header names are case-insensitive. gRPC metadata keys are lowercase. The SDK sends apikey; cURL examples use ApiKey. They represent the same header.

The header does not replace request fields

user_key identifies the owner. manager_key identifies the creating manager and normally equals the owner's key for self-service use. A copier ID, terminal ID or broker login is not an API key. Keep the configured key and body identity consistent.

Verified server behavior¶

The audit used tradecopy commit 9d2571aaa49236f5463c539461625acdf577f9bd: CopierAccess.PresentedKeys, CopierAccess.Rules, CopierGrpcService, and MrpcOwnerGate. The public /GetCopier route returned HTTP 401 with API_KEY_REQUIRED without a key during the November 10, 2026 audit.

There is no universal header-only check across every route in the source. Some routes authenticate explicit key parameters, and legacy deployments have different gates. These SDKs consistently send the header rather than relying on those differences. A Bearer header alone is not a substitute for ApiKey on guarded REST/WebSocket routes.

Configure without committing a secret¶

BashPowerShell

export MRPC_API_KEY='your-owner-key'

$env:MRPC_API_KEY = 'your-owner-key'

Do not put real keys into examples, screenshots, workflow YAML, browser bundles or issue reports. Never print metadata or broker passwords. Some legacy REST routes require key query parameters: redact query strings in proxy logs and prefer gRPC for credentials-bearing Start requests.

Failure meanings¶

Result	Meaning	Next step
`API_KEY_REQUIRED` / 401	No usable owner key	Check the header and environment
`ACCESS_DENIED` / 403	Caller cannot access the record	Verify owner and ID; retrying does not grant access
`ACCESS_CHECK_UNAVAILABLE`	Ownership could not be verified	Retry a read with bounded backoff; investigate service health
gRPC reply `ok=false`	Operation refused or failed	Read `error`; HTTP 200 alone is not success
gRPC `UNAUTHENTICATED` / `PERMISSION_DENIED`	Authorization failed	Correct credentials before retrying

For delegated management, use an explicitly authorized manager key. Never distribute operator internal keys or super-manager keys in customer SDKs.