An API key is how another system proves to Bookboost that it is allowed to be there. It lets a tool you already use pull guest data or trigger something in Bookboost automatically, without anyone logging in and without you handing over a password.
You do not need to understand the technology to manage one. You need to know that it behaves like a password, and who you have given it to.
The two words
API stands for application programming interface. It is the agreed set of rules by which two systems exchange data, so a request from one is understood by the other.
API key is the token that identifies who is making the request. The interface is the language; the key is the identification.
What it looks like in practice
Say your hotel uses a review platform to gather post-stay feedback, and you want a review request to go out shortly after each guest checks out.
The review platform needs to know who has just left, which means it needs to ask Bookboost. You give it your API key, and from then on every request it sends carries that key. Bookboost recognises it, returns the guests who have checked out, and the review requests go out on their own.
Nobody logs in, nobody exports a spreadsheet, and no member of your team has to remember to do it.
Treating it like a password
Anyone holding the key can make requests as though they were you. So the sensible habits are the ones you already apply to passwords.
Store it in a password manager, not a document, a spreadsheet, or a chat message.
Write down what each key is for. A key with no known purpose cannot be safely retired.
Send it securely when a vendor needs it, for example through onetimesecret.com.
Replace it if it may have been seen. Tell support and have it rotated rather than hoping.
What this does not do
A key is not tied to a person. It belongs to the account, so it keeps working after whoever set it up has left. That is why leavers are a reason to rotate.
A key does not expire on its own. It works until it is replaced.
Having a key does not build the integration. The other system still has to be configured to use it, usually by whoever supplies that system.
You cannot generate one yourself. Support creates keys for your account. See API keys.
What to do next
To request a key, find one you already have, or replace one, see API keys.
Getting help
Open Help at the bottom of the left menu and choose Talk to Us, or email support@bookboost.io.