Authentication

Overview

Samtec's APIs use JWT (JSON Web Token) bearer authentication. Samtec issues you a token — see Onboarding if you don't have one yet — and you send it on every request as a standard Authorization header, alongside a second required header, client-app-name.

This applies to every API on this portal: Catalog, Lead Time, Pricing, Orders, Quotes, Models, and Stats. Webhooks use a different model — Samtec calls your endpoint, not the other way around — see Webhooks for how those calls are authenticated.

Required headers

Header	Value	Notes
`Authorization`	`Bearer <your token>`	The `Bearer` prefix is required.
`client-app-name`	A string, 3–100 characters, identifying your application	See Onboarding for how to choose a value.

Omitting either header returns a 400. An invalid or missing token returns a 401. A valid token without the right claims for that API returns a 403.

Using your token in this portal

Every Reference page (APIs → <API> → Reference in the sidebar) has a live playground you can call directly from the browser. Open the Bearer Token panel in the sidebar, paste in your token, and set client-app-name — the portal stores both in your browser's localStorage, so you only need to enter them once and they carry across every page you visit. Use Test connection to confirm they work before trying a specific endpoint.

Using your token in code

The example below looks up a part on the Catalog API. Every other API takes the same two headers the same way — just change the URL.

curl https://api.samtec.com/catalog/v3/TSW-110-08-T-D \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_JWT_TOKEN" \
  -H "client-app-name: your-app-name"

Rate limits

All APIs allow 1,000 requests per second. Requests over that limit get a 429 Too Many Requests — back off and retry rather than treating it as a hard failure.

Common errors

Status	Meaning	How to resolve
400	Missing or malformed header (often a missing `client-app-name`, or a `client-app-name` outside the 3–100 character range)	Check both required headers are present and `client-app-name` meets the length requirement.
401	Missing, malformed, or invalid JWT	Confirm the `Authorization` header is `Bearer <token>` with no typos, and that the token is the one Samtec emailed you.
403	Valid JWT, but it doesn't have the claims needed for this API	Email apionboarding@samtec.com to request access to this API — your token will be updated.
429	Rate limit exceeded (1,000 req/s)	Retry with backoff.

Onboarding — how to request a token.
Each API's Reference page — full request/response schemas and a live playground.