> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.telemax.com.au/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# INVALID_CREDENTIALS

> 401 — the bearer token is missing, invalid or expired, or the API key is unknown or deleted.

**HTTP status:** `401` · **Code:** `INVALID_CREDENTIALS`

## Example

```json theme={null}
{
  "type": "AUTHENTICATION",
  "code": "INVALID_CREDENTIALS",
  "description": "The provided API key is invalid or does not exist.",
  "requestId": "0HNP2MAV4BUCF:00000003",
  "docUrl": "https://docs.telemax.com.au/errors/invalid-credentials"
}
```

## Cause

On a data endpoint, the `Authorization: Bearer <token>` header is missing, or the token is invalid or expired. This response comes before rate limiting, so it has no `X-RateLimit-*` or `X-API-Version` headers.

On the token endpoint, the API key is unknown, deleted, or not a valid key.

## What to do

* Obtain a fresh token with [`POST /v2/api/authentication/token/api-key`](/v2/api-reference/post-authentication-token-api-key). Tokens last about 24 hours (`expires_in: 86399`).
* Check that the key exists under **API Keys V2** in the Telemax dashboard and has not been deleted.

See [Error handling](/v2/errors) for the full error model.


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