Mint a token
/v1/tokens in the Tokens API.
curl -X POST https://api.example.test/v1/tokens \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \ -H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "name": "Nightly report", "team_id": "a83f0d51-4c92-4b7e-8615-2fd9e70a3c86", "abilities": ["project:view-any", "project:view", "activity:read"] }'token sits alongside data, not inside it, the same shape webhook endpoints use for their one-time signing secret. Store it before you do anything else; there is no endpoint that will hand it back. Minting is deliberately not offered as an MCP tool.
team_id is required here, and only here. Everywhere else in v1 the team comes from the calling token's frozen scope and a team_id in the body is ignored. Minting is the exception: a token is created for a team, and you may belong to several. The minted token gets scope:team:<team_id> automatically and cannot be widened later. Send project_id as well to confine it to one project of that team; a guest's token must name one of their projects.
A token can never mint a stronger token. The abilities you request must be a subset of the abilities the calling token holds, and
token:createis withheld unconditionally from anything minted this way.
A compromised credential can therefore produce nothing its holder could not already do directly, and no ladder of tokens can descend from one leak with no single revocation that ends the chain. A person in the app is not attenuated: they authenticated with a password and a second factor, not with a bearer string, so they can grant anything in the catalogue.
Asking for more than you hold returns 422, and error.message names the abilities that were refused:
{ "error": { "code": "VALIDATION_FAILED", "message": "A token cannot grant abilities it does not hold: project:delete, release:approve." }}Requires ability
The token must hold this ability, or the call is refused with 403.
Fires one event
Delivered to every endpoint subscribed to it once the change is made.
Idempotent
Send the header on every call; the same key replays the original response for 24 hours.
Authorization
bearerToken A personal access token minted in the app under Account Settings, then API Tokens, sent as Authorization: Bearer zg_live_…. The token carries the abilities each endpoint lists under Requires ability and is frozen to one team, and optionally to one project, at mint time.
In: header
Header Parameters
A key unique to this operation, such as a fresh UUID. The same key replays the original 2xx response for 24 hours (with Idempotent-Replay: true), so a retry after a timeout never repeats the write; the same key with a different body is refused with 409.
uuidRequest body
JSONWhat the request carriesRequiredapplication/json
A token to mint: its label, the abilities it holds, the team it is minted for and, optionally, the one project it is confined to. The abilities must be a subset of the calling token's, and token:create is never granted this way.
Responses
201Createdapplication/json
The token plus the plaintext, as a 201.
400Bad requestIDEMPOTENCY_KEY_MISSINGapplication/json
Every write needs an Idempotency-Key header. Send a fresh UUID per distinct operation.
401UnauthorizedAUTHENTICATION_REQUIREDapplication/json
The request carries no bearer token, or one that is revoked, malformed, or minted for another environment (a zg_test_ token on production).
403ForbiddenTOKEN_MISSING_ABILITYapplication/json
The token is valid but does not carry the ability this endpoint requires; error.context.required_ability names the one to grant. An endpoint that also checks who registered a row answers FORBIDDEN with the same status, and says so in its own description.
409ConflictIDEMPOTENCY_KEY_REUSEDapplication/json
The key was already used in the last 24 hours with a different request body.
422Validation failedVALIDATION_FAILEDapplication/json
The payload broke a rule, and error.fields maps each offending key to its messages. A refusal from the domain, such as a role code already taken or a team the caller does not own, uses the same code with error.message saying why and no fields.
On this endpoint: VALIDATION_FAILED: when a requested ability is not held by the calling token, token:create is requested, team_id is not a team the caller owns or belongs to, project_id is not a project they can see, a guest omits the project, an ability is retired or unknown, or abilities is empty.
425Too earlyIDEMPOTENCY_REPLAY_IN_PROGRESSapplication/json
The first request with this key is still running; retry in a few seconds and the original response is replayed.
429Too many requestsRATE_LIMITEDapplication/json
The token has spent its 300 requests a minute or 10,000 an hour; Retry-After says when the next one is accepted.
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