# One key. Your role, no more.

> A staff key acts as you, inside your role, on the admin's JSON and the MCP server. Make one, copy it once, remove it to close it.

A staff key is yours. It opens the admin's JSON and the MCP server **as you, inside your role**, and nothing your role may not do. It is shown one time, and Remove closes it at once.

## By hand, in the admin

1. As an admin, open **Settings › API**. Under **Your keys**, type a **Key name** and press **New key**.
2. Press **Copy key**. This is the only time it is shown. Then press **Done**.
3. Any staff member can make one in **Settings › MCP setup**: pick your coding app and press **Make key**. The text to paste carries the new key.
4. Send the key with each request as a Bearer token, to an admin address that ends in .json.
5. Press **Remove** beside a key, on either screen, to close it.

## With your agent


An agent never makes its own key. Claude and ChatGPT connect from Settings › MCP setup and sign in without one. A coding agent gets its key from Make key, inside the text you paste.

## Examples

- **A key for the sync.** A developer makes a key named Member sync. **The app's server holds it**, and the audit log shows each change it makes.
- **A key for Cursor.** An author presses Make key beside Cursor in MCP setup, pastes the text, and writes drafts from the editor.
- **A laptop that was lost.** An editor loses a laptop and presses Remove beside its key. The key stops working at once.

## Questions

### How do I make an API key on PixelGlass?

As an admin, open Settings › API and press New key under Your keys. Any staff member can make one for a coding app in Settings › MCP setup with Make key.

### What can a staff key do?

What you may do. It acts as you on the admin's JSON and the MCP server, and your role is the ceiling.

### What is the difference between a staff key and a content key?

A staff key belongs to a person and reads and writes as them. A content key belongs to the site and reads only what a visitor reads. Neither opens the other's addresses.

### Can I see my key again later?

No. A key is shown one time. Make a new key and remove the old one.

### Who knows that I made a key?

The audit log records every staff key made and removed, with its name and its person.

### Which coding agents connect with a key?

Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, and Claude Desktop. Each has its own row in Settings › MCP setup, with the text to paste.

## See also

- [Connect a coding agent](https://pixelglass.co/guides/connect-a-coding-agent): Make a key in Settings › MCP setup and paste one command or file. Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI and more then work on your site as you.
- [Sync members from your app](https://pixelglass.co/guides/sync-members-from-your-app): Keep your app's users and your PixelGlass members in step over the admin's JSON: find by address, add, change, label, and change many at once.
- [Disconnect an agent](https://pixelglass.co/guides/disconnect-an-agent): Remove an app or a key in Settings › MCP setup and the agent is off your site at once. Connected through your account? Remove the app there.
- [Developer API](https://pixelglass.co/features/developers): Read your site as JSON, sync members from your app, sign readers in with your own accounts, and run it all from an agent. Webhooks are coming soon.
- [MCP server](https://pixelglass.co/features/mcp-server): Every PixelGlass site is an MCP server with 68 tools. Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and more write posts, design themes and run your publication.
- [Every guide](https://pixelglass.co/guides)
- [Pricing](https://pixelglass.co/pricing): every feature on every plan, 14 days free
- [Create your site](https://pixelglass.co/signup)