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Follow these steps to quickly get up and running with the name.com Core API.

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Step 1: Get Your API Token

1

Create Account

Create a name.com account if you don’t have one already
2

Generate Tokens

Go to Account Settings → Security → API Tokens and issue both development and production tokens
3

Secure Storage

Keep your API token secure — treat it like a password
If your account has two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled, go to Account Settings → Security, and toggle name.com API Access on at the bottom.

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Step 2: Choose Your Environment

name.com offers two separate environments:

Production

Base URL: https://api.name.com
Purpose: Live domain registrations, renewals, and management

Sandbox

Base URL: https://api.dev.name.com
Purpose: Safe testing and development — no real charges

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Sandbox Environment Details

  • Use your username with -test appended (e.g., reseller123-test)
  • Requires a separate sandbox API token
  • The sandbox is API-only — not accessible through the browser
  • Supports the Try It feature (limited to test environment)
  • Includes preloaded testing credit
  • Data does not sync with production
  • Test domains must be registered in sandbox before use
  • Domain availability and pricing may differ from production
  • Some TLDs are not available in sandbox environment

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Step 3: Authenticate Your API Requests

Use HTTP Basic Auth with your username and API token. See the full guide in Authentication for curl shorthand vs explicit header, and how to generate a Base64 token on Linux/macOS and Windows PowerShell. 
curl -u your-username:your-api-token https://api.name.com/core/v1/hello

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Step 4: Make Your First API Call

Call the GET /core/v1/hello endpoint to verify connectivity: 
curl -u your-username:your-api-token https://api.name.com/core/v1/hello
A successful response should look like this: 
{
  "motd": "Welcome to Core API from Name.com",
  "serverName": "nameapiserver",
  "serverTime": "2025-01-01T12:15:00Z",
  "username": "myapiusername"
}

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Using “Try it” Feature

1

Navigate to Endpoint

Go to an endpoint you’d like to test (e.g., GET /core/v1/domains → ListDomains)
2

Click Try It

Click the “Try it” button at the top right of the endpoint panel
3

Select Environment

In the “Environment” dropdown (next to “History”):
  • Select Mock Server to test with sample responses (no credentials needed)
  • Select Testing to use the name.com sandbox environment
4

Enter Credentials

Use your sandbox credentials from Account Settings → API Tokens (https://www.name.com/account/settings/api)
5

Send Request

Click Send to make your test request
Only use sandbox credentials when testing in the development environment. Never use production credentials unless you are working with real data.

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Troubleshooting Common Issues

Check your username and API token; verify you’re using the right environment
If 2FA is enabled, go to Account Settings → Security and enable API Access
Make sure the domain or resource exists; in sandbox, register test domains first

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Next Steps

Explore API Resources

Browse the complete API reference

Read API Overview

Understand API structure and features

Visit FAQ

Get help with troubleshooting