# verify()

Verifies an [API key](https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/machine-auth/api-keys.md) secret. Returns an [`APIKey`](https://clerk.com/docs/reference/backend/types/backend-api-key.md) object.

- If the API key is valid, the method returns the API key object with its properties.
- If the API key is invalid, revoked, or expired, the method will throw an error.

> In most cases, you'll want to verify API keys using framework-specific helpers like `auth()` in Next.js, which handles the verification automatically. See the [verifying API keys](https://clerk.com/docs/guides/development/verifying-api-keys.md) guide for more details.

```ts
function verify(secret: string): Promise<APIKeyResource>
```

## Parameters

| Name   | Type   | Description                   |
| ------ | ------ | ----------------------------- |
| secret | string | The API key secret to verify. |

## Example

> Using `clerkClient` varies based on the SDK you're using. Refer to the [overview](https://clerk.com/docs/reference/backend/overview.md) for usage details, including guidance on [how to access the `userId` and other properties](https://clerk.com/docs/reference/backend/overview.md#example-get-the-user-id-and-other-properties).

```tsx
const apiKeySecret = 'ak_live_123'

const response = await clerkClient.apiKeys.verify(apiKeySecret)
```

## Backend API (BAPI) endpoint

This method in the SDK is a wrapper around the BAPI endpoint `POST/api_keys/verify`. See the [BAPI reference](https://clerk.com/docs/reference/backend-api/tag/api-keys/POST/api_keys/verify){{ target: '_blank' }} for more information.

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