**Source URL:** https://limited.veevavault.dev/quality/vault-api/guides/postman-collection/authenticating-vault

# Authenticating to your Vault

Your Vault user account must have [API access](/quality/vault-api/getting-started/prerequisites) to send requests to the Vault API. Then, you can authenticate your Vault and make calls to endpoints.

API users should authenticate to Vault API using an active [API access token](/vault-api/explanation/api-access-tokens/#Generating_Access_Tokens) rather than initiating a session with a user name and password. To generate an access token, grant yourself one via the [Vault UI](https://platform.veevavault.help/en/lr/7239/#api-access-tokens) from your user profile. While session IDs expire after a period of inactivity, an access token may be valid for up to 90 days depending on the expiration date indicated upon creation.

<Aside type="caution" title="Warning">
Once generated, the access token's value is only visible upon creation and should be stored safely. If lost, you cannot recover this value and must generate a new access token.
</Aside>

Access token values always begin with `veeva-vault-` followed by a randomized string. For example, `veeva-vault-B5A79AAD…`. The `Authorization` HTTP header for endpoints within the Vault Platform Postman Collection accepts the `accessToken` variable saved in your Postman environment, preceded by the `Bearer` keyword.

<ThemeImage srcLight="/images/api/postman/26r2_postman_authentication_light.png" srcDark="/images/api/postman/26r2_postman_authentication_dark.png" alt="Authentication" />

 

<Aside type="tip">
To view the current value for a variable in your Postman environment, hover over the variable name in blue.
</Aside>

Now, you can proceed with setting up a Postman environment, which can store the value of your access token to use for subsequent calls to Vault API.

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**Next:** [Setting Up Postman & Postman Environments](/quality/vault-api/guides/postman-collection/setting-up-postman)