How to beginner · 3 min read

How to get Weights and Biases API key

Q: How to get Weights and Biases API key

To get your Weights and Biases API key, sign up or log in at wandb.ai, then navigate to your account settings under Settings > API Keys. Copy the generated key and set it as the environment variable WANDB_API_KEY for secure usage in your Python projects.

Quick answer

To get your Weights and Biases API key, sign up or log in at wandb.ai, then navigate to your account settings under Settings > API Keys. Copy the generated key and set it as the environment variable WANDB_API_KEY for secure usage in your Python projects.

PREREQUISITES

Python 3.8+
Internet access
Browser to access wandb.ai
pip install wandb

Setup

Install the official wandb Python package to enable integration with Weights and Biases. Set up your environment variable to securely store your API key.

bash

pip install wandb

Step by step

Follow these steps to obtain and use your Weights and Biases API key:

Go to https://wandb.ai and log in or create a free account.
Click your profile icon in the top right corner and select Settings.
Scroll to the API Keys section.
Click + New API Key if you don't have one, or copy the existing key.
Set the key as an environment variable in your terminal or shell:
export WANDB_API_KEY="your_api_key_here" (Linux/macOS)
or
setx WANDB_API_KEY "your_api_key_here" (Windows PowerShell)
Use wandb in your Python code; it will automatically read the key from the environment.

python

import wandb

# Initialize a new run; wandb reads WANDB_API_KEY from environment
wandb.init(project="my-project")
print("Weights and Biases run initialized successfully.")

output

Weights and Biases run initialized successfully.

Common variations

You can also authenticate using the wandb login CLI command, which prompts you to paste your API key interactively. For CI/CD pipelines, set WANDB_API_KEY as a secret environment variable. Additionally, you can manage multiple API keys from your account settings for different projects or teams.

python

import wandb

# Using wandb login CLI (run in terminal)
# $ wandb login

# In Python, initialize as usual
wandb.init(project="my-project")

Troubleshooting

If you see authentication errors like wandb.errors.CommError: API key missing or invalid, verify that your WANDB_API_KEY environment variable is set correctly and that the key is active in your account. Use wandb login to re-authenticate if needed. Also, ensure your network allows outbound HTTPS connections to api.wandb.ai.

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Key Takeaways

Get your API key from wandb.ai under Settings > API Keys.
Set the key as the environment variable WANDB_API_KEY for secure access.
Use the wandb Python package which automatically reads the API key from the environment.
You can authenticate interactively using the wandb CLI login command.
Check environment variable and network if authentication errors occur.

Verified 2026-04

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