> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cloudinary.com/documentation/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Why do I get HTML responses instead of JSON from the Admin API?
The [Admin API](admin_api) requires authentication using your API Key and API Secret. When authentication fails, you may receive unexpected responses that can be confusing to debug.
## The problem
When your Admin API call returns HTML content instead of the expected JSON response, this typically indicates an authentication problem.
**Expected JSON response:**
```json
{
"resources": [
{
"public_id": "sample",
"format": "jpg",
"version": 1234567890,
"resource_type": "image",
"type": "upload",
"created_at": "2023-01-15T10:30:00Z",
"bytes": 120000,
"width": 800,
"height": 600,
"url": "https://res.cloudinary.com/demo/image/upload/v1234567890/sample.jpg"
}
],
"next_cursor": null
}
```
**HTML error response (authentication failure):**
```html
401 Authorization Required
Authorization Required
This server could not verify that you are authorized to access...
```
## Common causes
### Missing credentials
Your API Key and API Secret aren't included in the request, or are in the wrong format.
**Incorrect - missing credentials:**
```bash
curl https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1/demo/resources/image
```
**Correct - credentials included:**
```bash
curl https://123456789012345:abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456@api.cloudinary.com/v1_1/demo/resources/image
```
### Incorrect Base64 encoding
When manually creating Authorization headers, ensure proper Base64 encoding of `api_key:api_secret`.
**Incorrect - wrong encoding:**
```bash
curl -H "Authorization: Basic 123456789012345:abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456" \
https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1/demo/resources/image
```
**Correct - proper Base64 encoding:**
```bash
curl -H "Authorization: Basic MTIzNDU2Nzg5MDEyMzQ1OmFiY2RlZmdoaWprbG1ub3BxcnN0dXZ3eHl6MTIzNDU2" \
https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1/demo/resources/image
```
### Wrong API Key or Secret
Double-check your credentials in the [Console Settings](https://console.cloudinary.com/app/settings/api-keys).
## The solution
### Step 1: Verify your credentials
Ensure you're using the correct API Key and API Secret from the [API Keys](https://console.cloudinary.com/app/settings/api-keys) page of the Console Settings.
### Step 2: Choose the correct authentication method
#### Method 1: URL authentication (recommended for cURL)
Include credentials directly in the URL:
```bash
curl https://:@api.cloudinary.com/v1_1//resources/image
```
#### Method 2: Authorization header
Encode your API key and API secret as a Base64 string in the format:
```text
:
```
Then include the encoded value in the `Authorization` header using the `Basic` scheme:
```bash
# Create the credential string
CREDENTIALS=":"
# Base64 encode the credentials
ENCODED=$(echo -n "$CREDENTIALS" | base64)
# Use in Authorization header
curl -H "Authorization: Basic $ENCODED" \
https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1//resources/image
```
**Example**
```bash
# Example credentials
API_KEY="123456789012345"
API_SECRET="abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456"
# Combine credentials
COMBINED="${API_KEY}:${API_SECRET}"
# Result: "123456789012345:abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz123456"
# Base64 encode
echo -n "$COMBINED" | base64
# Result: MTIzNDU2Nzg5MDEyMzQ1OmFiY2RlZmdoaWprbG1ub3BxcnN0dXZ3eHl6MTIzNDU2
# Use in request
curl -H "Authorization: Basic MTIzNDU2Nzg5MDEyMzQ1OmFiY2RlZmdoaWprbG1ub3BxcnN0dXZ3eHl6MTIzNDU2" \
https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1/demo/resources/image
```
## Using SDKs (recommended)
The easiest way to avoid authentication issues is to use one of Cloudinary's [official SDKs](cloudinary_sdks), which handle authentication automatically:
```multi
|nodejs
// Authentication handled automatically
cloudinary.v2.api.resources()
.then(result => console.log(result));
|python
# Authentication handled automatically
result = cloudinary.api.resources()
|ruby
# Authentication handled automatically
result = Cloudinary::Api.resources
|go
// Authentication handled automatically
resp, err := cld.Admin.Assets(ctx, admin.AssetsParams{})
|php_2
// Authentication handled automatically
$result = $api->assets();
|java
// Authentication handled automatically
ApiResponse result = api.resources(ObjectUtils.emptyMap());
|csharp
// Authentication handled automatically
var result = cloudinary.ListResources();
```
> **NOTE**: SDKs automatically handle the proper formatting and encoding of your credentials, eliminating most authentication issues.
> **READING**:
>
> * [Admin API](admin_api)
> * [Cloudinary SDKs](cloudinary_sdks)