Authorization Header

Table of Content

• Syntax
• Directives
• Examples
• Browser Compatibility
• How to modify Authorization header

The Authorization Header is an HTTP header that is used in network protocols as a means to transmit the credentials of a client to a server. It is used during the process of HTTP authentication to allow the server to verify the identity of the client. This is done by including access tokens, API tokens, or any type of credential in the Authorization Header.

Syntax

Authorization: <type> <credentials>Copy

Directives

<type>: This is the type of authentication to be used. Common types include Basic, Bearer, and Digest.

<credentials>: Contains the credentials for certain authentication types. For example, when the type is Basic, the credentials are formatted as 'username:password' encoded in Base64.

Examples

Using Basic authentication type with username 'client' and password 'password123':

Authorization: Basic Y2xpZW50OnBhc3N3b3JkMTIzCopy

Using Bearer authentication with token 'abcdefgh':

Authorization: Bearer abcdefghCopy

Browser Compatibility

How to modify Authorization header

ModHeader is a Chrome extension that allows you to modify HTTP request headers. To modify the Authorization header, you would navigate to the ModHeader extension, click 'Add', and then input 'Authorization' as the header name. In the 'Value' section, input the authorization type and the credentials or token, maintaining the header format. This is particularly useful during application development and API testing, where you'd regularly need to alter request headers depending on different environments, endpoints, or test cases.