Miranda Limonczenko d7f1a44e53 docs: restructure the API keys guide by information type (#49796)
## I have read the
[CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/supabase/supabase/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md)
file.

YES

## What kind of change does this PR introduce?

Docs update. Restructure, mostly moved lines, plus a tense fix in a
shared partial.

## What is the current behavior?

Context, procedure, and reference material are interleaved, so
background reading interrupts the action path.

- The page never states which key to use as an answer. You infer it from
a five-column reference table.
- Finding a key is a fragment inside an admonition, placed above the
page's own definition of an API key.
- Rotating a leaked key, the only procedure on the page, is the last H3.
- The "Changes to API keys" notice narrates a past change in future
tense, and "They will be deprecated" has no antecedent in its paragraph.

## What is the new behavior?

Group the guide into context, procedure, and reference sections, per
CONTRIBUTING § Guides on mixed information types.

- Lead with "Which key do you use?", a decision table keyed on where the
code runs. Section navigation sits directly below the intro.
- Collect the conceptual sections under "How API keys work" and give
publishable and secret keys parallel headings.
- Promote both procedures into "Find and use your keys". Rotation is now
an ordered procedure.
- Move the enumerated secret key rules into "Security reference",
grouped under bold labels by the kind of mistake each prevents, and
leave a short danger admonition where secret keys are introduced.
- Promote the five-sentence coexistence admonition to its own section.
Admonitions are for short warnings.
- Rewrite the shared deprecation partial for timeless documentation:
present tense, no dangling "They", no "now". The partial renders on five
pages.
- Pin a stable anchor on the rotation heading and update the one inbound
link, in the rotating-anon-service-and-jwt-secrets troubleshooting
entry.
- Align link text across docs for this guide. Twenty-one links pointed
at it under fourteen labels, including two that named the wrong
destination. Rule: when a link means the guide, the text is "API keys";
when it means a specific key or section, the specific text stays. Twelve
now share "API keys", up from three.

Review with `git diff --color-moved=zebra`.

## Additional context

PR 2 of 4. Base is #49795. Includes the link-text alignment previously
opened as #49866.

## Manual testing

1. Open the API keys guide on the deploy preview.
2. Check the table of contents. It shows three groups: How API keys
work, Find and use your keys, Security reference.
3. Open the rotating-anon-service-and-jwt-secrets troubleshooting entry
and follow "Rotate a leaked or compromised key" under Further readings.
It lands on the renamed heading.
4. Open the Realtime Broadcast guide and check the "Changes to API keys"
notice. It reads in present tense there too.


<!-- This is an auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai
-->

## Summary by CodeRabbit

- **Documentation**
- Updated API key guidance to explain the transition from legacy `anon`
and `service_role` keys to publishable and secret keys by the end of
2026.
- Reorganized the API keys guide with clearer key-selection guidance,
security recommendations, usage examples, and rotation steps.
- Updated troubleshooting references to point to the revised leaked-key
rotation guidance.

<!-- end of auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai -->
2026-09-01 14:40:54 -07:00
2026-08-24 10:06:36 -06:00
2025-06-17 11:08:46 +02:00
2024-01-10 13:34:41 +01:00
2021-07-25 12:45:26 +08:00

Supabase

Supabase is the Postgres development platform. We're building the features of Firebase using enterprise-grade open source tools.

  • Hosted Postgres Database. Docs
  • Authentication and Authorization. Docs
  • Auto-generated APIs.
  • Functions.
    • Database Functions. Docs
    • Edge Functions Docs
  • File Storage. Docs
  • AI + Vector/Embeddings Toolkit. Docs
  • Dashboard

Supabase Dashboard

Watch "releases" of this repo to get notified of major updates.

Watch this repo

Documentation

For full documentation, visit supabase.com/docs

To see how to Contribute, visit Getting Started

Community & Support

  • Community Forum. Best for: help with building, discussion about database best practices.
  • GitHub Issues. Best for: bugs and errors you encounter using Supabase.
  • Email Support. Best for: problems with your database or infrastructure.
  • Discord. Best for: sharing your applications and hanging out with the community.

How it works

Supabase is a combination of open source tools. We’re building the features of Firebase using enterprise-grade, open source products. If the tools and communities exist, with an MIT, Apache 2, or equivalent open license, we will use and support that tool. If the tool doesn't exist, we build and open source it ourselves. Supabase is not a 1-to-1 mapping of Firebase. Our aim is to give developers a Firebase-like developer experience using open source tools.

Architecture

Supabase is a hosted platform. You can sign up and start using Supabase without installing anything. You can also self-host and develop locally.

Architecture

  • Postgres is an object-relational database system with over 30 years of active development that has earned it a strong reputation for reliability, feature robustness, and performance.
  • Realtime is an Elixir server that allows you to listen to PostgreSQL inserts, updates, and deletes using websockets. Realtime polls Postgres' built-in replication functionality for database changes, converts changes to JSON, then broadcasts the JSON over websockets to authorized clients.
  • PostgREST is a web server that turns your PostgreSQL database directly into a RESTful API.
  • GoTrue is a JWT-based authentication API that simplifies user sign-ups, logins, and session management in your applications.
  • Storage a RESTful API for managing files in S3, with Postgres handling permissions.
  • pg_graphql a PostgreSQL extension that exposes a GraphQL API.
  • postgres-meta is a RESTful API for managing your Postgres, allowing you to fetch tables, add roles, and run queries, etc.
  • Envoy is a cloud-native, high-performance edge and service proxy.

Client libraries

Our approach for client libraries is modular. Each sub-library is a standalone implementation for a single external system. This is one of the ways we support existing tools.

Language Client Feature-Clients (bundled in Supabase client)
Supabase PostgREST GoTrue Realtime Storage Functions
⚡️ Official ⚡️
JavaScript (TypeScript) supabase-js postgrest-js auth-js realtime-js storage-js functions-js
Flutter supabase-flutter postgrest-dart gotrue-dart realtime-dart storage-dart functions-dart
Swift supabase-swift postgrest-swift auth-swift realtime-swift storage-swift functions-swift
Python supabase-py postgrest-py gotrue-py realtime-py storage-py functions-py
💚 Community 💚
C# supabase-csharp postgrest-csharp gotrue-csharp realtime-csharp storage-csharp functions-csharp
Go - postgrest-go gotrue-go - storage-go functions-go
Java - - gotrue-java - storage-java -
Kotlin supabase-kt postgrest-kt auth-kt realtime-kt storage-kt functions-kt
Ruby supabase-rb postgrest-rb - - - -
Rust - postgrest-rs - - - -
Godot Engine (GDScript) supabase-gdscript - - - - -

Badges

Made with Supabase

[![Made with Supabase](https://supabase.com/badge-made-with-supabase.svg)](https://supabase.com)
<a href="https://supabase.com">
  <img
    width="168"
    height="30"
    src="https://supabase.com/badge-made-with-supabase.svg"
    alt="Made with Supabase"
  />
</a>

Made with Supabase (dark)

[![Made with Supabase](https://supabase.com/badge-made-with-supabase-dark.svg)](https://supabase.com)
<a href="https://supabase.com">
  <img
    width="168"
    height="30"
    src="https://supabase.com/badge-made-with-supabase-dark.svg"
    alt="Made with Supabase"
  />
</a>

Translations

Languages
TypeScript 59.3%
MDX 21.5%
JavaScript 17.9%
CSS 0.6%
Shell 0.4%
Other 0.2%