> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://valaw.madebyjet.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Authentication

> Learn how to authenticate with the Riot Games API using Valaw

## Getting a Riot API key

To use Valaw, you need a Riot Games API key from the [Riot Developer Portal](https://developer.riotgames.com/).

### Development vs production keys

Riot Games provides two types of API keys:

* **Development keys**: Free, automatically generated keys that expire every 24 hours. These have significant restrictions — only a small subset of endpoints are accessible, making them unsuitable for most real use cases.
* **Production keys**: Require an application and approval process. These keys have full endpoint access, higher rate limits, and don't expire.

<Warning>
  A production key is strongly recommended. Development keys only have access to a handful of endpoints and will return 403 errors for most of the API.
</Warning>

## Storing keys securely

Never hardcode your API key directly in your source code. Use environment variables instead.

Create a `.env` file in your project root:

```bash theme={null}
RIOT_API_TOKEN=RGAPI-your-api-key-here
```

Then load it in Python using `python-dotenv`:

```python theme={null}
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
import valaw

load_dotenv()

RIOT_API_TOKEN = os.getenv("RIOT_API_TOKEN")
```

<Warning>
  Add `.env` to your `.gitignore` to prevent accidentally committing your API key.
</Warning>

## Initializing the client

```python theme={null}
import valaw
import os

client = valaw.Client(
    token=os.getenv("RIOT_API_TOKEN"),
    cluster="americas"
)
```

### Choosing a cluster

The cluster determines which Riot API server handles your requests:

* `americas` — North America, Latin America, Brazil
* `europe` — Europe, Turkey, Russia, Middle East
* `asia` — Asia Pacific, Korea
* `esports` — Esports data

Choose the cluster nearest to your server for best performance. Note that the cluster is for the API routing, not the player's region — use `region` parameters on individual method calls for player-specific data.

### Client validation

The client validates your API key and cluster on initialization:

```python theme={null}
try:
    client = valaw.Client(token="", cluster="invalid")
except valaw.Exceptions.InvalidRiotAPIKey:
    print("API key is required")
except valaw.Exceptions.InvalidCluster:
    print("Invalid cluster")
```

## Closing the client

Always close the client session when you're done:

```python theme={null}
import valaw
import asyncio
import os

async def main():
    client = valaw.Client(token=os.getenv("RIOT_API_TOKEN"), cluster="americas")
    try:
        account = await client.GET_getByRiotId("PlayerName", "NA1")
        print(f"Found: {account.gameName}#{account.tagLine}")
    finally:
        await client.close()

asyncio.run(main())
```

## Best practices

1. **Use a production key** — development keys only work with a few endpoints
2. **Use environment variables** — never commit API keys to version control
3. **Always close the session** — call `await client.close()` in a `finally` block
4. **Choose the right cluster** — use the cluster closest to your server
5. **Handle auth errors** — implement proper handling for expired or invalid keys