API keys – Automated Hacks

API Keys Before They Were Called API Keys: Developer Access Control on the Early Dynamic Web (1995–1998)

From CGI scripts to browser scripting and form-driven endpoints, 1995–1998 shaped early developer access control patterns that foreshadowed modern API keys—often implemented with shared secrets, IP allowlists, and basic auth.

API Keys Before They Were Called API Keys: Developer Access Control in Early Web APIs (1990–1994) — Chapter 20

From password-protected directories to CGI scripts that behaved like proto-APIs, the early Web (1990–1994) experimented with access control long before the industry standardized API keys and developer portals.