​
Overview

To authenticate with Clerk, you need:
  1. Secret Key - A key that grants Nango permission to interact with Clerk’s APIs resources and services.
This guide will walk you through obtaining your Secret Key within Clerk.

​
Prerequisites:

  • You must have an account with Clerk.

​
Instructions:

​
Step 1: Retrieve your Clerk Secret Key

  1. Sign in to your Clerk Dashboard
  2. Select your application (or create one if you haven’t already)
  3. Navigate to Configure > Developers > API Keys
  1. You’ll see two types of keys:
    • Publishable Key: Starts with pk_test_ or pk_live_ (for frontend use)
    • Secret Key: Starts with sk_test_ or sk_live_ (for backend use - this is what you need)
  1. Copy your Secret Key
Keep your Secret Key secure and never expose it in client-side code or public repositories. This key provides full access to your Clerk backend API.
If you’re just testing the integration, use your development key (sk_test_...). For production, use your live key (sk_live_...).

​
Step 2: Enter credentials in the Connect UI

Once you have your Clerk Secret Key:
  1. Open the form where you need to authenticate with Clerk.
  2. Enter your Secret Key in its designated field.
  3. Submit the form, and you should be successfully authenticated.
You are now connected to Clerk.