> This page is for Taurus PROTECT, version v3.48.
> For other versions, use one of these documentation indexes:
> - v3.58 (default): https://taurushq.ferndocs.com/protect-capital/v3.58/llms.txt
> - v3.56: https://taurushq.ferndocs.com/protect-capital/v3.56/llms.txt
> - v3.54: https://taurushq.ferndocs.com/protect-capital/v3.54/llms.txt
> - v3.52: https://taurushq.ferndocs.com/protect-capital/v3.52/llms.txt
> - v3.50: https://taurushq.ferndocs.com/protect-capital/v3.50/llms.txt
> - v3.48: https://taurushq.ferndocs.com/protect-capital/v3.48/llms.txt
> - v3.46: https://taurushq.ferndocs.com/protect-capital/v3.46/llms.txt
> - v3.44: https://taurushq.ferndocs.com/protect-capital/v3.44/llms.txt
> - v3.42: https://taurushq.ferndocs.com/protect-capital/v3.42/llms.txt
> - v3.40: https://taurushq.ferndocs.com/protect-capital/v3.40/llms.txt
> - v3.38: https://taurushq.ferndocs.com/protect-capital/v3.38/llms.txt

> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://taurushq.ferndocs.com/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://taurushq.ferndocs.com/_mcp/server.

# Introduction

All Taurus-PROTECT API endpoints require authentication. There are currently **two forms of authentication available** described in the following chapters.

> ❔ The choice between Bearer and HMAC authentication depends on the specific security requirements and complexity constraints of your integration project.
>
> Bearer authentication is generally simpler to implement and more widely used while HMAC authentication offers stronger security and integrity guarantees.
>
> Note also, that Bearer authentication tokens have a short life time and require frequent token refreshes, while HMAC authentication uses long lived API keys.