# RESTful authentication (/en/api-reference/api-ref/speech-to-text/authentication)

> For AI agents: see the complete documentation index at [llms.txt](/llms.txt).

The Speech-to-Text REST APIs use Basic HTTP authentication. Each request must include an `Authorization` header built from your Agora customer ID and customer secret.

## Recommended pattern [#recommended-pattern]

* Store customer credentials on the server.
* Generate the Basic Auth credential by Base64-encoding the `customer_id:customer_secret` string.
* Send the encoded value in the `Authorization: Basic <credential>` request header.
* Keep all REST calls on the server side and avoid exposing secrets in clients.

## Related pages [#related-pages]

* [Overview](index)
* [Start a Real-time STT agent](join)
* [Query the task status](query)