> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mention-me.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Authentication token

> How to Generate the Authentication Token for the Dashboard Endpoint

To send authenticated requests to the **Dashboard** Entry Point API you must include an Authentication Token.

This token is a SHA256 hash, based on the customer's email address being sent in the request, and an Authentication Secret key provided by Mention Me.

**Token Generation Format** `AuthenticationToken = LowerCase( SHA256_Hash( LowerCase(EMAIL) + [AUTHENTICATION_SECRET] ) )`

**Getting Your Salt Key** Your AUTHENTICATION\_SECRET is unique and provided by Mention Me. It is used on both Demo and Production environments and may differ between those environments. You can find your authentication secret in the Merchant Settings -> Security & Data page within the mention me platform.

**Steps to Generate the Token**

<Steps>
  <Step title="Lowercase the email">
    Convert the customer’s email address in your API Request to lowercase.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Concatenate with secret">
    Concatenate the lowercase email with your Mention Me Authentication Secret.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Generate SHA-256 hash">
    Generate a SHA-256 hash of the resulting string.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Lowercase the hash">
    Convert the final hash to lowercase (most libraries return lowercase by default).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Include in request">
    Include this value in your API request as the AuthenticationToken.
  </Step>
</Steps>

**Testing the Authentication Token** We have a dedicated [Hash Testing tool](https://demo.mention-me.com/merchant/~/tools/test-hash?mode=authentication) you may use. This allows you to test that an Authentication Token you have generated will pass Mention Me’s validation when sent as part of a request to the EntryPoint or Consumer APIs. ***You will need access to the Mention Me Platform to access this page.***

Simply add the Email address you have hashed to create the Authentication Token, and the Authentication Token you generated, and the Mention Me platform will confirm if the token is valid.

If the hash does not match, the platform will share with you the expected hashed value.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/mentionme/Dcv4Ct-ZIyuK4Pcd/images/developer-docs/8c1924894c94bb5c93c3523b0e6f090a5781e3df8e3891a34cdb24ea45c890de-Mention_Me_Hash.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=Dcv4Ct-ZIyuK4Pcd&q=85&s=70afd52a30f89b41f3e1871b4e463259" alt="" width="2388" height="860" data-path="images/developer-docs/8c1924894c94bb5c93c3523b0e6f090a5781e3df8e3891a34cdb24ea45c890de-Mention_Me_Hash.png" />

What’s Next

Learn about referrer promotion via the Entry Point API

* [Referrer promotion](/api-reference/entry-point-api/referrer-promotion)