# Clerk API

**Provider:** Clerk
**Category:** auth
**Base URL:** `https://api.clerk.com/v1`
**Auth:** bearer — `Authorization: Bearer sk_live_...`
**Rate Limit:** 100 requests/10 sec
**Free Tier:** Yes — [object Object]
**Pricing:** Pay per use (pay-as-you-go)
**Docs:** https://clerk.com/docs

## Description

Clerk provides a complete authentication and user management solution with pre-built React components, Next.js middleware, and a Backend API. Handle sign-up/sign-in with email, password, magic links, OAuth (Google, GitHub, etc.), and passkeys. Manage user profiles, organizations, roles, and sessions. The Backend API lets you read and manage users, create tokens, impersonate users, and configure security policies.

## Endpoints

| Method | Endpoint | Description |
|--------|----------|-------------|
| GET | `https://api.clerk.com/v1/users` | List users with filtering and search |
| GET | `https://api.clerk.com/v1/users/{userId}` | Get a specific user's full profile |
| PATCH | `https://api.clerk.com/v1/users/{userId}` | Update user metadata or profile fields |
| DELETE | `https://api.clerk.com/v1/users/{userId}` | Delete a user and all their sessions |
| POST | `https://api.clerk.com/v1/users/{userId}/ban` | Ban a user from signing in |
| GET | `https://api.clerk.com/v1/sessions` | List active sessions across all users |
| GET | `https://api.clerk.com/v1/organizations` | List organizations in your application |

## Authentication

Use your Clerk Secret Key (starts with sk_) as a Bearer token for Backend API requests. The Publishable Key is for frontend SDKs.

```
Authorization: Bearer sk_live_...
```

## Sample Request

```bash
curl "https://api.clerk.com/v1/users?limit=5&order_by=-created_at" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CLERK_SECRET_KEY"
```

## Sample Response

```json
{
  "data": [{
    "id": "user_2abc123",
    "email_addresses": [{"email_address": "alice@example.com"}],
    "first_name": "Alice",
    "last_name": "Chen",
    "created_at": 1704067200000,
    "last_sign_in_at": 1710000000000,
    "public_metadata": {}
  }],
  "total_count": 842
}
```

## Pricing Details

Free: 10k MAU, all core auth features. Pro $25/mo: includes 10k MAU + $0.02/additional MAU, organizations, custom domains, MFA. Enterprise: custom.

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*Source: [API Map](https://apimap.dev/apis/clerk/) — CC BY 4.0*