Diag: Terraform provider 401/403, validate the key pair and api_url
# Diag: Terraform provider 401/403
**Symptom (exact):** `terraform plan`/`apply` fails with 401 Unauthorized or 403 Forbidden from the Datadog provider.
**Likely causes:** (a) app key missing (API key alone is not enough), (b) api_url pointing at the wrong region, (c) app key lost permissions (owner role changed), (d) keys rotated.
**Confirm:**
1. Read the provider block: are `api_key`, `app_key`, AND `api_url` all set? The provider needs the trio; `api_url` must match your site (`https://api.datadoghq.eu` for EU, etc.).
2. Test outside Terraform: curl a simple GET (e.g. list monitors) with `DD-API-KEY` and `DD-APPLICATION-KEY` headers against the same api_url. 401 here means the keys, 200 means the provider config.
3. Check the app key owner: still active, still has the needed permissions? Some endpoints need extra access granted on the key.
4. Env var vs provider block: `DD_API_KEY`/`DD_APP_KEY` env vars work, but a provider block with stale values overrides them silently.
**Fix:** set the correct trio, prefer env vars from the secret manager in CI, and scope the app key to what Terraform manages.
**Verify:** the curl from step 2 returns 200, then `terraform plan` runs clean. Store the verification: a plan-only CI job catches the next rotation before apply time.Maintainer review
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