401 on auth - use the dashboard API password, not your login password

TL;DR

When DataForSEO returns a bare 401, check which password you used.

Fix

1. When DataForSEO returns a bare 401, check which password you used. Expected: you can confirm this matches your situation.

When to use

• You are dealing with this situation.
• The symptom matches: 401 on auth - use the dashboard API password, not your login password.

When NOT to use

• Unrelated issues with a different cause.
• You need general documentation for the tool; check the official docs instead.

Compatibility

Reported per the linked source.

Variant phrasings

401 on auth - use the dashboard API password, not your login password

Why it happens

DataForSEO field notes (market-intel tools reference): auth is HTTP Basic with your account login as the username and the API password from the dashboard - NOT your account login password. Pasting the account password fails with an unhelpful HTTP 401.

Edge cases

• If your error message differs even slightly, this is probably a different issue; search the exact text.
• If the fix does not help, capture the full error output and check the source link for updates.

DataForSEO field notes (market-intel tools reference): auth is HTTP Basic with your account login as the username and the API password from the dashboard - NOT your account login password. Pasting the account password fails with an unhelpful HTTP 401. Resolved: When DataForSEO returns a bare 401, check which password you used. The API wants the dedicated API password shown in the dashboard, not the password you log into the website with - using the login password fails silently with 401 and no useful message. Also note the free Sandbox returns mock data for wiring tests; only the $1 trial and production return real SERP data. Source: https://github.com/daizedong/market-intel/blob/HEAD/skills/market-intel/reference/tools/dataforseo.md