.. _reaching_service_from_external_applications:

Reaching a service from external applications
=============================================

To be able to reach the entrypoints in your deployed services from external applications, 
the application has to authenticate itself. The applications require a valid authentication token which is generated by the MVI Manager. 

Generate an authentication token
--------------------------------

To generate this authentication token, you will need to use the CLI.
Start by making sure that you are logged in by calling the login command:

>>> mvi login

When you are logged in, use the token command:

>>> mvi token
{your_token}

This will generate a long-lived authentication token.

If you want a semi-long lived authentication, specify the number of days it should be valid like this:

>>> mvi token 10
{your_token}

This will generate a token that is valid for 10 days.


Use the generated authentication token
--------------------------------------
Once you have generated the authentication token for your external application you are ready
to start sending requests to the deployed services.

The authentication token is used as a Bearer token and should be included in the header of the
applications requests to the services as key-value pair, like this:

Authorization: Bearer {your_token}