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How to get a TransIP API key

Dennis Postma19 March 2026
Reading time3 minutes
Guides

Enable the TransIP API, generate a key pair without IP whitelisting and connect it to DNSense with your username and private key.

DNSense guide cover: a TransIP private key

TransIP does not use a single token. You generate a key pair, keep the private half, and DNSense uses it to request short-lived access tokens on its own. The detail that trips people up is the IP whitelist.

Enable the API and add a key pair

  1. Log in to the TransIP control panel, click your profile icon at the top right and go to My account > API. The direct address is transip.nl/cp/account/api/.
The API entry in the TransIP control panel menu
  1. Set the Status switch to On.
The API status switch turned on
  1. Add a Key pair. The label is for you, so name it after what will use it, for example dnsense.
  2. Uncheck Whitelisted IP. DNSense requests tokens that work from any address. A key pair that insists on a whitelist makes those requests fail, because DNSense does not connect from your office or server.
The key pair form with a label and the Whitelisted IP checkbox
  1. Save. TransIP says "Key Pair successfully added" and shows the private key.

The screenshots come from TransIP's own documentation and show the Dutch interface.

Copy the private key now

The private key is shown once. Copy all of it, including the -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY----- and -----END PRIVATE KEY----- lines. DNSense needs them to read the key.

The confirmation with the new private key

If you lost it, delete the key pair and create another one. TransIP cannot show it a second time.

Connect it to DNSense

Add a connection, choose TransIP, enter your TransIP username (the one you log in with) and paste the private key. DNSense requests and refreshes the access tokens by itself, so there is nothing to renew by hand.

A note on safety

Without a whitelist, the private key is the only thing protecting API access to your account. Treat it like a password. If you suspect it leaked, delete the key pair in the same control panel page and nothing signed with it works any more.