Create Clerk machine

Create a machine identity for M2M authentication in a connected Clerk instance.

← All Clerk endpoints · Capability overview

POST/v1/clerk/machines

https://api.vee3.io/v1/clerk/machines

10 tokens

Create a machine identity for M2M authentication in a connected Clerk instance.

Authorization

Send your API key in the Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY

MCP

The same capability is available as an MCP tool on Vee3 hosted MCP.

Tool name

clerk.create_machine

Parameters4 fields

clerk_instance_idstringOptional

Clerk instance id (ins_...) from clerk.get_connected_accounts. Omit to use the default connected account.

namestringRequired

Machine display name (1–255 characters).

scoped_machinesarrayOptional

Machine ids (mch_...) this machine may access (max 150).

default_token_ttlintegerOptional

Default M2M token lifetime in seconds (minimum 1).

min 1, max 315360000

Response8 fields

machineobject

7 fields

Created machine object from the Backend API.

idstring

Machine id (mch_...).

namestring

Machine display name.

instance_idstring

Clerk instance id (ins_...) that owns the machine.

default_token_ttlinteger

Default token lifetime in seconds for tokens created by this machine.

secret_keystring

Machine secret key returned on create. Treat as high-privilege — do not log.

created_atinteger

Unix timestamp in milliseconds when the machine was created.

updated_atinteger

Unix timestamp in milliseconds when the machine was last updated.

HTTP errors: clerk_connection_required, clerk_connection_not_found, clerk_connection_invalid, validation_error, unauthorized, payment_required

Example request

Python

import requests

url = "https://api.vee3.io/v1/clerk/machines"
headers = {
    "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
}
payload = {
    "name": "billing-service"
}

response = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=payload)
response.raise_for_status()
data = response.json()
print(data)

Example responses1 example

200Newly created Clerk machine for M2M authentication.

created_machine.json

{
  "machine": {
    "id": "mch_2abc123",
    "name": "billing-service",
    "instance_id": "ins_2abc123",
    "default_token_ttl": 3600,
    "created_at": 1710000000000,
    "updated_at": 1710000000000
  }
}