Protect Your Solana API Keys: Security Best Practices

Secure your Helius Solana API keys from malicious actors. Access control rules, RPC proxy, and security best practices to prevent unauthorized usage and charges.

API Key Security Alert: Exposed API keys can lead to unauthorized usage, quota exhaustion, and unexpected charges. Always protect your keys in production applications.

Why Key Protection Matters

When you expose API keys on the client side, malicious actors can discover and abuse them, potentially:

Exhaust Your Quota

Malicious usage can quickly consume your API limits and cause service interruptions

Increase Your Bills

Unauthorized requests can trigger auto-scaling charges or push you over plan limits

Compromise Security

Exposed keys can provide access to sensitive data and operations

Damage Performance

High unauthorized usage can impact your application’s performance

Protection Methods

Helius provides multiple layers of protection to secure your API keys:

RPC Proxy

Deploy your own proxy for maximum security and control.

Helius RPC Proxy

A simple, open-source RPC proxy that you can deploy with 1-click to Cloudflare.

Benefits of Using a Proxy

Complete Key Protection

Your API key stays server-side, never exposed to clients

Custom Rate Limiting

Implement your own rate limiting and usage controls

Request Filtering

Filter and validate requests before they reach Helius

Usage Analytics

Monitor and analyze your API usage patterns

Best Practices

Environment Variables

Never hardcode API keys in your source code. Use environment variables instead.

// ❌ Don't do this
const apiKey = "your-api-key-here";

// ✅ Do this instead
const apiKey = process.env.HELIUS_API_KEY;

Separate Keys for Different Environments

Use different API keys for development, staging, and production environments.

const getApiKey = () => {
  switch (process.env.NODE_ENV) {
    case 'production':
      return process.env.HELIUS_API_KEY_PROD;
    case 'staging':
      return process.env.HELIUS_API_KEY_STAGING;
    default:
      return process.env.HELIUS_API_KEY_DEV;
  }
};

Regular Key Rotation

Rotate your API keys regularly and immediately if you suspect they’ve been compromised.

1. Generate New Key

   Create a new API key in your Helius dashboard

2. Update Applications

   Update all applications to use the new key

3. Test Thoroughly

   Ensure all services are working with the new key

4. Revoke Old Key

   Delete the old key from your dashboard

Monitor Usage

Regularly check your API usage in the Helius dashboard for unusual patterns.

Red flags to watch for:

• Sudden spikes in usage
• Requests from unexpected locations
• High error rates
• Usage during off-hours

Security Checklist

✅ Development Security

• Use environment variables for API keys
• Never commit API keys to version control
• Use different keys for different environments
• Set up access control rules for development domains
• Use secure URLs for frontend development

✅ Production Security

• Implement proper access control rules
• Use RPC proxy for maximum security
• Monitor API usage regularly
• Set up alerts for unusual usage patterns
• Rotate keys regularly
• Document your security procedures

✅ Emergency Response

• Have a key rotation procedure ready
• Know how to quickly revoke compromised keys
• Monitor for security breaches
• Have contact information for Helius support
• Keep backups of your security configurations

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Avoid these common security pitfalls:

1. Hardcoding keys in frontend JavaScript - Always use secure URLs or proxies
2. Committing keys to Git repositories - Use environment variables and .gitignore
3. Using production keys for development - Separate keys for different environments
4. Not setting access control rules - Always configure domain/IP restrictions
5. Ignoring unusual usage patterns - Monitor your dashboard regularly

Need Help?

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Support Team

Contact our support team for security concerns