# Connect other people’s creators

Get your app approved, send creators a connect link, then validate and store the key they give you.

For software that other people’s creators plug into, such as a CRM. Each creator generates a key for your app, and that key is the whole handshake. It never expires and there is nothing to refresh.

## 1. Apply for app access

[Apply here](https://2fans.io/developers/apply). The form asks what the app does, which parts of the API it uses, how many creators you expect and how you store keys. A person reviews it, usually within a few business days. Once approved, your app appears in the key picker every creator sees.

## 2. Send your connect link

It opens the picker with your app selected and survives login, so it works for creators who are signed out. The creator presses Generate, copies the key and pastes it into your app.

Link:

```text
https://www.dropfans.io/dashboard/vault?apiConnect=1&app=<your-slug>
```

## 3. Validate the key

Call `GET /me` right away and show the `username` back, so the creator sees they connected the right account.

curl:

```bash
curl "https://www.dropfans.io/api/external/v1/me" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DROPFANS_API_KEY"
```

Node:

```javascript
const res = await fetch('https://www.dropfans.io/api/external/v1/me', {
  headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer ' + process.env.DROPFANS_API_KEY },
});
console.log(await res.json());
```

Python:

```python
import os, requests

HEADERS = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['DROPFANS_API_KEY']}"}
res = requests.get("https://www.dropfans.io/api/external/v1/me", headers=HEADERS)
print(res.json()["username"])
```

## 4. Store it safely

Encrypt the key at rest. Never log it, send it to your frontend or echo it in an error message.

If a creator revokes the key, every request returns `401`, so ask them to reconnect instead of retrying. If your app is suspended, requests return `403` with `app_suspended`, and the keys work again once it is reinstated.

## Agencies

An agency can connect once per creator, or generate one key as the agency and act for every creator and AI persona it manages at `/api/external/v1/creators/{creatorId}/…`.

## Commission

A drop bought, a tip sent or a subscription started through your app's links earns your app owner 5% of the sale for life, unless agreed otherwise. That includes every renewal. It's paid out of our platform fee, never taken from the creator. Links made with a personal key earn nothing, so always generate links with your app's key.

## Next

- [Sign creators up from your own page](https://2fans.dev/docs/build/creator-signup.md): Approved apps can create creator accounts by API, send each creator through the ID check and start working with the returned key.
- [Webhooks](https://2fans.dev/docs/build/webhooks.md): Set one signed endpoint for your app and react to sales, refunds, subscriptions, payouts and ID-check results.

2fans was called Dropfans until October 2026, so the API host is still www.dropfans.io and keys still start with dpfn_.

Last updated 2026-11-02. All pages: https://2fans.dev/llms.txt.