Create an application

An application (also called an instance) is a single Atlas environment: its own users, connections, keys, and JWKS. You typically run one for development and one for production.

1. Create it

Sign in to the Atlas dashboard and create an application. Give it a name; Atlas provisions the instance, a signing key, and a hosted Frontend API for it.

2. Find your keys

Every instance gives you two keys, on the API keys screen:

• Publishable key — pk_test_… (development) or pk_live_… (production). It identifies the instance and is safe to ship in your frontend.

• Secret key — sk_test_… / sk_live_…. It authenticates your backend to the Backend API. Never expose it in client code.

The test / live prefix tells you which environment a key belongs to, so a development key can never touch production data by accident.

3. Configure sign-in methods

Under User & authentication, turn on the methods you want — password, email verification codes, magic links, and passkeys. Under Connections, enable social providers (Google, GitHub, Microsoft, Apple, and 100+ others); paste each provider's OAuth client id and secret, and register this redirect URL with them:

https://atlasauth.net/v1/oauth/callback/<provider>

4. Note your Frontend API

Your instance has a Frontend API origin (its FAPI host) that the client SDKs talk to. You'll pass it — along with the publishable key — when you initialize a frontend SDK. In the dashboard it's shown next to your keys.

Next

• Your API keys — what each key does and where it's used.

• Protect a route — wire up the React or Next.js SDK.