Update as of 03/05/2011: The following post is for older version of WordPress.com (before version 3.0?). Now everything is changed. In order to find your API key, you need to login to your WordPress.com blog first, then visit this web address: https://apikey.wordpress.com/: it will tell your WordPress.com username as well as your API key.
If you have a WordPress.com blog, You can find your API (Application Programming Interface) key by clicking on Users/Your Profile. It says, “Your WordPress.com API key is: ########d#db. Don’t share your API key, it’s like a password,” where ######## should be replaced with numbers. API key comes automatically when you registered a Free blog with WordPress.com. In order to learn more about it, I searched around on the web. Here is the original information I got from WordPress.com. It says,
API Keys
WordPress.com has what’s called “API keys” which allow you to use services and enhancements built on the WordPress.com platform. This allows you to leverage the power of WP.com while still hosting your blog elsewhere.
How do I get one?
When you sign up for a WordPress.com account we will email you an API key. If you already have a WordPress.com account, your API key is listed on your profile page, which you can get to by clicking the “My Account” link in the top right when you’re logged in.
Where will my API key be?
It will be in your welcome email. To make sure you get the email, avoid free services like Hotmail and MSN and check your spam filter if it doesn’t show up in a few minutes. (Also, consider whitelisting *@wordpress.com.)
Can I share my API key?
No, it’s like a password to your account.
What can I do with my API key?
One example is the new anti-spam service, Akismet. Install the Akismet plugin and enter your WP.com API key and your blog will be protected from spam the same way every blog on WordPress.com is.
In the future it will also give you access to stats and other add-on services.
So if you like to have a WordPress.com API key for personal use, then you know what to do now. However, for the purpose of commercial use, check out Commercial Use API Keys here.
What can you do with your API key? Is this post helpful? Please leave a comment below.
Relate article
API Keys
My Internet Stuff 
Pingback: How Fast Google and Yahoo! Indexed My New Blog! « My Internet Stuff
Pingback: Using or Not Using Smilies on Your Blog « My Internet Stuff
Do I need a different API for each of my blogs?
For example if I have yyy.com and zzz.com and my email in each is keith@yyy.com and keith@zzz.com respectively can I use the key that I got for yyy and later built zzz?
Hope this makes sense and I can’t find my key with the instructions above???
Thanks,
Keith
What kind of blog do you have? keith53. Did you get it from WordPress.com? API key only comes with WordPress.com blog. So when you sign up a Free blog, you will get the API key in the welcome email from WordPress.com. You can use that same API key for your non-WordPress.com blog too. That is what I did with my WordPress.org blog and it works!
I got my WordPress account through my web host and I don’t see an API key on my user profile. How do I get one – I need it to activate Akismet.
Thanks.
Hi Jeanette,
Go to sign up an account from WordPress.com, and you’ll get one in mail. Then use it for your WordPress.org blog.
I didn’t get a API key please can you tell me where to get a new one?
Hi nojule,
Read this post. You should get one from sign up for a WordPress.com account here.
Pingback: A Stats Plugin to Analyze Your WordPress Blog? | Exploring The Internet
here’s my question
i cant see the api key in my users profile
no api key showned in the top left of the page 🙂
In order to get your API Key, you need to sign up for a WordPress.com account and it is Free. Then you can find your API Key from your profile and use it to activate Akismet plugin in your self-hosted WordPress blog. Hope that helps!
I have an account in WordPress.com but i cant see it on the top left of my profile. Here\’s the screenshot http://babyjhe.co.cc/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/profile.jpg
WordPress.com blog has to be the form of yourblogname.wordpress.com. The one you’ve shown here is your self-hosted WordPress blog. That is why you can’t see API Key because it doesn’t come with your self-hosted wordpress blog. If you want to find out more about them, see this post here: Differences Between WordPress.com and WordPress.org
Ill just use my API KEY that belongs to my other blog. Thanks.
Can I change my API key? Thanks.
I don’t think you can change your API key. However, you can use different email to sign up for a new API key if you wish.
I’m just trying to get site stats, user tracking on my website. I have it on my blog and love it. I have http://www.theorganicartist.com (no tracking) and http://www.theorganicartist.wordpress.com (trackingon this one) Can I NOT have it on both?
Actually you can use your site stats on both sites. Just apply API key for both sites as you wish.
I had a friend create my blog – now the API key used for plugins like WP Stats is his API. Can I change this? I created a new WP account, got a new API key… but now I get this message when I try to change the API key in the stats plugin:
“Error from last API Key attempt:
The owner of that API Key (deepbluepacific) is not on the access list for this blog (12342706). To be added to the access list, you must contact support.”
To view my stats now I have to get his WP password?!
http://www.jeffnagy.com
Thanks!
Jeff
As long as I know you can change API Key to be yours. I don’t know why it gave you errors. Maybe you can deactivate the WP Stats plugin first, then reactivate it again.
Thanks for your help, via reading other users questions and answers.
Brucei
Good to know this helps.
I certainly have to think a lot more in that course and find out things i can do about this.
Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment here.
Lanna, thanks for your helpful blog on where to find the key. Thanks heaps!
Glad that you find it helpful and thanks for stopping by.
No worries keep up the good work! flowers77 is me Jules Ashworth. Wish you well.
Lanna, thanks for your internet stuff blog, its really resourceful, i am happy to find the key. Thanks for the key
Thank you for sharing this great post. It is helpful for me. I really grateful with you.