Football Charts Authentication

generated: '2026-09-04'
method: searched
source: https://www.football-charts.com/developers
docs: https://www.football-charts.com/developers
note: >-
  DERIVED-FROM-SPEC was not possible — Football Charts publishes no OpenAPI. This profile is read
  from the provider's developer page, its self-describing API descriptor at
  https://footballcharts-backend.onrender.com/api/v1/, its open-source MCP server, and live
  unauthenticated probes of the API (which return the auth instructions in the error body).
summary:
  types: [apiKey]
  api_key_in: [header, path]
  oauth2_flows: []
  oauth2: false
  openid_connect: false
  mutual_tls: false
  anonymous_surfaces:
    - 'GET https://footballcharts-backend.onrender.com/api/v1/ (self-describing descriptor)'
    - 'POST https://mcp.football-charts.com/mcp — initialize and tools/list'
schemes:
  - name: bearerApiKey
    type: apiKey
    in: header
    parameter: Authorization
    format: 'Bearer fc_<key>'
    surfaces: [rest, mcp-remote]
    sources: ['https://www.football-charts.com/developers', 'live 401 body']
  - name: xApiKey
    type: apiKey
    in: header
    parameter: X-API-Key
    surfaces: [rest]
    sources: ['live 401 body from https://footballcharts-backend.onrender.com/api/v1/leagues/']
    note: >-
      Not shown on the developer page — discovered in the API's own 401 message, which names both
      accepted headers.
  - name: mcpUrlPathKey
    type: apiKey
    in: path
    parameter: '<key>'
    format: 'https://mcp.football-charts.com/<fc_key>/mcp'
    surfaces: [mcp-remote]
    sources: ['https://www.football-charts.com/developers']
    note: >-
      Documented for claude.ai custom connectors, whose configuration field accepts only a URL. The
      provider states keys are read-only and replaceable, so a key in a URL grants published
      statistics and nothing else.
  - name: fcApiKeyEnv
    type: apiKey
    in: environment
    parameter: FC_API_KEY
    surfaces: [mcp-stdio]
    sources: ['https://github.com/ddevetak/footballcharts-mcp/blob/main/server.json']
key_issuance:
  self_serve: true
  endpoint: 'POST https://footballcharts-backend.onrender.com/api/v1/keys/register/'
  request_body: '{"email": "you@example.com"}'
  web_form: https://www.football-charts.com/developers
  key_prefix: fc_
  shown_once: true
  rotation: 'Provider states a new key can be issued at any time; keys are read-only.'
  cost: free
x-evidence:
  - {fetched: '2026-09-04', url: 'https://footballcharts-backend.onrender.com/api/v1/leagues/', http_status: 401, body: '{"error": {"code": "missing_key", "message": "Pass your API key as \"Authorization: Bearer fc_...\" or \"X-API-Key\". Free keys: POST /api/v1/keys/register/"}}'}
  - {fetched: '2026-09-04', url: 'https://footballcharts-backend.onrender.com/api/v1/leagues/', http_status: 401, sent: 'Authorization: Bearer <invalid>', body: '{"error": {"code": "unknown_key", "message": "API key not recognised."}}'}