# Calling the API

The Fides API requires authentication via OAuth using a valid access token. In this document we'll walk through calling the Fides API with a valid access token and the appropriate scopes.

## Prerequisites  
In order to complete this, you will need:

- A valid `access_token` created from a valid `client_id` and `client_secret`. Read how to [generate access tokens](/content/docs/platform/authentication/oauth/generating-tokens/index.html) here.

## Example: Calling the API with an Access Token  
To call the Fides API your request must include an access token with valid _scopes_ for the given API request. The access token should be passed as an `Authorization` header similar to the sample request below that retrieves the active storage configuration.

GET /api/v1/storage/default/active

```
curl '{{FIDES_URL}}/api/v1/storage/default/active' \
-H 'Authorization: Bearer {{FIDES_ACCESS_TOKEN}}'
```

In the above example, `{{FIDES_URL}}` is the URL to your Fides server and `{{FIDES_ACCESS_TOKEN}}` is the access token generated with your client credentials.

If this is working correctly, a successful response will show the current storage configurations similar to the below output:

Example authenticated request response

```
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json

{
    "name": "Default Storage Config [local]",
    "type": "local",
    "details": {
        "naming": "request_id"
    },
    "key": "default_storage_config_local",
    "format": "json",
    "is_default": true
}
```

[Token Expiration](/content/docs/platform/authentication/oauth/token-expiration "Token Expiration"/index.html) [Creating Clients](/content/docs/platform/authentication/oauth/creating-clients "Creating Clients"/index.html)