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How to Get Your WeatherLink API Key (Step by Step)

If you want to connect your Davis weather station to an app, a dashboard, or a hosted website, you almost always need a WeatherLink v2 API key. It is the credential that lets other tools read your station's data from your WeatherLink account, without sharing your password. Generating one is free, it takes about two minutes, and it works on every WeatherLink plan, including the free Basic tier.

This guide walks through exactly where to find it, what the difference is between v1 and v2, and how to use it once you have it.

What is a WeatherLink API key?

Your Davis station uploads its readings to your account at weatherlink.com. An API key is a pair of values, an API Key and an API Secret, that gives a third-party app permission to fetch those readings on your behalf. Think of it as a read-only pass to your own data.

A few things worth knowing up front:

  • It is free to generate on any WeatherLink plan.
  • It is read-only. Apps use it to fetch data, not to change your station settings.
  • It does not affect how you use WeatherLink yourself. Your dashboard and apps keep working exactly as before.
  • You only generate it once. After that you paste it into whichever app you want to use.

v1 vs v2: use v2

WeatherLink has two generations of API. The older v1 key is being phased out and most modern apps do not support it. You want the newer WeatherLink v2 key, which returns richer data and is what current tools expect.

So when you see the option, choose v2. If an app asks for "your WeatherLink API key and secret," it almost certainly means a v2 key.

Step 1: Sign in to your WeatherLink account

Go to weatherlink.com/account and sign in with the email and password you use for WeatherLink. This is the account your station already reports to, the same one you use to view your live data.

Before you continue, it helps to confirm your station is online and reporting. If you can see current conditions on weatherlink.com, you are ready.

Step 2: Open the WeatherLink v2 API section

On your account page, look for the WeatherLink v2 API section. Depending on the layout it may simply be labelled API Keys. This is where keys are created and managed.

Step 3: Generate a new v2 key

Choose to generate a new v2 key. WeatherLink will then show you two values:

  1. An API Key, a long public identifier.
  2. An API Secret, a private value that acts like a password for the key.

Copy both. The secret in particular is sensitive, so treat it like a password and do not post it publicly. If you ever lose it or think it has leaked, you can generate a fresh key and retire the old one.

Step 4: Paste it into your app

Now you hand the key to whatever app you are using. With Pro Weather, for example, the flow is:

  1. In your Pro Weather dashboard, open your site and go to Connection.
  2. Paste your API Key and API Secret into the form.
  3. Choose Connect WeatherLink.

That is it. Pro Weather then auto-discovers every station and sensor on your account, so there is no station ID to look up or feed to configure by hand. Your secret is encrypted before it is stored and is never sent back to the browser. For the full walkthrough, see Connect your WeatherLink station.

Does the plan matter?

Your key works on every plan, but what it can fetch depends on your WeatherLink subscription:

  • Basic (free): current conditions only, updated about every 15 minutes. No historic data through the API.
  • Pro and Pro+ (paid): current conditions plus your full historic archive, at finer upload intervals.

If you are on Basic, you can still publish a complete, live site. Tools like Pro Weather simply build your history forward from the day you connect, instead of importing the past. For the full breakdown, see WeatherLink plans and your data.

Troubleshooting

  • The app says the key is invalid. Double-check you generated a v2 key, not v1, and that you pasted the secret without extra spaces. The secret is case-sensitive.
  • No data appears. Confirm the station is still online in WeatherLink and reporting current conditions. A brand-new station can take a few minutes to show up after it first reports.
  • You added a new sensor. Generate nothing new. In Pro Weather, just open Connection again and choose Reconnect and rediscover to pick it up.

Put your key to work

Once you have your v2 key, the fastest thing to do with it is turn your station into a real website. Pro Weather takes that key and builds you a fully hosted weather site, with your own domain, automatic updates, and history that is stored forever. There is nothing to install and no server to run.

Ready to use your key? Start your Pro Weather site. It takes about five minutes.