How do I add just a username within an authentication header in stripe-payments? - vb.net

Question

I'm trying to get a simple post request to work to create a customer via the Stripe.js API.
https://stripe.com/docs/api/java#authentication
I'm doing this in vb.net and don't want to use the stripe.net library.
I keep getting authorization failed. All I have to pass is the username in the header, or in this case the username is my test api key.
Here's a chunk of the code:
Dim asPostRequest As HttpWebRequest = WebRequest.Create(String.Format(ApiEndpoint))
Dim as_ByteArray As Byte() = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(stripeccw.ToString)
asPostRequest.Method = "POST"
asPostRequest.ContentType = "application/json"
'asPostRequest.Headers("Authorization") = "Basic" + apikey
'asPostRequest.Credentials("bearer", apikey)
'asPostRequest.Headers.Add("Authorization") = apikey
'asPostRequest.Credentials("Username") = apikey
'asPostRequest.Credentials = New NetworkCredential(apikey, "")
asPostRequest.ContentLength = as_ByteArray.Length
Dim as_DataStream As Stream = asPostRequest.GetRequestStream()
as_DataStream.Write(as_ByteArray, 0, as_ByteArray.Length)
as_DataStream.Close()
Where I've commented out... those are different ways that I've tried. I know some are just stupid attempts, but just getting frustrated. I know for a fact my api key is correct. I can verify this by navigating to https://api.stripe.com/v1/customers and entering it in for my username only.
Hoping someone can spot something simple :)
Thank you!

Answer 1

If I were in your shoes, the first thing I'd do is take a look at how Stripe.Net does it. Even if you don't want to use that library yourself, that doesn't mean you can't use the source code as a reference.
From Requestor.cs:
internal static WebRequest GetWebRequest(string url, string method, string apiKey = null, bool useBearer = false)
{
apiKey = apiKey ?? StripeConfiguration.GetApiKey();
var request = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(url);
request.Method = method;
if(!useBearer)
request.Headers.Add("Authorization", GetAuthorizationHeaderValue(apiKey));
else
request.Headers.Add("Authorization", GetAuthorizationHeaderValueBearer(apiKey));
request.Headers.Add("Stripe-Version", StripeConfiguration.ApiVersion);
request.ContentType = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded";
request.UserAgent = "Stripe.net (https://github.com/jaymedavis/stripe.net)";
return request;
}
private static string GetAuthorizationHeaderValue(string apiKey)
{
var token = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(string.Format("{0}:", apiKey)));
return string.Format("Basic {0}", token);
}
private static string GetAuthorizationHeaderValueBearer(string apiKey)
{
return string.Format("Bearer {0}", apiKey);
}
So it seems there are two ways to do it. You can either use "Bearer" format, which is:
asPostRequest.Headers.Add("Authorization", "Bearer " & apiKey)
or you can use "Basic" format which is:
asPostRequest.Headers.Add("Authorization", _
"Basic " & Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(apiKey & ":")))