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Forum Discussion
Issue in generating access token
Hello, I faced many issues in generating access token
First, I have here access code generated <REDACTED> Second trying to execute this curl :
curl https://api.dropbox.com/oauth2/token...
Hi Mostafa Ezzat,
Let's try some authentication process step by step. 🙂 It may succeed.
At the beginning make sure you have your App key and App secret at hand from App Console page. Select desired application there and once got there in and scroll to field "App key" and "App secret" (for the secret "Show" should be used) keep the browser window accessible, so would be able take a look there when needed.
Next, open a new browser window and put into address line following:
https://www.dropbox.com/oauth2/authorize?token_access_type=offline&response_type=code&client_id=<App key>Where "<App key>" is the one from you previous browser window. Next the confirmation you will get a code (alphanumeric sequence). The same could be received automatic when redirect URL is in use (either direct or PKCE code flow), but here we will perform it in such a way for clarity.
Next step will be to "materialize" the received code. In a terminal window execute following curl command:
curl https://api.dropbox.com/oauth2/token -d code=<received code> -d grant_type=authorization_code -u <App key>:<App secret>
Where "<received code>" is the code shown up in the second browser window after confirmation. "<App key>" and "<App secret>" come from the first browser window. As a result you will get in your terminal something like:
{"access_token": "sl.abcdefg123456789AbCdEf-GHijKLmn0U", "token_type": "bearer", "expires_in": 14400, "refresh_token": "oDfT54975DfGh12345KlMnOpQrSt01a", "scope": "account_info.read files.content.read etc.", "uid": "123456789", "account_id": "dbid:ABCDEF5g8HijklMNopQ2Rs5tUV_wxy5z_YO4"}Of course, you will receive different values filling the pattern. Here "sl.abcdefg123456789AbCdEf-GHijKLmn0U" is access token you can use in every regular API call for "14400" second since current moment until expires. "oDfT54975DfGh12345KlMnOpQrSt01a" is your refresh token. The one that will never expire (or till revoke).
When currently received access token expires, you can perform following curl call:
curl https://api.dropbox.com/oauth2/token -d grant_type=refresh_token -d refresh_token=oDfT54975DfGh12345KlMnOpQrSt01a -u <App key>:<App secret>
Where "oDfT54975DfGh12345KlMnOpQrSt01a" is the refresh token "materialized" from code at the beginning. "<App key>" and "<App secret>" come again from the first browser window. As a result you will get in your terminal something like:
{"access_token": "sl.abcdefg123456789AbCdEf-OPqrSTuv1W", "token_type": "bearer", "expires_in": 14400}Again "sl.abcdefg123456789AbCdEf-OPqrSTuv1W" is an access token usable in regular API calls for "14400" seconds (i.e. 4 hours). The last call need to be used every time you need valid access token and the previous one got expired. For the test here you don't have to wait 4 hours. You can call it immediately. 😉 Completes everything successfully?
Every time you do receive access token, it can be use for as many seconds as denoted in "expires_in" field. The access token itself is a ASCII chars sequence and you should be ready to process such a sequence as presented (including different length).
Hope this gives direction and clarifies matter with the step by step processing.
Greg-DB
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffThe "redirect_uri mismatch" error indicates that this call failed because the redirect_uri used on /oauth2/authorize to get that authorization code does not match the redirect_uri used when calling /oauth2/token. These two values need to match exactly. Or, if you didn't set redirect_uri on /oauth2/authorize, you should likewise omit it when calling /oauth2/token as well.
Also, note that the four dropbox.com/dropboxapi.com URIs you have registered for your app are part of Dropbox itself, and would not be redirect URIs you use for your app. For example, https://api.dropbox.com/oauth2/token is the endpoint for retrieving access tokens after the user has authorized the app; it is not a redirect URI for your app. The redirect URI would be some address that your app controls where it can receive the authorization result. Or as noted above, you can omit a redirect URI entirely.
You can find more information on how this flow works in the OAuth Guide and authorization documentation.
I'll present the new steps I've taken
First : I replaced app key value with mine and I got the code
https://www.dropbox.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=<APP_KEY>&token_access_type=offline&response_type=code
second
curl https://api.dropbox.com/oauth2/token \ -d code=<AUTHORIZATION_CODE> \ -d grant_type=authorization_code \ -d redirect_uri=<REDIRECT_URI> \ -u <APP_KEY>:<APP_SECRET>
and replaced with my values
curl https://api.dropbox.com/oauth2/token \ -d code=<REDACTED> \ -d grant_type=authorization_code \ -d redirect_uri=https://www.dropbox.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=2hver24zt8u8zdv&token_access_type=offline&response_type=code \ -u <REDACTED>
it prints this error
{
"error": "invalid_request",
"error_description": "unknown field \"token_access_type\""
}
I also tried Auth URL for code flow and prints the same error, Do I miss something? Thanks in advance.
curl https://api.dropbox.com/oauth2/token \ -d code=<REDACTED> \ -d grant_type=authorization_code \ -d redirect_uri=https://www.dropbox.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=<APP_KEY>&response_type=code \ -u <REDACTED>
- Greg-DB
I see you're not setting a redirect_uri on /oauth2/authorize, so you should also not set a redirect_uri when calling /oauth2/token. Remove that '-d redirect_uri=...' from your /oauth2/token call and try again.
By the way, as a matter of security, do not post your authorization code or app secret.
Thanks It works after removing -d from the code.
I just have another problem that the generate access code lasts for one request within an hour, So how can I make a request to generate a one with each request along with the access token like parsing the content of this link and get the result then use it for curl request. or should I use refresh token Thanks in advance.https://www.dropbox.com/oauth2/authorize?client_id=<APP_KEY>&response_type=code
- Greg-DB
The authorization code can only be used once. Once you use it to get an access token and optional refresh token by calling /oauth2/token with 'grant_type=authorization_code', you can throw away the authorization code and store and re-use the access token and optional refresh token instead.
You can use a refresh token to get new short-lived access tokens on demand without manual user interaction by calling /oauth2/token with 'grant_type=refresh_token' as shown under "Example: refresh token request".
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