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dropboxdropbox-api

User authentication via HTTP endpoints

I wonder how a user is signed in using the HTTP endpoints. The doc here suggests:

User Authentication:

curl -X POST "https://api.dropboxapi.com/2/users/get_current_account" \
    --header "Authorization: Bearer <OAUTH2_ACCESS_TOKEN>"

But OAUTH2_ACCESS_TOKEN is supposed to be generated by the authentication server. How does the client obtain OAUTH2_ACCESS_TOKEN via HTTP endpoints?

Solution

  • The Dropbox OAuth 2 access token for the end-user should be retrieved by sending the user through the Dropbox OAuth 2 app authorization flow. The endpoints for this flow are documented here:

    https://www.dropbox.com/developers/documentation/http/documentation#authorization

    This blog post outlines the process:

    https://blogs.dropbox.com/developers/2013/07/using-oauth-2-0-with-the-core-api/

    (It was written for API v1, but the OAuth 2 flow works the same way for API v2.)

    The OAuth guide may also serve as a useful reference:

    https://www.dropbox.com/developers/reference/oauth-guide